This is the first visual history of Bulgarian primers and ABC books (1824-2010), compiling more than 130 titles, written by more than 100 authors and illustrated by 60 artists. The study offers a visual interpretation of different historical periods, social collisions, times of war and peace, of economical crises and industrial progress. It also puts an accent on the everyday life, material culture, family relations, and attitudes towards child rearing, guidance, and education.

Svoboda Tzekova is a graphic designer, illustrator and visual artist. Since 2004 her design studio format.bg has realised diverse projects in the field of visual communication, corporate identity and book design. Most recently her work is focused on visual heritage analysis. Tzekova’s last project Bulgarian ABC Book was out in 2015 and won the annual Golden Lion Prize of the Bulgarian Book Association.

format.bg is a small design studio, based in Sofia, Bulgaria. The studio is focused on print design, corporate identity, illustration and animation. The main team members are Anton Staykov - artist, researching visual and mass culture, Svoboda Tzekova - graphic designer, illustrator and art director, and Vassil Tsintsev - web developer. On major projects the studio works with a network of translators, book editors, animators, and architects. Since 2004 the collective has realised both socially and commercially oriented projects for clients from Bulgaria, Switzerland, UK, Sweden, etc. Most recently the studio is working on visual heritage analysis. In 2014 the first research on bulgarian comic history was published under the title Outline of the Bulgarian Comics. The team has been awarded with a national literary prize for book design. Their last project Bulgarian ABC Book was out in 2015 and won the annual Golden Lion Prize of the Bulgarian Book Association.