MAGICTREE

THE

IBBY PRIZE: BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

EMMY AWARD FOR THE FILM BASED ON THE MAGIC TREE

POLAND’S NUMBER ONE BEST-SELLINGCHILDREN’S BOOK, 200 000 COPIES SOLD!

A SERIES OF FANTASY ADVENTURE NOVELS FOR CHILDREN

AGED FROM 7 TO 12.POLAND’S NUMBER ONE BEST-SELLING CHILDREN’S BOOK.200 000 COPIES SOLD!IBBY PRIZE FOR BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR.RIGHTS SOLD: SOUTH KOREA (ALL 3 VOLUMES), JAPAN, CHINA.A FILM AND TV SERIES HAVE BEEN MADE BASED ON THE MAGIC TREE, WHICH WON EMMY AWARD. THEY HAVE BEEN SHOWN BY VARIOUS TELEVISION CHANNELS INCLU DING DISNEY CHANNEL.N V : 7V 5: 2013

The starting point is the story of a tree that has magic powers. Without anyone being aware of this, hundreds of objects have been made out of its wood, including furniture, instruments and toys. Each of these objects has retained a bit of the magic power. One day, a magical Red Chair escapes from a consignment of furniture. Not only can it fl y, it can also carry out the orders of anyone who sits on it. The Red Chair ends up at the home of the Ross family.

The key to the novels’ great success is the way they combine magical events with a superb description of real children’s life. The action involves a cavalcade of unusual magic events, in a real world, familiar to today’s children. The heroes are children aged from seven to fourteen. The Magic Tree books are now the most popular children’s novels in Poland.

As well as writing books, Andrzej Maleszka has also directed some excellent fi lms for children. As a result, the novels have a fast-paced narrative, just like modern movies. They also bring up some important topics and show the world from the children’s point of view. The author aims to reduce the distance between printed and visual media by creating digital illustrations in the books that look like stills from a fi lm.

So far Andrzej Maleszka has written three novels in the Magic Tree series, and is now working on the fi fth. The Magic Tree series creates a universal world, familiar to children living in various countries and cultures. Each one features the same main characters, but each can be read as a separate story.

The Magic Tree: The Red Chair

This novel won the IBBY Book of the Year award.A Red Chair that can walk and fl y escapes from a consignment of furniture. It also has the power to make the wishes of anyone who sits on it come true. When Kuki sits on the chair and rashly wishes his parents were rich, he sets off a whole landslide of events. His parents change into people who are “obsessed with money”. They hand the children over to a mean aunt and go away to work abroad. Thanks to the chair’s magic powers, the siblings change their horrible aunt into a little girl, and set off to look for their parents. In the course of their incredible adventures they travel across Europe. They have seven days to remove the spell from their parents and make them into loving parents again. The red chair’s magic helps them to get out of lots of dangerous situations, but they are being followed by a man who is determined to get his hands on it. This novel provided the basis for an excellent fi lm which won prizes at the Germany, USA and many others fi lm festivals. It has been shown by various television channels including Disney Channel.

The Magic Tree: The Secret of the Bridge

Melanie uses the magic Red Chair to make Philip fall in love with the fi rst girl he sees. Naturally, she is relying on the fact that she’ll be that girl. But Philip looks at a billboard in the street outside, and falls in love with the girl from an advertisement. The trouble is, the girl on the billboard doesn’t really exist – she is just a computerised photo-montage. As she isn’t real, Philip will never be able to meet her, so he starts to fall ill.

His younger brother and sister change Philip into a miniature version of himself and set off for Venice, where there is a bridge made of magic wood. Anyone who crosses it forgets about being unhappily in love. The children must get over the snow-covered Alps, go through some underground caves and the mysterious canals of Venice. They are accompanied by a mystery cat called Latte and an enchanted robot. They are also being chased by the head of an advertising agency who wants to produce the most incredible advert ever, which will involve drowning Venice in Coca-Cola. The Secret of the Bridge is rare among children’s novels for discussing the dangers of advertisements that tell lies. It is also an exciting story packed with adventures.

The Magic Tree: The Giant

Eleven-year-old Kuki has accidentally conjured up a Giant. To defeat it, Kuki is gifted with superhuman strength, but his incredible might causes a great deal of trouble in everyday life. The boy destroys fragile objects, and he cannot hug his mother, pet the dog or kick a ball. He’s just too strong! Kuki and his friends set off for a mysterious hotel in Shanghai, in search of a bed made of magic wood, which is the only thing that can save him. Together the friends travel across Asia, across deserts and oceans, having some incredible adventures on the way. Hot on their trail is the Giant, who has seven different incarnations – he changes into a steel bird that snatches up buses, a shop that’s a trap you can’t leave, or a gigantic snake that devours the light. As he battles with the Giant, Kuki is helped by an extremely intelligent girl called Gabby and a talking dog called Pudding.

The Magic Tree. The Duel

Kuki fi nds chess pieces made of the magic tree . He doesn’t know that white pieces create good things while the black ones create things that are bad. Kuki uses a black piece to conjure up his clone, so that he would not have to spend time on boring classes.

The clone occurs a bad creature. He gains magic power and starts fi ghting with real Kuki. He creates a giant robot and an army of sharks. In his fi ght he uses storm clouds. On a weird island Kuki, Gabi and Blubek are faced with a dangerous combat. But the greatest danger appears when the clone tries to replace Kuki at his home. A contemporary adventure book with a pace of a computer game. And at the same time a wise story on good and evil.

