Abstract

The book-object brings literary and artistic language closer to children in an experimental way, giving importance to materiality when constructing the narrative. It also promotes a reader who must interact and manipulate the work in order to advance the plot or search for meaning. In this way, a more suggestive and enriching reading is encouraged, which questions the traditional way of reading and takes into account the physical, interactive, playful and laboratorial dimension. The peculiar production of the illustrator Cintia Martín is discussed in terms of design, illustrations and narrative text, specifically the flexagon books Tres cuentos infinitos, Tres historias cortas and El beso, as well as the accordion book Veo bichos and El secreto de las vocales, as part of the Ediciones Tralarí project. The conclusion is that these are handmade artisanal products that require real manipulation of the book for the construction of the narrative and progress in reading, with a clear conjunction between the physical material dimension, verbal and visual language for the total interpretation of the story.