Abstract: The study analyzes José Saramago’s first narrative (also) for children, A maior flor do mundo (2001), the story of a friendship between a travelling nameless little boy and the tallest flower in the world, illustrated by João Caetano. Highlighting the metafictional and self-reflexive elements within the linguistic and pictorial dimensions of this anti short story for children, the study examines the multiple interconnections between the text and the visual para(llel)text of illustrations. Both Saramago and the illustrator simultaneously espouse and subvert the traditional structuring of children’s literature models. The layering of encapsulated meanings within a framework of self-referentiality transposes the story into a fictional game prompting the reader to become aware of interwoven/confused narrative realities. The story is susceptible of parallel/simultaneous readings on several levels, ultimately constituting a “metafiction for everyone”, open to both “shallow” and “deeper” comprehension by adults while preserving the child’s right to recreate his/her own story.

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