Extracts from The Duel

Extract oneKuki stood up. “Listen. We’re on an island which is sailing across the sea and we can’t stop it. We’re alone, no adults. There’s a sinister being on the island which has magical powers. Are you sure you want to say with us?”

Nicodemus and Zula nodded. They were sitting on the fl oor, wrapped in blankets and trembling with fear.

“In that case, you form part of our squad,” said Gaby. “Now we’ve got to count our weapons.”

“What weapons?” asked Zula.“Chessmen,” said Kuki. “They’re our only weapon.”He opened the box. The white chess set gleamed with unusual

brightness.Zula pulled a pawn out of the box and exclaimed: “I don’t understand how

it works . . . Does it mean that when I say ‘I want to be thin’, I’ll be thin?”“Shut up, Zula!” yelled Blubek.Too late. The spell had started to work immediately. The pawn blazed

and fell from Zula’s hand. At the same time, the girl started to get longer. She stretched out like chewing-gum! As she grew thinner and thinner like rolled-out Plasticine, she screamed and her voice, too, grew thinner. When Zula reached three metres, she stopped growing. She was terribly skinny. Her legs were as thin as spaghetti, her hands as thin as pencils.

“Where’s the mirror?” squeaked Zula. “I’ve got to take a look at myself!”“The mirror’s by the door,” said Gaby. “But careful you don’t break.”Zula ran off, her spidery legs buckling worryingly. She stopped in front

of the mirror and squeaked joyfully:“But I look superb! I’m going to register with Topmodel! Be famous!”“What’s going to happen to her now? . . .” asked Gaby in a whisper.“Nothing,” said Kuku. “The pawn’s spell lasts a minute. She’ll be like

before in a moment.”“I don’t want to be like before!” squeaked Zula. “I’m going to be a model...”She didn’t fi nish. The minute passed, something fl ashed and Zula began

to shrink and grow wider. A few seconds later she was like before. Normal height and rather round.

“We’ve wasted a weapon because of you,” said Gaby sternly. “Remember never to touch the chess set without the commander’s orders.”

Extract two“Make a run for it, Kuki!” screamed Blubek.

Kuki fl ed. The Catcher chased after him. The robot’s steel legs moved with lightening speed. CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

“What does he want from Kuki?” exclaimed Gaby.“Thinks he’s the clone. Wants to catch him!” groaned Blubek.

“Understand? Kuki’s identical and smells the same, so he’s made a mistake.”

Kuki sped through the park. He thought in despair that he’d created an ingenious Catcher to capture the clone. And now he was the one who was being chased.

CRACK! The Catcher jumped over the bench and landed on the path. A mechanical nose appeared and started to sniff.

Kuki hid behind the ice-cream kiosk. He wandered what the Catcher was thinking. Suddenly, he heard a rustling. He turned instantly.

Along the grass, crawled a sprung, steel arm.Kuki immediately took to his feet. He knew how dangerous the weapon

was. He’d invented it himself! He sped like crazy across the lawn but the sprung arm was faster. It shot forward, bracing the spring: CRACK! It caught up with Kuki and grabbed him by the hood.

Fortunately, the jacket was unfastened. Kuki slipped his arms from the sleeves. The Catcher caught nothing but the jacket and Kuki ran in among the enormous rocks. He was counting on the Catcher not being able to squeeze in there. Within seconds, the robot was near. It observed Kuki with its six eyes, sniffi ng its steel nose. Kuki now thought he was safe but was soon disillusioned. The fl ap beneath the Catcher’s nose opened and something wriggly, like a lizard’s tongue, slipped out.

“Sticktongue!” groaned Kuki, terrifi ed.Before he had time to fl ee, the steel tongue shot out several metres. Its

sticky tip stuck to Kuki’s shoe.

Extract threeThe black horse blazed on the chess board. Kuki looked around, worried. He’d cast a spell but had no idea which . . . He stood tense, ready to run. CRASH! The window opened with a bang and in jumped . . . a horse.

It was real! Enormous and as black as the night. A horse in the hotel meant big business. Kuki had to turn back the spell but before he had time to think of anything, the black horse descended on him like a storm. Kuki made to escape. By some miracle, he managed to run out into the corridor. The black horse galloped right behind, its hooves thundering against the stone fl oor. Kuki tried to hide in one of the rooms but all the doors were locked. He ran down to a lower fl oor. He counted on the horse not being able to make its way downstairs, but the beast didn’t even try. It simply took a long jump and landed next to Kuki. Its hooves thudded on the ground.

The boy screamed and dashed to his room. He yanked at the handle and opened the door. At that moment, the horse caught up with him and gave him a hefty kick. CRACK! Kuki fl ew into the room and the horse, carried away, galloped into the bathroom. Kuki was up in a fl ash and slammed the door. He ran up to Blubek’s bed and shook him by the shoulder.

“Wake up, Blubek! Get up! Quick!”Blubek opened his eyes and stared at him vacantly.“What is it?”“I’ve conjured up a black horse. It’s in the bathroom!”“A horse? In our bathroom?”“Yes. Black and huge. We’ve got to do something or it’ll break down the

door and attack us.”Blubek looked at his friend suspiciously but got to his feet and

approached the bathroom door.“Don’t open it!” shouted Kuki.Blubek didn’t listen to him. He opened the door a little and took a peep.The bathroom was empty. The black horse had disappeared.

