Upon the arrival of a curious letter to his father, Dimitri, a teenager of almost 14 years old, embarks on a mysterious adventure together with his friend Rico, in order to decipher clues that will lead him to take risks, discover music by Russian composers and go to places. historical. That is the starting point of the book. The thousand and one equinoxes, by Moisés Sheinberg (Mexico City, 1966), illustrated by Tania Recio and published by El Naranjo.
In interview with The Day, The author explained that during the pandemic he wanted to write a book and locked himself in “to read the biography of Stravinsky written by his assistant; He said that when the composer came to Mexico and learned the story of Maximilian, he thought it was an excellent story for an opera. That’s when I got the idea to write something about it; This was the genesis of this novel.
“The publication has many musical elements; I’m a music lover, I play the piano, hence my dad’s nickname: Stolen, Italian word that means ‘stolen’, and in a score it is when you take time away from one segment of the musical work to give it to another, you make the part slower or compensate with a faster one, or vice versa,” he commented.
When asked about the title, the author described that it relates to the classic book Arabian Nights, “I found it interesting how Scheherazade survived each night telling one more story to the sultan. The equinox is an astronomical issue, they are the two times of the year when night and day are equal. In the work, deciphering the mystery had the deadline on the day of the equinox. I like to sprinkle cultural elements; Children understand much more than we think.
“I wrote my first book for my daughter trying to get her into the habit; Reading has been something very important in my life since I was a child. Thanks to books I have had thousands of adventures and I have learned many things. When she was nine years old, I suggested making her a story, so I started writing, and it grew longer… Suddenly it was a book. Then I made another one for my son and moved on. The response from the children has been incredible; They are the best readers, they are honest,” he added.
Sheinberg said that his life has taken many turns: “I am an engineer, but a lover of books. A friend once told me: ‘if you read so much, why don’t you write?’ I responded that I didn’t know anything, my profession was different, and he answered something that I will never forget: ‘José Saramago was a carpenter.’ There I was planted with the bug, until the opportunity presented itself. My daughter and my friend liked my first book, I was encouraged and I entered a workshop where they helped me correct it, and I sent it to a publisher.
My first two titles were inspired by my children, when they were teenagers; Now they are older, but I stayed with those characters, Dimitri and his friend Rico are independent, because every time I see that parents are more afraid of their children going out, doing things, but they want to go out, to investigate, to investigate. , to have adventures, and books are a means for that. I thought about his partner because you always need someone else, like Sherlock Holmes and Watson.
detailed the also author of vanilla stars (The Orange Tree).
On the other hand, the illustrator Tania Recio (Mexico City, 1973) said that with the director of the publishing house, Ana Laura Delgado, she began to work on creating characters. “The work is very descriptive, from how they are physically: the protagonist is short for his age and the friend is taller.
“The settings of Mexico City scared me a little at first, because I’m more into drawing nature; I had to look for many references. Later it became a good challenge, since it was about making the Chapultepec castle, but my drawing is not realistic; So, I had to find my way through a lot of photos on the Internet until I found one that I liked.
“I am more abstract, I play with textures, trees. The same thing happened to me with José Clemente Orozco’s mural. For that one I went and took photos; I thought it was fantastic, I had never paid attention to the painting.
I carefully analyzed everything I brought, what it meant; one learns a lot by illustrating. I was very amazed
said the illustrator.
Recio shared that “when you start the book the initial flyleaf is not going to tell you anything, but at the end you are going to perceive the closure of the story.
“This is what I do with most of the books in which I have participated. I like that they are not just decorative. It’s a bit like I start my job, I receive an email with the book and it’s always an adventure, like that of the children of The thousand and one equinoxes when you open that envelope.
“The first thing that every human being has is touch, the next thing is the visual. It is very important to illustrate, especially in this time when children are more visual, due to TikTok and other social networks; We are loaded with images.
“It is a way to catch them, if a book has something more to observe than letters. They are so used to so much image, that’s where you’re going to get into it.
I have been doing illustration for 20 years, and I realize that. The drawings allow the work to be reinterpreted
he stated.
For Tania Recio, “illustration always contributes more. For example, this play is a mystery, so in the various settings, in his room, in his father’s study, I put details that would later be understood, such as that his father had a certain book by Stravinsky, the scores.
It’s about leaving clues, without the child finding out first and without ruining the ending. It is about accompanying Moisés with what he leaves so that the reader can investigate.
he concluded.
The thousand and one equinoxes, by Moisés Sheinberg and illustrated by Tania Recio, was presented yesterday at the BS IBBY México library.