Festive Reading ‘From my Favourite Children’s Book’

Eminent personalities in culture, art and sport were reading aloud to children and their parents from their favourite books in the Church of St Anne in Prague on 30 October 2007.

The event was hosted by Michal Horáček who invited a lot of interesting and pleasant guests to the stage. Václav Havel read two fairy-tales from his book Pižďuchové (The Pizh´duks). His wife, Dagmar Havlová, read an extract from The Story of The Pencil by Paulo Coelho. The director, Jan Hřebejk, participated in the event with the book Nicholas in Trouble by René Goscinny, while the javelin throw world champion, Barbora Špotáková, read an extract from the book Z deníku kocoura Modroočka (Tomcat Blue Eyes' Diaries) by Josef Kolář. Children sang along with the songwriter, Jaromír Nohavica, who performed his song Kozel (‘The Goat’) and later listened to him talking about his favourite book The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. The singer, Aneta Langerová, was welcomed with a thunderous applause by the young audience. Everyone enjoyed her reading Líná pohádka (The Lazy Fairy-tale) from the book Fimfárum by Jan Werich. Zdeněk Svěrák presented a part from his book Tatínku, ta se ti povedla (Daddy, that’s a Good One) and joyfully talked about his childhood. He also mentioned the popular children’s book named Brouččci (Little Bugs) by Jan Karafiát, saying how worried he used to feel for the little insects. Michal Viewegh, with the help of his wife Veronika, read out a life story from Viewegh’s book Pohádky pro unavené rodiče (Short Bedtime Stories for Tired Parents). The festive reading was concluded by Michal Horáček, who, together with his wife, Rut Horáčková, and a little volunteer from the audience, Helenka, read from the Bible, specifically from the Book of Genesis. Petr Hapka, who also recollected memories from his childhood, accompanied the whole reading event with live piano music.