Translated by Danusia Stok

Extracts from The Giant

Extract OneThe Giant stood still. It was huge and terrifying. It was such a dreadful sight that for a second Kuki closed his eyes. Then he regained the ability to move and rushed to the Red Chair. He sat down and shouted:

“I want to be stronger than this monster. I want to be mightier than it is!”Immediately Kuki felt something strange. He thought he was growing,

getting bigger and bigger. But he hadn’t got bigger at all – he was still a fairly small eleven-year-old boy. It was just his strength that was growing, as his body rapidly fi lled up with incredible power.

He stood up and headed towards the Giant. He was comically tiny compared with its enormous size, but he no longer wanted to run away. He wanted to fi ght it. He wasn’t afraid. He knew he had enough strength to beat it.

The monster struck its great foot against the floor. CRASH! It struck it a second time. CRASH! CRASH! The whole building was shaking. The Giant was trying to frighten Kuki, but he wasn’t at all scared. He walked straight towards it.

Suddenly the Giant thrust out an arm. Its iron hand was hanging above Kuki’s head. The boy seized a steel fi nger and pulled with all his might.

The Giant tried to lift Kuki up in the air. The boy exerted all his magic power. As he squeezed the monster’s hand, he took a swing. And then spun the Giant in the air and threw him upwards.

WOOSH!The Giant flew off like a rocket. It hit the ceiling, smashed it to bits

and went flying towards the sun like a comet.Kuki sighed with relief. And then he heard someone calling:“Kuki! He’s coming back!”Red hot, the steel Giant was falling like a meteorite.

Extract TwoA dragon made out of flames came flying towards them. The children ran away with all the strength they had left. Half way to the river Yangtse stood a helicopter. It belonged to the fire brigade.

“Let’s jump in,” cried Blubek.“We don’t know how to work it.”“I do,” shouted Blubek. “Get in.”Kuki thought it was madness. No child knows how to pilot a helicopter!But there was no alternative. The dragon was catching them up.

Pudding and the children jumped into the helicopter. Blubek slammed the door shut.

“Blubek, do you really know how to do this?” whispered Gabby.“I’ve played Blade Striker thousands of times. There’s lots of

helicopter flying in that game. I’m sure I know how to take off.”“What about landing?” squeaked Pudding.“Well... I’m not quite so good at that...” said Blubek and pressed the

ignition.The propellor began to spin and the helicopter took off into the air.

Blubek really did know how to take off! They were flying towards the clouds.

The dragon roared with rage and chased after them. Its wings were spread out across half the sky. It was spitting fire at the machine, but Blubek pulled back the joystick and the helicopter nimbly jumped aside!

“Wow! Super!”The dragon rushed towards them. Blubek shouted: “Kuki, blast

him!”Only now did Kuki remember there was a water cannon in the

helicopter for putting out fires in tower blocks. The dragon suddenly turned. Kuki yanked nervously at the cannon and water gushed into the cabin.

“I’ve broken it!” he cried in terror.Kuki had tugged too hard at the water cannon. He had broken it off,

along with a piece of the helicopter’s wall! The helicopter started to fall like a wounded bird. It was diving straight onto the big television tower in Shanghai, which was topped with an illuminated sphere. They were certain they’d be smashed to pieces, but at the very last moment Blubek straightened up the helicopter and landed it on the roof of the tower.

“I can do it!” he cried in joy. “I know how to land!”They jumped out of the helicopter.Now they were on the roof of the television tower. On the very top

there was a huge antenna. Storm clouds were swirling just above them. Bolts of lightning went flying across the sky, but it still wasn’t raining. Suddenly the dragon flew out from among the clouds. It spread its wings wide as it prepared for the final attack. The gigantic antenna, which was standing on the roof, cast a wobbly shadow.

Kuki had to do something! He looked up at the antenna. It was enormous, about a hundred metres high. If he could manage to lift it, he could fight with it like a sword. He ran up to the antenna and tugged at it, but it wouldn’t budge at all.

“Boss! It’s flying straight at us!” Kuki pulled at the antenna with all his might. Something snapped, and

the antenna broke off. It was terribly heavy. Kuki had trouble holding it.He looked up. The fiery dragon was flying closer, and the tower

had gone red from the glow of the flames. Kuki knew that if he cut the dragon in half it would just change into two more. The dragon was made of fire − the only thing that could defeat it was water!

Kuki looked at the storm clouds overhead and had an idea. An idea that might give them their last chance. He took a swing and hurled the enormous antenna like a javelin.

The hundred-metre structure flew into the air with a swoosh. It went past the dragon and hit the storm cloud above it. A clap of thunder rang out, a bolt of lightning flew by, and streams of water came gushing out of the split cloud. Life-saving water! The rain lashed down on the fiery dragon. The dragon tried to get away, it writhed and whirled, but it couldn’t escape the downpour. HISS! BANG! With an incredible noise the dragon disintegrated and was extinguished. Its great body changed into a stream of sparks that fell into the river. The water hissed, clouds of steam rose into the air, and in a short while the river Yangtze was flowing peacefully again.

