Reseña del libro "The Chess Zoo (en Inglés)"
Where chess pieces come alive as animals, and world champions become legends.What if the knight were a wild black stallion leaping across the board? What if the rook were a hammerhead shark, the bishop a hypnotic cobra, and the king a patient old toad waiting for his moment to strike?The Chess Zoo is a collection of poems that turns the 64 squares into a wild and wonderful menagerie. Each piece reveals its true nature: the octopus pawn, humble at first, dreams of becoming a queen. The chameleon queen glides across the board, and every piece trembles in her shadow. In The Ark of Openings, a parade of creatures marches out: the Kangaroo Defense, the Elephant Gambit, the Lion System and, last of all, the fire-breathing Sicilian Dragon.The second part of the book, Champions, pays tribute to the world chess champions, from Wilhelm Steinitz to Ding Liren. Each one gets a poem of his own and an animal spirit:Capablanca, the "human machine" from HavanaAlekhine and his Siamese cat named ChessSmyslov, the baritone who played chess like musicTal, the fiery magician of RigaPetrosian, the hedgehog with hidden quillsFischer, the fallen angelKarpov, the white anacondaKasparov, the wolf from BakuCarlsen, who never stops calculatingEach portrait mixes real history with poetry, so readers learn who these players were, how they played, and what made them unforgettable.Original ink-and-watercolor illustrations by Jazmín Negro go with every poem. In these dreamlike images, chess pieces and champions merge with eagles, butterflies, tigers, peacocks and goldfish.Perfect for:Young chess players discovering the history of the gameParents, teachers and chess coaches looking for a creative way to inspire kidsPoetry lovers of any ageAnyone who has ever felt the magic of a chessboardWhether you're 9 or 99, a beginner or a grandmaster, The Chess Zoo invites you to see the oldest game in the world through new eyes.About the AuthorJavier Nodras is a Spanish writer of books for young readers and adults. He is passionate about chess, storytelling and the places where imagination and logic meet. He won the “Villa de Rentería” International Short Story Contest for his story “They, My Nails”, which appears in his collection The Hand That Writes Alone, and Other Stories. His books also include The Intergalactic Express, an interactive choose-your-own-path space adventure. He has also written its sequel, El planeta más extraño del mundo, and Fábulas africanas, chinas y japonesas, a collection of classic fables he translated into Spanish. Both of these are available in Spanish. The Chess Zoo brings together his two great loves: the poetry of words and the poetry of the chessboard.About the IllustratorJazmín Negro is a Guatemalan illustrator who works in ink and watercolor. Her artwork blends fine, flowing linework with bursts of vivid color. In The Chess Zoo, she turns every chess piece and every world champion into a surreal fusion of person, piece and animal, creating a visual universe as imaginative as the poems themselves. Read more
