Vanja and the wonderful events in the House of Shadows. Vanja, #1

THE NOVEL FROM BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA WON "THE LITTLE PRINCE" AWARD FOR THE BEST CHILDREN'S BOOK IN BALKAN REGION (CROATIA, SERBIA, MONTENEGRO AND BOSNIA IN HERZEGOVINA). Vanja is a boy about to finish primary school who grows up in a violent environment without parents and who does not speak, although he can. With him are his friend Nela, who understands him perfectly and speaks for him, and his faithful companion, a cat named Maci.
One day his stepfather becomes especially angry and takes out his rage on him. But in the floor below lives Mrs. Aunt Nada, who hears everything and is not an ordinary old woman - she comes from another time and place and, in her peculiar way, comes to the rescue by summoning her powers from another world. Meanwhile, feisty Nela defends him when one of the notorious boys bullies him.  Soon something entirely unexpected happens when Vanja enters the house of shadows and awakens something unforeseen and far from harmless. The book was written by a professional pedagogue with extensive experience working in kindergartens in Norway.
His deep understanding of child psychology and trauma is woven throughout, making the story not only compelling, but deeply authentic presence. The novel moves through several genres: reality, mysticism, horror and fantasy and explores themes of resilience, trauma, imagination as a coping mechanism, and the delicate line between fantasy and reality.