Extract ThreeThey rushed to the ship’s windows, which protruded out of its sides, like the bulging eyes of a crocodile. They saw a pair of steel legs sticking out of the ship’s side. They looked like the feet of an enormous crocodile. CRASH, CRASH, CRASH... The immense ship went marching across the seabed like a robot in metal armour. Or like a gigantic steel alligator. It was moving faster and faster.

Its headlights lit up the water. The bewildered children watched images of the underwater world. There were sea snakes and octopuses peering through the window panes, and shoals of fi shes fl eeing to either side.

“Where is it going?” cried Gabby.On a screen there was a map. It showed a black dot moving along a

path marked by arrows. At the end there was a red cone and the word KA-VI-O-BARAT.

“What does it mean?”Suddenly Gabby shouted. “I’ve remembered! Ka-vi-o-barat is an

underwater volcano!”“Have you gone crazy? There aren’t any volcanoes under water!”“There are! This sort of volcano burns in water. When they blow up,

the lava creates islands.” They stared at each other uneasily.“Why is that rotter trudging there?”They were speechless. Suddenly Blubek cried: “Don’t you see? He

wants to go into the volcano. Taking us with him! We’ll be turned into black stones.”

“We must stop him!” cried Gabby. She ran to the door.“Open it!”Kuki hesitated. He knew the whole ship was filled with water. Gabby

would have to dive along lots of corridors and stairs. And all of it under water, with no chance of taking a breath of air.

“Open it!”Kuki cautiously pressed the handle and set the door ajar. Gabby

dived into the corridor, filled to the ceiling with water. Fighting back the pressure of the water, Kuki slammed the door shut. He started mentally counting the passing seconds: “One... two... three...”

Filled with water, the ship looked like an incredible aquarium. Gabby swam as fast as she could. Suddenly some black arms emerged from the open door of a cabin. Eight arms.

“An octopus!Evidently, along with the water various creatures had floated into

the ship. Luckily it was a small octopus. At the sight of Gabby it fled. But then sharks could have got inside too... Gabby tried not to think about the dangers. She was starting to run out of air. “I won’t be able to do it,” she thought in despair.

Kuki waited with his face pressed to the glass panel in the door. He was counting the seconds: “43... 44... 45... Fifteen seconds left! If anything happens to her, I’ll smash this ship to bits!” he thought. He turned around and shouted: “If Gabby doesn’t come back I’ll rip you to pieces, you stupid monster!” He wanted IT to hear him. To be afraid, and not to harm Gabby.

“If I don’t get some air immediately I’m done for!” thought Gabby, desperately searching for help. She saw a large bottle floating near the ceiling, turned upside down. The bottle was open and empty.

“Maybe there’s air inside it?” thought Gabby. When she was little she used to love watching the air bubbles coming out of bottles under water. With the last of her strength she swam up to the bottle. She grabbed it, pressed it to her lips and breathed. There was air inside it!

Translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones

Extracts from The Secret of the Bridge

Extract OneMelanie sat down on the red chair. It was the fi rst time she had been left completely on her own with the magical object. She glanced towards the door. Through its tinted glass, she could see into the living room where Philip was fl ying the model helicopter. She could hear him laughing. Suddenly, Melanie sat bolt upright, and looking straight at Philip she said in a heartfelt whisper, “I wish Philip would fall in love with…” She didn’t dare say ‘me’. She had always been timid. Instead she whispered, “I wish Philip would fall in love with the next girl he sees!”

Then she shouted out, at the top of her voice, “Philip!”That would have been enough if Philip had glanced over at her just then,

if he had glanced at her for just a second, even for a fraction of a second. Then he would have loved her forever.

If only he had looked at her!But he didn’t. And that was because just at that moment the helicopter

whizzed over to the window and fl ew out into the street. Someone shouted, “The helicopter’s escaped!”

Philip dashed to the front door. He rushed down the stairs several steps at a time, and ran out into the street. He looked around. The helicopter was hovering in front of the huge billboard that hung on the wall. It was right in front of the advertising model’s beautiful smiling face. Philip glanced up at her.

He stopped dead, as if mesmerised.The helicopter circled around, crashed into the billboard, and plummeted

to the ground. Philip took no notice of it. He was staring at the girl on the poster.

At that point Melanie ran up to him. She stood right in front of him, but he didn’t even notice her at all. He walked past her, as if she were invisible. He walked up to the billboard, and looking into the eyes of the girl advertising Choo Gums, he whispered, “I love you. I love you, and will love you forever!”

Everybody at the party rushed out into the street. Someone picked up the smashed helicopter. Someone else shouted, “Don’t worry Philip. It’s guaranteed.”

“Let’s go back inside.”“Oi, Philip! Come on then!”Philip didn’t react. He stood motionless, staring into the eyes of the girl

on the poster.“What’s wrong with him?”“He’s mucking around.”Philip paid no attention to them. He appeared to be in a trance. Tosia ran

up to him, and took a close look at him.“Vicki, call Mum and Dad! Quickly!”Vicki rushed into the house. Tosia kept watching Philip, and grew

increasingly worried. Her parents had once looked like that when they were bewitched by a terrible enchantment. But surely, as the magic chair was out of action now…

Mum and Dad came running out of the house. Mum took Philip in her arms.

