A boy has planted a carrot seed. His mother, his father and his brother tell him it won't grow. But when you're a child, there are some things you're absolutely sure about, and he knows the seed will bear fruit. So, every day, he pulls the weeds out, waters the soil and awaits. First published in 1945, and never reprinted ever since, this small book by two masters of children's literature, Ruth Krauss and Crockett Johnson, finally comes back to life, to teach us that hope and trust need to be cultivated day by day. [Text in Italian]

What is a workshop? A physycal or a mental space? How do you conceive and set a scientific or creative workshop? How do you choose your material? What should you do, observe, direct, correct? What's more important for you, the work in progress or the goal? This essay by Federica Buglioni, author of Naturalisti in cucina ("scientists in the kitchen"), explores workshop as a powerful instrument for educational purpose, namely at school, focusing on food, a tool all children have access to. Photos by Giulia Bernardelli illustrate texts and activities. [Text in Italian] 

When you look at something, do you ever wonder "what is it for"? And if you do, have you ever wondered if everything has a purpose? Some things have a specific function, others many. There are things of no use, and yet they're very important. José Maria Vieira Mendes and Madalena Matoso created a philosophical book that will help you to find answers and, more important, to ask questions. Because asking is the first step for kids to understand what surrounds them and to feed their intelligence.

Pasqualina: three years old, two hairy wings and a firm conviction: No school. Never, not ever! A book by Beatrice Alemagna dedicated to children who face their first day in school. With sharpness and humour, Beatrice surprisingly turns the situation upside down. Pasqualina's parents have suddenly become very small and fearful, she has no choice but taking them to school with her. Forced to forget her tantrums and fears, she lives fully this new adventure. A delightful and wise story which focuses on the feelings and contradictions of childhood, age of great discoveries and changes.

Seeds have endless and amazing forms. They can move, spread, and adapt to the environment. They're the perfect emblem of life: a seed, no matter how small or big, contains everything it needs to survive. This PiNO book was written by Beti Piotto, an agronomist specialized in biodiversity, and illustrated by the fine naturalist drawings of Gioia Marchegiani. [Text in Italian]

"Words and eggs must be handled with care. /Once broken they are impossible/ things to repair". This quote by Anne Sexton opens the latest poetry collection by Giusi Quarenghi. 77 poems about the words children use to express their inner world. Giusi speaks with touching clarity about rage, melancholia, sorrow, jealousy and joy. While illustrations by Lucio Schiavon animate these pages with energy and movement. La capra canta encourages children to ask to be heard, and adults to listen to them with the highest possible care, in order for words and eggs to keep unbroken.

One day a little girl goes to the armour store. She's so short that the shopkeeper has to lean over the counter to see where that little voice asking for a «beautiful, shiny and flawless» armour comes from. He answers that armours are for knights. But she doesn't give in, and convinces him to take her to the store where armour of all kinds can be found. A fairy tale about the courage, determination and strength of small people, written by Raffaella Pajalich, at her first book, and illustrated by the enchanting imagery of Alicia Baladan. [Text in Italian]

A badger lives in a room with so many rooms that on his birthday he can't let his guests in, fearing they'd get lost; a sparrow opens a school to give lessons about whatever, even lessons on how not to learn anything; a toad tries to imagine the day when there will be nothing to be angry about: these are just some of the characters of these wonderful stories. Toon Tellegen's charming philosophical animals, admired by young and adult readers all over the world, are superbly illustrated by Carll Cneut.
[Text in Italian] 

How many things we can tell with a pencil? This book will make you discover the world through a pencil and a notebook, find out the different features of graphite, and become familiar with its sign and colour. Francesca Biasetton, calligrapher, guides children and adults through a number of activities from drawing to writing, to stimulate manual and observational skills, while recalling the history and geometry of capital letters, the first ones we approach when we're taught how to write.
[Text in Italian] 

The air is polluted and people can't go out. So a little girl takes a sheet of paper and her colours, and starts to make a drawing: she begins by outlining a house, very similar to the grey building she sees from her window, then she decorates it with wild flowers on every floor. Then the building grows into a city, and in the middle of the city she puts an enormous greenhouse where the most beautiful animals live, with a lots of rooms for friends to meet, a swimming pool, a restaurant for snacks, a garden full of flowers and many, many trees.