No tinc paraules (I Have No Words)

ISBN: 978-84-930221-0-1
Book for Children Collection, number 1 / Wordless book (in Spanish, a brief commentary and a text about the author) / 1^stedition: December 1998 / 18,5 x 23 cm / 120 pages / 54 bicoloured illustrations / with a commentary by Dolores Fuzilli / hardcover with dust jacket / printed at Gráficas Vernetta, Valencia, Spain

The first book published by Media Vaca is a story without words, similar to the “wordless novels” of Frans Masereel. The action takes place on a large ocean liner, where a circus troupe is traveling. Rifacli, our main character, will find himself involved in a mysterious event, which he’ll try to solve with the reader’s help.

Just like the title says, I Have No Words has no words; it tells a story readers will have to discover through some fifty red and black images printed only on the odd-numbered pages. Arnal Ballester uses his knowledge of visual grammar and all the means available to his excellent draughtsmanship to surprise and entertain us, littering the way with dubious certainties and apparent falsity.

Despite having no words, this is a book that should be read with eyes wide open. A song without lyrics is still a song, and a riddle without answer (revealed upside down at the bottom of the page) is no less mysterious. When opening the book, we should do as Dolores Fuzilli, the epilogue's author, suggests we should do when going out for a walk: let us limit ourselves “to carefully observe every detail and to scrutinise beyond the windowsills, where the most interesting things are undoubtedly found”.

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