“Philip, what’s the matter?” The boy didn’t even bat an eyelid. “Come inside.”

“I want to stay here. I want to go on looking at her,” Philip said quietly. Mum looked at him anxiously.“Tosia dear, has he been drinking alcohol?”“I don’t think so…”Dad took hold of Philip and pulled him towards the house.Philip resisted and kept turning his head to look at the girl on the poster.

The neighbours started peering out of their windows, wondering what was up. The children, who were still out in the street, were whispering amongst themselves. Mum said quickly, “I’m sorry… the party’s over now. Please go home.”

Extract Two“We’re going to destroy her!”

“Who?”“The girl on the poster.”“We have to change her into something else, something Philip can’t

stand,” said Tosia.“So that he fi nds her disgusting,” whispered Melanie.“So he can’t bear to look at her! So that he hates her!” added Vicki.“I know,” said Kuki. “Let’s turn her into a spider. Philip hates spiders.”Tosia looked around. The street was empty.“OK, Ginger. Go for it.”Melanie sat down on the chair facing the billboard. She looked at the

girl on the poster and said, “I want her to turn into a spider. Now!”She said it with real anger. Kuki noticed Melanie looked pretty when she

was angry, but had no time to think it over, as he heard Tosia shout, “Watch

out! It’s real!”The girl on the poster had turned into an enormous spider, as big as the

billboard. But the spider wasn’t a picture, it was a real, live, creepy-crawly monster! The enormous spider slipped off the poster and crawled towards them.

Melanie was terrifi ed, leaped off the chair, and ran away. She escaped at the last possible moment, as the gigantic spider let fl y a ball of black spit, covering the chair in a sticky web.

The children hid in the entrance to a courtyard. The Red Chair was jerking around trying to tear itself free of its bonds, but the gummy web had tied it down completely. The spider scuttled towards it, and grabbed it in its disgusting hairy legs. It probably thought the chair was a huge fl y.

“Oh gosh, what a mess we’re in!” whispered Tosia. “How are we going to get the chair back?”

Kuki realised they really needed Philip at this point. Philip was the one who usually took action in dangerous situations. Kuki decided he had to stand in for his brother.

“I’ll distract the creepy-crawly monster,” he whispered, “and while I’m doing that Ginger can sit down on the chair and zap it.”

“Wait, Kuki, I’ll do it…” cried Tosia.But Kuki had already run out of the passage-way towards the spider.On the alert, it turned its head to look at the boy with its protruding

eyes. Suddenly, it launched a blob of black spit at him. Kuki ducked, but the spider squirted out some more gooey liquid. This time Kuki didn’t move out of the way fast enough, and several drops landed on his cheek. He felt a stinging pain as if he had been lashed by nettles. Worse yet, there was now a black silk thread connecting him to the spider. Fortunately, it was thin and Kuki managed to break it easily. The spider scuttled towards him. It was much bigger than Kuki.

The boy ran towards the bridge. The spider stopped and started puffi ng itself up. It was now huge and fat and looked like a hideous, hairy balloon. It spat at Kuki with all its might and a huge ball of black gunk fl ew through the air. This time it hit its target. Kuki got it in the back and dropped to the pavement. He tried to get up, but the spider’s spittle had glued him to the paving, like a huge piece of chewing gum. He struggled to turn his head, only to see the hairy monster crawling towards him.

“Here comes trouble!” groaned Kuki, barely able to move his glued-up lips. The spider wasn’t in a hurry. It knew it could deal with Kuki whenever it wanted…

Extract ThreeFirst, they conjured up a spare battery for the robot. Vicki found a battery compartment hidden behind his left ear. Beside it was a tiny screen and several buttons. Vicki examined them with curiosity.

”Oi, Kuki,” she shouted, “Ro-Bob has some sort of control panel here. What’s it for?”

”It’s a working mode selector: you can have Friendly Guardian or Super-Bossy Ta... Don’t press it!!!”

Too late! Vicki had already fl icked the switch out of curiosity. CLICK.The robot immediately turned towards her, and he wasn’t smiling.”No - touching! You - must - obey!” he barked. “Repeat - three - times,

‘I - must - obey’!””What’s he on about?” asked Vicki, taken aback.”Flick the switch back,” shrieked Kuki in alarm. “Quickly!”

Vicki reached out, but the robot wouldn’t let her touch the switch. He lifted an astonished Vicki by the collar, and sat her on the bed.

“You - are - naughty. Be - obedient.””Why’s he speaking to me like this?”You switched on the Super-Bossy Taskmaster mode,” cried Kuki in alarm.”What on earth did you wish that up for?” whispered Vicki.”Well, just in case he had to deal with horrible children or criminals.”The robot shouted, ”Silence. Time for - exercise - routine. Jump - to it!”The children didn’t budge, but Kuki whispered, ”Here comes trouble!”The robot grabbed them by the ears, and dragged them into the centre

of the room.”Squats - fi rst! Get a - move on!”Obediently, they started doing squats. They were afraid if they didn’t, the

robot would go on the rampage, just as he had in the restaurant. They had done nearly a hundred squats when the robot gave a blast on his whistle, and barked, “Running - now! At the - double!”

