Gemfeather’s Sayings places the storytelling bird Alemperka, companion of the Slavic god Svarog, at the centre of a vivid retelling of Croatian and Slavic mythology. Through her voice, Jasna Horvat revives myths preserved in folk songs, proverbs, customs and oral tradition.
The stories describe the creation of the world and the first human beings, the sky and the underworld, the world tree, deities, fairies, spirits and giants. Rhymed passages and rhythmic prose make the book especially suitable for reading aloud, while the illustrations reinforce the symbolic character of its mythic world. An explanatory appendix helps readers understand unfamiliar names and terms.
Written for young readers but rewarding for adults, Gemfeather’s Sayings treats heritage as living literature. It preserves cultural memory without turning it into a museum object and shows how Croatian identity can be explored through imagination, language and storytelling.