News

Draft by Ersi Spathopoulou, for the illustration of Drosostalida Antonis has been working at Ikaros since the summer of 2000. When he started, as a contractor for external work, he had no previous experience in the publishing industry, or with books in general. Eleven years later, Antonis is Ikaros’s most valuable employee. Apart from supplying books daily to all the bookshops in central Athens, Antonis has become the go-to man for all jobs, in the best possible sense. He knows the Ikaros catalogue by heart, is familiar with every inch of the warehouse and its contents, handles payments, and spends the whole day running between printers, bookbinders and workshops. What’s more, he has a hidden talent for proofreading, as he is very often the only one who spots spelling or typographical errors in texts and layouts ready for the printers – there have been quite a few times when he has found mistakes even after they’ve gone to press...When, a short while ago, he gave us – with great difficulty – two children’s stories he had written to read and give our opinion on, in a way, something ‘magical’ happened. For quite some time, we had been discussing at Ikaros the idea of launching a series of children’s books, but we didn’t know where to start. It was one of those ideas you keep mulling over, discussing, then putting aside because there’s always something else on the go demanding your attention.Drosostalida, by Antonis, illustrated by Ersi Spathopoulou, will be published in spring 2012 by Ikaros. Once upon a time there was a tiny speck. A tiny, tiny dewdrop. It had no age, because dewdrops have no age anyway; they are eternal! ‘My home is the clouds, the rivers, the lakes, the sea,’ it would say over and over again with pride, dancing on a tiny snow-white cloud.One day, an eagle saw her as he flew past, dancing happily, and smiled at her. The dewdrop stopped her dance and, approaching the edge of the cloud, asked him hesitantly. ‘Do you know my name?’‘No,’ replied the eagle, and with a powerful flap of its wings it flew away, continuing its journey across the sky. A short while later, a strong wind blew and carried the cloud away, sending it to the land of Rain.As soon as they arrived there, the dewdrop saw her sisters let go of the cloud and fall towards the earth, laughing and shouting. In no time at all, she did the same. She let go of the cloud and began to fall, fall, fall... until she met the river. More about Ikaros’s children’s books in a future post!

Every year at this time, the conversation begins about Ikaros’s Christmas shop window on Vouli Street. Usually, it takes us about a week of discussions and visits to nearby shops for ideas and decorations before we settle on something. We often end up with a traditional game or an inventive way to showcase our latest publications. This year, we decided to combine the two. With the help of Yiannis and Summer, owners of the Thalassa shop on Patriarchou Ioakeim Street (who always have the most beautiful and cleverest shop windows), we made our very own muzzuri! Made from shoe boxes and other materials such as bottle caps and jewellery packaging, it carries the books from us to you, from publication to reading. In much the same way, this new blog functions just like the little man, or a shop window. It conveys our thoughts and ideas to the outside world, to friends and readers, to you, in a less formal and more direct way, whilst also providing an opportunity for dialogue and the exchange of ideas. Happy reading.