They started to run around the table.After running, the robot ordered them to do star jumps, press-ups and

loads of other crazy exercises. They were exhausted. ”Kuki, we have to fi nd a way to change the mode, otherwise he’ll fi nish

us off,” moaned Vicki.”Halt!” The robot gave a signal with the whistle. ”Time for - work - now.””What! What work?””Tidy - up. At the - double!”The robot forced them to clean the house. They couldn’t fi nd a vacuum

cleaner, so they had to sweep the fl oors with an old-fashioned broom, beat the carpets with a carpet beater, and clean the windows. They worked like mad. They had no choice because the robot kept an eye on them. Any shirking and the robot would immediately grab them, and force them to work.

”Kuki, this is absolutely barmy! Did you have any idea what you were wishing for? It’s like a penal colony!”

”Stop!” bawled the robot. “Lesson - time!””What?””Time for - lessons.””Surely not?”Ro-Bob forced them to sit round the table. He started setting them

really stupid questions.”Capital - of - Madagascar. Answer?””Don’t know.””Fail! Stay - at your - desk!”They had to sit very still, and learn lots of facts. Then Ro-Bob ordered

them to sit a test. Anyone making a mistake was ordered by the robot to eat the question paper as a punishment.

”Ginger, he’s gone mad. We have to do something!”The robot whistled.”No - talking. Break time - now.”The robot went rigid and stopped moving, but still watched them keenly.

Vicki put her hand up, and asked with an innocent smile, “May I go to the toilet?”

”Yes. One - minute.””I need to go as well.””Me too.””One - minute.”The three of them ran out of the room. They held a council of war in the

bathroom.

”We have to hatch a plan quickly,” whispered Vicki, “otherwise we’re in for a year’s boot camp.”

”I’ve got it!” said Melanie. “We have to ask him a nonsensical question.””What for?” whispered Kuki.”If you do that to a computer, it gets stuck in a rut.”“So how will that help?””When Ro-Bob loses concentration, you can steal up behind him, and

change the mode over.”They heard him shouting from the other room, “Toilet break - end.

Return.”They went back. Vicki and Melanie approached the robot, both smiling

innocently. Melanie said, “Mr Robot, can we ask you a question?””Be - brief.””Is the capital of Blah-blah-land really Gobbledygook-ville?””What?””Is Gobbledygook-ville the capital of Blah-blah-land?”The robot glanced at her, and his eyes started to fl icker. You could see

he was searching his database, but couldn’t fi nd any data about the country Blah-blah-land, because it doesn’t exist. The effort was making his insides churn and his whole body shake.

Meanwhile Kuki quietly crept up behind the robot. He got onto a chair. He stretched his arm towards the small button behind the robot’s ear. The robot felt the touch, and turned round like a fl ash, but Kuki had been fast enough and had fl icked the switch.

CLICK!The robot froze for a second, and then, smiling, he said, “How - can I -

help? I am - friendly. Very - friendly.”The children heaved sighs of relief.

Translated by Kasia Beresford

Extracts from The Red Chair

Extract one “There’s Auntie!”

The children rushed headlong as fast as they could, but their backpacks and the chair were weighing them down. Auntie had spotted them, and moved off with a squeal of tyres.

“Over there!” shouted Philip, turning into a narrow little street, where he thought it would be easier for them to hide. Unfortunately, the far end of the street was blocked by a gate, locked shut with a padlock. They had gone down a blind alley! In a fl ash, Philip sat on the chair. His brother and sister stood behind him. Just then, Auntie’s Mercedes drove up and braked a few yards away from the children. Auntie jumped out of the car.

“Where do you think you’re going? You were trying to run away, weren’t you?”As she headed towards the siblings, Kuki whispered to Philip: “Change her

into a cockroach... Quick!”“No!” cried Tosia. “Because someone will put an end to her with Off! spray...”“So change her into a dog!”“She’ll bite us!”Auntie came up to them and screamed: “Get in the car!”“I’ve got it!” cried Philip. “Make Auntie smaller than us!”

Instantly a terrible gale blew up. The wind struck Auntie and pushed her away. She went spinning like a roundabout, shouting at the top of her voice. The wind raised the sand and tore off leaves that all went fl ying along with Auntie in a frenzied dance. The whirling Auntie continued to shout as loud as she could, and the wind kept pushing her away, until fi nally she fell into the car. The door slammed shut and the wind died down. The siblings, who had shielded their eyes against the gale, slowly lowered their hands and began to look around them. Auntie was nowhere to be seen.

“Where has she got to?” asked Philip in a whisper.“Maybe she’s as small as some bacteria...” whispered Kuki.“She must have changed into a little troll. Be careful not to tread on her.”Tosia set off, looking carefully underfoot. Her brothers came after her

cautiously, as if crossing a mine fi eld. Suddenly they heard someone calling: “Get in the car, you little brats!”

But it wasn’t Auntie’s voice. Instantly they turned round and saw a face in dark glasses leaning out of the car window. It was the face of a seven-year-old little girl!

“What a stunt!” whispered Philip.The little girl gave him a hostile look and called out in a squeaky voice:

“Can’t you hear what I’m saying? Get in the car!”At that point the siblings burst out laughing. The little girl was still dressed

in a coat and huge glasses, and she looked very funny. They went up to the car. “You’re too small to drive a car, Auntie,” said Philip, smiling cheekily.Finally Auntie grew alarmed. She glanced at her tiny hands with the

fi ngernails painted red. And then in the car mirror, and began to scream. She howled as if she had seen a ghost.

