“Tončić Petešić”

The picture book Tončić Petešić by Vjekoslava Jurdana, published in 2017, was illustrated by Radovan Kunić. It includes a glossary and a CD with an audio recording of a puppet show performed by students from Viktor Car Emin Primary School in Lovran, presented at the Lidrano competition. At the Monte Librić festival in Pula, the picture book was featured through interactive performances by students from Osijek. Dr. Sanja Grakalić Plenković published a professional review in the journal Književnost i dijete. Popular in kindergartens and schools, the book has been the subject of several academic works and public discussions. In 2021, Alen Klančar presented it in English at the Summer School of Children’s Literature at the University of Antwerp. Rijeka City Puppet Theatre staged it in the 2022/2023 season as part of the Storytelling Theatre Cycle focused on local heritage, with the author’s collaboration on the Chakavian dialect. The production received the Charter for the Promotion of Croatian Dramatic Literature. The aim of this paper is to present the picture book, its literary-artistic, linguistic, pedagogical, and dramaturgical values, and their transposition into a theatrical work.