Description
We all have a special need for magical, fantastical worlds. In fact, this need sometimes just hangs in the air. Traditionally, characters and worlds in any fantasy are many. When fantasy is for the little ones, the worlds are simpler. But Mina's worlds are more complex and there are three of them. Even the weather in them is so different. It all begins on our Lower Earth, in our time. Then the events continue in the second world, that is the Upper Earth. There reigns the fairy-tale Middle Ages or magic, swords and wizards. And the third world is the world of tales from the Upper Earth. Time is mythical-cosmic there. The Balchik Palace is the link between the Lower and Upper Lands. The palace is wintry, beautiful and mysterious. And on Upper Earth, the story takes place in an empire called the Green Realms. The third world is a world of fairy tales that are told on Upper Earth. This world is cosmic and mythical. Galaxies and archetypal beings venture into it. They are called the Owners. They are: The Woman with the Winged Shirt (Samodivata), The Girl with the Fish Tail (The Mermaid), The Old Man with an overly long beard and the Young Man with Fiery Eyes and Little Wings.
The books in the series are magical.
Nature, green is an extremely important element for the series. It is no coincidence that the empire from the Upper Earth is called the Green Realms. The main character's name is Mina Sorbus. And this means - Mina Kalinova (from the plant - Sorbus aucuparia L. or in other words - Viburnum). The viburnum tree has beautiful, red fruits. There are legends about viburnum in both Bulgarian and European traditions. It is said to have magical powers - on one hand to carry and uphold love in all its manifestations, and on the other hand to give courage, growth and psychic powers to anyone who sows a viburnum or to one who uses its fruits as medicine. All character names are formed this way. They are associated with the medicinal, mythical and magical properties of plants.
There is also a whole odyssey in how the book was written. Vesela Flamburari tells the story:
"I come from the town of Dobrich (near the Black Sea). As a child, I sang in the Representative Children's Choir of Dobrich. The choir was from the four children's formations that represented our country outside the border in those times. Well, we used to go to the "Ifkata" children's camp for one summer month of the year. The building of this camp was right next to the fence of the famous Palace in Balchik. Then, for several years in a row, the Palace stood locked, closed, but mysterious and overgrown with greenery. I entered it secretly, just as Mina does, through holes in the fence. I was walking and dreaming. And the camp was not just a vacation! No... Every day we had singing, solfege, piano rehearsals. It was a great school. This is how the school for gifted children "Seven Muses" emerged in the book.
Years later, my husband Dr. Vasileios Flampuraris and I were walking in the Palace and saw a large pink lizard. The lizard stood on a rock and the three of us looked at each other for a long time. Then the books appeared by themselves as if by magic…”
The series is written for those who are interested in European mythologies, magical tales and epic songs. It is a modern, contemporary story that is closely related to the fairy tale in general.
Translated editions
Reviews
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Anna Hells
It doesn't matter if you're celebrating Halloween or the Day of the National Revival Leaders, or you're just celebrating every holiday with a themed book, then you're sure to enjoy the books of the lovely Vesela Flamburari. Why? It's quite simple. These are books written with love. Love for the characters, love for the readers, love for the whole world that needs little glimmers of hope that the impossible can and is possible if we have our hearts, souls and minds in the right places.
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Anna Hells about the second edition (2015-2017)
Let me tell you a story, a very, very personal story. Many, many years ago, a girl found her way to fantasy lands while searching for a way out of the overwhelming lightness of being that had put her in a situation of mediocrity - the result of associating with pathetic average people. At the moment of realizing that our girl is not using a hundredth of her potential and she is wasting time and effort to be something that someone wants her to be, fate placed in her hands a small strange book called "Mina, Magic and the White beaker" by an author with the so exotic name Vesela Flamburari. Such a name sounds sweet and fiery, like flambéed marshmallows on the fire in front of a cozy fireplace in the library of a mysterious castle. And our girl dwelled into a story, the ending of which she learned only a few days ago, and only now realized how big and important is the journey to yourself, which is for yourself, and not for others.
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scifi.bg
8 years ago I wrote a review of the second edition of the children's fantasy "Mina, Magic and the White Beaker" by Vesela Flamburari. I was so impressed back then that I gave her a high rating.
Now I came across the latest edition and the best one. It comes with a new beautiful cover, further revisions and additions to the story and with fabulous illustrations. I feel obliged to write a new review to recommend this novel once again to the new generation of children and teenagers. Not that it needs my recommendation, of course, because it's already recommended at the highest possible level - as part of the third-grade recommended literature. And at the same time, the book was translated and published in several foreign languages, including English, Hungarian and Serbian, it is even available in Braille. -
Knijni Krile
"Mina, Magic and the White Beaker" is one of the few Bulgarian native children's novels that had the well-deserved success of being translated into foreign languages. The wonderful beginning of the fantasy trilogy of the sweet-talking Vesela Flamburari returns to our country - and finally, as befits such a work - in a new, revised, expanded and illustrated edition!