“So long then, Auntie!” said Philip. “We’ve got to run! Bye!”Auntie got out of the car, comically tiny in spite of her high-heeled shoes,

and stared after them as they walked off, wiping away her tears. Tosia stopped.“Wait a minute.”“What for?”“We can’t leave her like that. She’s too small.”Tosia turned around and went up to the small Auntie. She glanced

uncertainly at the little girl, who until not long ago had been a tall, fi erce woman. She wasn’t entirely sure how to talk to her, as a grown up or a child.

“Come along with us, Auntie,” she said.“I’m not going anywhere with you!” replied the little girl angrily. “You’ll get hungry... Or someone might kidnap you.”“Some dreadful auntie, for instance,” added Kuki. “…All right,” she said through clenched teeth. “I’m coming with you. But as

soon as I’m big again, I’m going to give you a thrashing!”

Extract twoThe red number seven bus was packed full, so the siblings stood on the back platform. The little Auntie kept at a certain distance from them, glaring in a hostile way.

“What time does the plane leave?” asked Kuki. “We’ve still got half an hour.” said Philip “We’ll make it.”“No you won’t,” said Auntie.“Why not?”“Because this bus isn’t going to the airport. It’s going in the opposite

direction.”“How do you know, Auntie?”“Because I’m older and wiser than you,” growled the seven-year-old.

“Besides, there’s a timetable over there.”The siblings ran up to a board on which the route was displayed.“She’s right! We’re going the wrong way,” cried Tosia. “We have to get out!”“No, we don’t,” replied Philip, then sat on the red chair and calmly said: “I

want this bus to go straight to the airport.”At once that was that – the bus braked so abruptly that several passengers

fell over onto the fl oor. Then it turned around with its tyres squealing and set off in the opposite direction. In amazement the passengers cried out: “What’s going on? Has he gone mad? Where’s he going?”

The siblings were swapping glances with satisfaction, but just then something incredible happened. The street turned to the right, but instead of turning, the bus drove straight on! It crashed into a barrier, smashing it to bits, and raced straight on across the park. The passengers started screaming.

“What’s it doing?” shouted the terrifi ed Philip.“It’s going straight! You told it to go straight!” cried the terrifi ed Tosia.The bus was jumping about like crazy on the bumpy grass, fl attening the

fl owerbeds and rubbish bins. At the next bump Philip fl ew out of the red chair and landed on the fl oor, while a fat lady fell onto the chair, shrieking hysterically.

The crazy bus raced across the marketplace, driving in an exact straight line. A crowd of spectators who had been standing in front of a stage ran off in all directions. On the stage stood Max in his springy shoes. He turned around and saw the bus speeding straight towards him. When the vehicle hit the stage, Max made a desperate jump and landed on its roof.

“Philip, stop it or we’ll kill someone!” shouted Tosia. “Call off the spell!”Philip and Kuki were actually trying to do that, but the fat lady was still

sitting on “their” chair, shrieking hysterically, and couldn’t be pushed off it. The bus squashed the stage fl at and raced towards an infl atable gateway

with a sign saying: “The Best Show in Town! Crocodile and Piranha Display”. “Philip! Stop this bus!” shouted Tosia.Philip braced himself with all his might as he tried to pull the screaming

lady off the magic chair. “Please!!! Get up, Madam!”Just then the bus drove into the oceanarium. One after another, the

enormous fi sh tanks shattered, and hundreds of gallons of water came pouring out, along with the crocodiles and piranhas. Lying on the roof of the bus, Max was desperately tearing off the fi sh that were biting him. Suddenly, to his horror he saw an enormous crocodile land next to him. The reptile opened its jaws wide, baring its horrible great teeth, and it didn’t look too happy.

Extract threeInside the airport there was a large crowd of travellers milling about. The holidays had just begun, and hundreds of passengers with suitcases and boisterous children were streaming through the departures hall. Philip said: “I’m sorry, Auntie, but for the time being I’ve got to deprive you of your voice.”

“What did you say, you little brat?”Instead of replying, Philip sat on the chair and whispered something.“What are you doing?” asked Tosia.“I gave an order for Auntie to speak only in the Madagascan language. So

she can’t tell anyone what has happened.”Auntie gave him a furious look and let fl y a stream of strange words. It

sounded something like this: “Mami taka! Manary! Miota! Mikasika! Very aho mikasika! Kalifaty fanalana amin!”

She was evidently making desperate attempts to talk in her own language,

but she couldn’t do it. Finally she fell silent and just glared at Philip furiously.Just then the check-in lady called: “Next, please!”, so they went up to the

counter.“Good morning.”The woman looked at the children in surprise.“Good morning. Who are you fl ying with?”“With our auntie.”“Where is she?”“Here.”The check-in lady took a look at the little girl in dark glasses. Then she

looked at the passport.“I don’t understand. So this child is forty years old?”“Yes, if you please, Miss,” replied Philip quickly. “Our auntie had plastic

surgery to make her look younger, and she went a bit too far with it.”“Very aho mikasika!” cried Auntie.The bewildered check-in lady handed back the passport.“All right. Put your luggage on the scale. That chair too.”“What for?” asked Philip mistrustfully.“I have to weigh it. Put it on there!”Philip hesitantly put the red chair on the scale. Some white tickets emerged

out of a printer, and the check-in lady stuck them on the backpacks and the chair. Then she pressed a button, the conveyor belt began to move and the magic chair went off with the luggage.

