Brno Legends - a special colouring book for expat kids published by BEC
Brno is a city that lies between the Svratka and the Svitava Rivers for almost eight centuries. It has seen many events, some good and some bad. A dragon once terrorized the city. The Swedish army attacked it. The buildings tell their own stories. And famous people have experienced many legendary events. If you know where to look, Brno still displays the symbols related to its history.
That is why we’re introducing Brno legends to expat children and their families, in their own mother tongues – or at least some of them. We wanted to give them the opportunity to enjoy the city through the legends in reading, drawing and exploring. We’re also glad to have involved expats in the process from beginning to end. Therefore, we asked people to translate, illustrate and create, and that is how this wonderful colouring book was put together. You can now pick up your free copy in the BEC office!
Festive Launch
The booklet was launched with special guests during our Brno Expat City Day event on 19 June 2021. You can pick up your own copy from our office now.
Read the stories
Legends are stories which have been passed on by re-telling, no one knows what really happened those centuries ago – or if it really happened at all – but the core of the Brno stories has always been consistent. We asked Bruno Zalubil, our favourite Brno blogger and writer, to transform the stories into an English version understandable to children, and our own Brno history-guru Don Sparling to oversee the content. We have also been lucky to entice many expat mums who decided to delve into the stories and bring them to life in their own mother language. There are expats from all over the world living in Brno, and we can’t of course cover all of those languages, so we chose twelve which we hope will cover most parts of the world. Here are the brave translators: Maike Leidecker, Marlena Teitge (DE), Diana Buriticá, Graciela Hernandez (ES), Alice and Manuela Caldaroni (IT), Miguel Antunes (PT), Giuseppina and Laura Di Termini (FR), Lucia and Barbora Konôpková (SK), Marlena Ozdoba, Katarzyna Wagner, Dominika Agniesczak (PL), Danijela Maršiček (HR), Iryna Zabiiaka (UA), Alexandra Kopanova, Adina Pop (RO), Vasia Arvaniti (GR), Leila Aliyeva (RU).
Colour the pictures
When we first saw the drawings done by Miguel Antunes during our ‘Expats for Brno Grant‘ selection process, we immediately liked the relaxed, yet vivacious way he managed to capture the city and its atmosphere or details in his favourite urban sketching style. We knew he was destined for some future cooperation with us and Brno Legends were an ideal opportunity: we asked Miguel to draw all the places connected with the stories for our booklet. The result may be a bit unexpected for ‘just a children’s colouring book’, because the sketches can stand on their own like pieces of art – whether just black and white, or in colour. And so perhaps, even the parents will have a go with the coloured pencils. 😉
See the places
Do you want to have more fun with Brno Legends and involve your whole family? Play our exploration game! It was created specially for this booklet by Tim de Witte and Lucie Vlachová who formed the amazing Wandering Around Brno game with us in 2020 with all its 150 questions. Don’t worry – our family game only has 12 main questions and 1 bonus question.
Exploration game instructions
Find the questions in the booklet and follow the map. Visit all of the places connected with the legends in this booklet and answer the questions based on what you see or find on the spot. You can visit the sites in any order you wish. Write the answers directly in the booklet or on a sheet of paper and send them (a scan or mobile phone photo is enough) to katka@brnoexpatcentre.eu.
If you bag at least 10 correct answers, you can pick up a prize at BEC, with a special reward for the bonus question, of course. 😉
Have fun exploring Brno!
We want to most sincerely thank all of the contributors and supporters of this project, with the hope that it will bring the enjoyment and appreciation of this city to the families and all who call Brno their home, and those who may one day visit. Feel free to come and pick up your copy in the BEC office.
The Legends of Brno
Concept, project management: Katka Báňová
Creative writing, editing: Bruno Zalubil, Don Sparling
Artwork: Miguel Antunes
Exploration Game: Lucie Vlachová, Tim De Witte
Graphic Design: Marie Lungová, Tea Ďurkovicová
Printed by: Martin Sladký, LITERA Brno
This publication exists in the following languages: English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Slovak, Polish, Ukrainian, Romanian, Croatian, Greek, Russian.
Complimentary publication. Not for sale.
© Brno Expat Centre, 2021.
Pictures credit: Miguel Antunes
