Una radiosa modestia

A volte, dagli anfratti insondabili degli scaffali di casa, esce il libro giusto al momento giusto. Su questo blog, qualche giorno fa, abbiamo riferito di una serie di interventi sull’illustrazione e l’albo illustrato, pubblicate sul numero 40 della rivista Hamelin (e potete leggerne qui). Interventi non tutti condivisi, ma indubbiamente preziosi per il dibattito critico intorno a un fenomeno che ha caratterizzato l’editoria per ragazzi italiana degli ultimi vent’anni.

Two wings

One day Mister Guglielmo finds two wings under a peach tree in his garden. To whom could they belong? he wonders. Maybe to someone who’s lost them or left them here but will come and find them. So he starts looking for their owner all over the city. The people he comes across either fool him or think he’s crazy. Until one morning, as he touches the wings for the first time, he realizes something extraordinary. A philosophic story, as light as a feather, that flies off into the sky thanks to the poetic, subtle humour of Cristina Bellemo and Mariachiara di Giorgio. [Text in Italian]

In every pinocchio

Language can be an amazing game for children. All masters of language know that, like Gianni Rodari, and like Giuseppe Caliceti, author of this book that, the stronger your sense of wonder is, the more you’ll appreciate. It can be a tool made of words and images for children to play and learn what’s hiding behind everyday language. New meanings emerge from these words and images by Gaia Stella, a very talented Italian illustrator. [Text in Italian]

Eating at the table of the art masters

We sit down at the table everyday because we’re hungry. But also because we want to enjoy some company, talk, learn. Families, friends, fellows gather around the table: not just to eat but to be together, to celebrate; every culture with their own traditions, their colours, their stories. With this book, Andrea Nante and Alicia Baladan make us understand how the table is a very important place.

... e non so perché

Avrei detto che Giorgia non si spaventasse di niente. Durante il corso Progettare Libri a Sàrmede, nel giugno scorso, abbiamo dedicato un pomeriggio (a dire il vero piuttosto freddo) al disegno en plein air nella Piana del Cansiglio, favoloso catino di pascoli circondato da una corona di boschi.

Una storia nata da un vuoto

Quando ho ritirato la busta che conteneva il compito a casa di Valeria, il postino mi ha lanciato uno sguardo strano. In effetti, nonostante fosse chiusa, dalla busta salivano effluvi di vecchietta. Sì, avete letto bene: proprio di vecchia signora con il cachet azzurrino nei capelli altrimenti candidi, il cappottino con il collo di volpe e la borsetta squadrata con spigoli metallici. Ad aprirla, la busta, è stato perfino peggio.

Before me

“Before me, there was nothing. Well, no. Before me, everything was there.” Luisa Mattia makes us hear the sound of a fresh new life, through the clear voice of a baby. Discoveries, intuitions, bliss, questions raise in front of the greatness of the Universe. A moving cosmos appears under the baby sight  teaching it how to be, and to think of itself, as a part of the whole, just made of the same material: water, wind, light, storm, fire. Until the most mysterious of all: the word.

Two mice

This is a little book with a great adventure. There are two tiny characters you will never want to leave. There’s a simple text, sentences made up of two words, with big lettering for children to improve their reading. There’s mathematics for them to learn counting up to three. There are Sergio Ruzzier’s drawings with plenty of details for them to discover. There’s a story full of emotions, misadventures, joy and an unexpected happy ending. The ideal book children and adults can read together, in search of something new, again and again. [Text in Italian]