Find who i am!
Patakis Publications | 2014 | Illustrations: Lila Kalogeri
The phone at Mr. Rigopoulos’s office rings twice. Who could be calling him at this hour? An elephant, a cicada or maybe the great wizard Ratapourim? The book refers to a game a father and son play: a game which begins with a phone call, a theatrical game for two, and many… travels! It is a subversive game that offers both father and son a chance to share, to wander briefly through new places in their imaginations.
The author transforms his simple sentences and his imagination into a vehicle for talking about emotions in a rich and informative manner, with the feeling of love standing out above all. The book is supplemented and enriched by a set of outstanding illustrations.
Such illustrations merit many congratulations.
Critical Reviews
“Awarded the 2014 European Union Prize for Literature, Makis Tsitas celebrates in this book fatherly love, a tireless and unconditional love, yet somehow marginalized. For it is the bond between mother and child that holds, to this day, the lion’s share of interest. Yet, a book written with tenderness and humor comes to remind us about the important role the father plays in a child’s upbringing. Especially when the father is as inventive and expressive of his feelings as Mr. Rigopoulos is, miracles can happen. Only happy and balanced kids can come out of such a bond.”
Sophia Deni, kosvoice.gr, December 2016
“A modern book that has you wondering until the last page what will really happen. Then you find out and can’t help smiling at the tenderness. The lively and rich illustrations by Lila Kalogeri contribute to the simple and immediate text.”
Asimina Xirogianni, fractalart.gr, 09/11/2016
“I just read a great fairy tale. Petros’s and Mr. Rigopoulos’s game is capable of filling a hundred more books and inventing as many games as you can play with your own child. And if you do not have a child, there are plenty of adults around as well!”
Apostolos Pappos, elniplex.gr, 02/04/15
“From his very first appearance in the literary world, the author has been systematically daring to do new things and move from form to form and from a certain targeted age-group to another without any hesitation, but only with deep respect towards whatever it is that he touches upon.”
Elena Artzanidou, thinkfree.gr, 27/01/15
“In his new book, the reporter and author Makis Tsitas describes in a brilliant, spare and touching manner the tender relationship between a father and a son through a boy’s game.”
culturenow.gr, 08/02/13
“Through sentences of tremendous and admirable simplicity, the author offers you the possibility of diving into this nocturnal ritual between the father, Mr. Rigopoulos, and little Petros.”
Vouli Zogou, Eneken magazine, Issue 14, October-November 2009
“This is a pleasant and humorous book. I recommend it as introductory reading, capable of forging a generation of studious readers to come.”
Thanasis Karagiannis, Energos Dimotis newspaper, 31/01/09
“The structure of the prose, the lightness of the text and, of course, the exciting dialogues all empower the imagination of children, guaranteeing them a safe flight towards adventurous and truly admirable worlds.”
Marianthi Vamvoura-Giannarou, Dimokratis newspaper, 05/02/08
“Makis Tsitas is one of those authors who writes texts for children using a limited vocabulary and economical thinking. The limited vocabulary highlights the spare style, but also encompass a poetic quality that lets the young listener or reader fill in the gaps with his/her own experiences and with images from his/her own imagination.”
Giannis S. Papadatos, Diavazo magazine, February 2008
“In only a few pages, Makis Tsitas manages to encompass some of the most moving, most sacred, secret moments a father shares with his little son. Through words unspoken and through untold exclamations, they both welcome the love they share at the same time every night, they nurture it, celebrate it, and caress it. And they conjure this love through a phone game.”
Eleni Sarantiti, Eleftherotypia newspaper, 30/11/07
“The talented author approaches children with abundant love, he touches them with tender fingers in order not to hurt them at the time when they begin their dialogue with life and the world and attempt to impose themselves by intuitively overestimating the power of their own powerlessness. The author is attentive to the messages that every Petros sends to the world. He does not write as a child would write; on the contrary, he is the adult who knows, guesses, decrypts, and interprets a child’s internal world, and depicts it clearly, with simplicity and innocence, wisdom and awareness, in brief stories all of which derive from the everyday lives of children.”
Eleni Choreanthi, Kathimerini tis Kyriakis newspaper, 25/11/07
“Makis Tsitas has an exceptional sense of the bond between parents and children, something which is palpably proven by his latest illustrated book.”
Vivienne Nilan, Kathimerini newspaper, English Version, 26/07/07
“A phone call, a theatrical game for two, and many… travels! With this clever premise, Makis Tsitas lets the story in his latest children’s book Find Out Who I Am unfold. We are talking about a subversive game between a father and his young son, offering them both an opportunity to briefly wander through other places, to bridge the gap separating them from myths and fairy tales. Through the power of their imagination, the two protagonists express their feelings; first and foremost the feeling of love.”
Titina Danelli, Kyriakatikos Rizospastis newspaper, 01/07/07
“Once more Makis Tsitas’s story bears the always welcome characteristics of freshness and originality, characteristics which had already been present ever since his first remarkable book My Name Is Dora. A restless and multitalented person, the author seems to have a particular sensitivity, as well as the ability to converse with children meaningfully, yet at the same time playfully, an ability which is not granted to every author – children’s books authors included.”
Stavroula G. Tsouprou, Diavazo magazine, June 2007
“How touching it is for a father and a son to play a game! How encouraging it is for the relations between parents and children when the child himself/herself wants to make jokes and have fun with his/her father! How adorable it is when a charming little phone dialogue gradually develops between a parent and a child! It is in moments like these, and many more, that this book allows us to discover.”
V.D. Anagnostopoulos, Imerisios Kyrikas newspaper, 29/06/07
“The original topic, the simplicity of the text and the dialogues of Makis Tsitas’s new book will most certainly keep the little ones entertained.”
Maria Kriou, Athinorama magazine, 21/06/07
“This book is addressed to both children and adults from the age of four and up, meaning that parents and kindergarten teachers alike can purchase it and work with it in their own way, with the children’s own delight as their objective.”
Katerina Palaska, Neos Typos, 13/05/07
“This is an original idea on behalf of the author, written in a smooth prose perceived through the eyes of a child; it is a book full of humor, but most of all adjusted to contemporary reality and the everyday life of kids.”
Kostas Trachanas, Neos Paratiritis newspaper, 27/04/07