“What are you doing?” shouted Kuki.“What do you mean?” said the check-in lady in surprise.“Give us back our chair!”“But it’s too big for the cabin. It’ll travel in the baggage hold...”“No, we won’t let you! Give it back to us!” “I can’t turn the conveyor belt backwards. Hey! What are you doing?!”Philip and Kuki had jumped onto the conveyor belt. Tosia jumped after

them, and then the little Auntie, who was afraid that if the chair got lost, she’d stay a seven-year-old speaking in Madagascan for the rest of her life.

Translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones

About the Author

ANDRZEJ MALESZKA

Film director, author of novels, scripts and plays. Winner of Emmy Award and several dozen of prestigious awards at the festivals in Chicago, New York, Munich and others. One of the best European directors for the young audience, an artist famous for his unusual imagination. Fantastic and realistic motifs are interwoven in Maleszka’s works. Usually the plot takes place in real, modern world, where amazing, magic events suddenly appear. We receive a very dynamic plot and strong, authentic emotions of its heroes. In spite of the fantastic elements, his works tell a lot about real problems of contemporary children. Andrzej Maleszka is an expert in working with children actors, who in his fi lms create great roles. The fi lms by Andrzej Maleszka are shown all over the world. His fi lm experience is vividly present in his books, rich in dynamic plots and fascinating visual scenes, in which children’s authentic world never ceases to be present. These modern stories combine realistic and fantastic elements in a way that is very close to young readers. His novels in The Magic Tree series are a Poland’s number one best selling children’s books.

MAJOR AWARDS:EMMY AWARD, USA 2007, for the fi lm “The Magic Tree”.IBBY AWARD for “The Magic Tree”, The Best Children’s Book of 2009.SILVER HUGO AWARD, USA 2007, for the best fi lm series of 2007, “The

Magic Tree”.CHICAGO CHILDREN’S FILM FESTIVAL – awards in 2009, 2006, 2005 and

1994.PRIX JEUNESSE INTERNATIONAL IN MUNICH, Germany, Grand Prix

2008, 2006, 2004 and 1998.MUNICH FILM FESTIVAL 2010 Audience AwardBANFF FESTIVAL CANADA 2005, Grand Prix-Rockie Award. SHANGHAI CHINA WHITE ORCHID FESTIVAL Grand Prix nominationTICEF TAIPEI 2009 Grand Prix & Children Jury Award CAIRO FILM FESTIVAL, EGYPT 2005, two awards.THE NEW YORK TV FESTIVAL, USA 1993, Silver Medal (the fi lm “Race”).B.A.M Festival NEW YORK 2010SCHLINGEL FILM FESTIVAL, Germany, First Award (the fi lm “Brothers”).OULU FESTIVAL, Finland 2009, CIFEJ AWARD. CHRISTIANSAND Denmark 2010 Grand Prix ZLIN FESTIVAL Grand Prix 2010PRIX DANUBE, Bratislava, Slovakia 2005 – Grand Prix.AN EMMY AWARD NOMINATION 1998 (the fi lm “Telejulia”).INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN’S FILM FESTIVAL in Poznań Platinum Goats

at the, Grand Prix 1994, 1998, 2001, 2004.DIVERCINE FESTIVAL Montevideo Grand Prix & Children Jury Award. UNESCO AWARD for “The Babel Tower” at the Prix Jeunesse International

in Munich 1994.

Magiczne drzewo_wyklejka.indd 4-5 2009-07-21 14:02:35

SOME FACTS ABOUT ZNAK

ZNAK was founded in 1959 in answer to a call from the weekly newspaper Tygodnik Powszechny to preserve in book form the work of those writing for it and for the monthly Znak. Despite all sorts of obstacles, including censorship, political upheavals and the tough demands of capitalism, Znak is doing well on the publishing market and is achieving success. For the past few years Znak has been the best literary publisher in Poland and we have been very successful as far as the sales of both adult and children’s literature are concerned. In our publishing work we meet a wide range of needs, producing publications that interpret the world, mankind, history and the modern era, through to top-quality fi ction and non-fi ction, as well as light reading and books for the youngest generation.

Our list includes Nobel Prize winners and bestselling authors such as J.M. Coetzee, Mario Vargas Llosa, Wisława Szymborska., Czesław Miłosz, Margaret Atwood, John Banville, Zadie Smith, Ryszard Kapuściński, Joseph Brodsky, Seamus Heaney, Ian Mc Ewan, Malcolm Gladwell, and JJ. Sempe& R. Goscinny. We know very well how to promote authors and how to achieve high sales fi gures.

RIGHTS DIRECTOR

Anna Rucińskae-mail: rucinska@znak.com.pldirect line: (+48) 12 61 99 506

Społeczny Instytut Wydawniczy ZNAK

ul. Kościuszki 3730-105 krakówPolandwww.znak.com.pltel.: (+48) 12 61 99 506fax: (+48) 12 61 99 502

SENIOR EDITOR

Maria Makuche-mail: makuch@znak.com.pldirect line: (+48) 12 61 99 516