Montse Homs (Gurb), a resident of Faber Andorra, has recited poems from her book Faules poètiques (Poetic Fables) to third-grade students from Mare Janer de Santa Coloma school in Andorra. She was accompanied by Laia Domènech, who did the illustrations for the book.

Animals have been a feature of the literary tradition since ancient times. Faules poètiques consists of around fifty short poems that give animals a voice. Each has something to tell us, from the robin to the albatross, the firefly to the rhinoceros, and the krill to the whale. Sometimes they are tender words that evoke a feeling, emotion or memory; at others they are concepts or life projects, or simple images of a real or fantasy landscape. The illustrations, with collages, are full of symbolism and give texture to the feelings.

Faules poètiques is a book to delve into and enjoy alone or with others. A book that will inspire, whether read sequentially or opened at random. Each poem reminds us that animals, by talking about themselves, are talking about humans.

Montse Homs came back to this school on Thursday to give a talk to sixth-grade students. The writer spoke about her unpublished work Joc que viu i fa caliu (A Game That Lives and Makes You Feel Warm), which she will be working on at the Faber Andorra residence until 26 March. It is a poetry collection for children made up of a core poem that talks about poetry and around fifty others that use traditional games as a metaphor for discussing feelings. The title alludes to the poetry collection Del joc i del foc (On Play and Fire) (1946) by Carles Riba: "a combination of two mutually indispensable possibilities where artifice (game) and passion (fire) merge."

Within the chapters we find the poems on the games, which have their own entity and at the same time refer back to one or more verses of the main poem. The poems on games begin with "Baldufa", which conveys the impetus to the fifty poems that follow, taking on new forms and content across each chapter. The poems are inspired by games as they are known, but reflect the present moment, stepping back from morality and didacticism.