Original title: S láskou V.
Genre: comics book
Publisher:
Host, 2025
ISBN: 978-80-275-2744-1
Pages: 72
Awards:
Lustr International Festival of Illustration and Comics 2025 (Winner of Audience Award in both children and adults voting), Muriel Comics Award 2024 (Winner of Best Student Comic Book), Muriel Comics Award 2025 (shortlisted in three categories: Best Comic Book, Best Drawing and Best Comics for Children), Magnesia Litera 2026 (Children's book category), shortlisted for Golden Ribbon 2026 (Comics category), The White Ravens 2026
Have you ever received a postcard that you would love to dive into?
The main character sets off on an adventurous journey. She is young, energetic, and determined, while her grandmother stays at home with her cat and her memories. Through the postcards her granddaughter sends, the grandmother literally immerses herself in beautiful landscapes and becomes part of her granddaughter‘s journey. She visits a pasture full of sheep, a garden with the largest water lilies, and sulfur springs. In this inventive children comic book, one of the most talented Czech comic book authors shows how deep and fullfilling the relationship between people of different generations can be. Even though the grandmother can no longer travel, thanks to her granddaughter‘s loving care and sharing of experiences, she still becomes part of the adventure.
“I live in a bubble of people who still send postcards. I wanted to create something positive that would make people want to take care of their relationships,” says the author.
Reader age: 8+
Selected for New Czech Books 2025, the catalogue published by the Czech Literary Centre
White Ravens annotation:
How nice it is to get mail! Especially from a grand-daughter who is away on her travels. From along her route, she sends postcards to her grandmother, who is old and homebound. And thanks to the postcards, Grandmother can do more than just follow the itinerary. In Kateřina Illnerová´s comic, she steps beyond the walls of her living room and enters the landscapes shown on the postcards. In this way, she experiences her granddaughter’s adventures, too. With muted colours and through the harmonious alternation of full-page illustrations and comic panels, a wonderful story is developed in which reality and imagination are extremely cleverly interwoven. S láskou V. is a profession of love for intergenerational bonds. And it makes the strongest possible case in support of the small gesture, such as writing simple postcards that let a granddaughter keep in touch with her grand- mother and let the grandmother take part in her life.
White Ravens 2026 panel statement:
How nice it is to get mail! Especially from a granddaughter who is away on her travels. From along her route, she sends postcards to her grandmother, who is old and homebound. And thanks to the postcards, Grandmother can do more than just follow the itinerary. In Kateřina Illnerová´s comic, she steps beyond the walls of her living room and enters the landscapes shown on the postcards. In this way, she experiences her granddaughter’s adventures, too. With muted colours and through the harmonious alternation of full-page illustrations and comic panels, a wonderful story is developed in which reality and imagination are extremely cleverly interwoven. With Love, G. is a profession of love for intergenerational bonds. And it makes the strongest possible case in support of the small gesture, such as writing simple postcards that let a granddaughter keep in touch with her grandmother and let the grandmother take part in her life.
Magnesia Litera 2026 panel statement:
"In this tender-hearted tale of a strong intergenerational bond, the picturesque postcards that the titular G. sends her grandmother from exciting holiday trips are transformed into portals into her adventures. While one of them experiences these adventures first-hand, the other one sets out to discover everything from the comfort of her living-room armchair (accompanied by the indispensable house cat). Both of them duly visit sheep pastures and gardens full of water lilies, frosty mountain peaks and sulphur springs. The poetic story of one of the most promising Czech comics for youngsters was originally written as a university thesis and in 2024 received the Muriel Award for the best student comics. The story flows along in a somnolent atmosphere of summer enchantment, lavishly unstinting in its ideas and jokes, demonstrating on every page an exceptional understanding of the essentials of comic storytelling. This sweet little book with its playful visual stylization provides a great reading experience almost fortuitously."
Muriel 2025 panel statements:
Best comic book
"Kateřina Illnerová’s comic book is a joy to hold in your hands. The binding, the selected paper, the humorously crafted endpapers and many other small details reveal that neither the author nor the publisher have sold us short, and that they have taken every care in preparing and printing this comic. There is nothing to criticize about the script or the artwork. It is truly a family comic. Children will enjoy the funny ideas and fantasy-filled pictures. Adult readers can go back years and years and look at the world through children’s eyes again."
Best drawing
"The great advantage of Kateřina Illnerová’s drawings is their playfulness, imagination and subtle poetics. She works easily and resourcefully with the composition of the pages, creating a world in her comics that you will fall in love with from the first page. Her masterful work with colour is also crucial. Each chapter has its own typical colourful atmosphere, while the comics are colour-coordinated as a whole. In With Love, G., the author has created a world that you will not want to come back from."
Best comics for children
"Kateřina Illnerová’s award-winning thesis has been published in a well-deserved book format. It captivates readers at first glance with its delicate drawings and pastel colours. The author’s joy in the unlimited possibilities of visual storytelling is evident on every page, and her imaginative work with panels dynamically conveys the mini-adventures shared between a granddaughter and her grandmother. Postcards here become portals to distant lands, into which the grandmother literally dives with every card her granddaughter sends her from her travels to Bonsailand. The book is a kind depiction of a warm intergenerational relationship and, thanks to its treatment, has the potential to appeal to readers across generations."
