Simona Kossak was a well-known biologist, a researcher into wild animals, and a populariser of nature studies. Simona is a universal story about a person who devoted her entire life to the study of nature and environmental protection.
Born into a family of outstanding Polish painters, Simona quit the urban and artistic world which she didn’t fit in to and went to live in the heart of the Białowieża Forest, creating over the course of several decades a sanctuary for wild animals in need of help in her wooden house. In the book we will see dogs, European bison, owls and buzzards living with people and beside people, inquisitive donkeys and crafty ravens, tame wild boars, elk, sheep and badgers. And dormice sleeping in China teacups. Simona was a woman who impressed with her courage, uncompromising nature, and determination. Maria Strzelecka’s gorgeous, original, evocative illustrations present the protagonist in a fairytale, but yet simultaneously authentic world of nature, stressing the sensitivity, empathy and genuine humanity of Simona Kossak.
Biserka Čejović, translated by Kate Webster
