Italy
135
Bordiglioni, Stefano / Badocco, Manuela (text)
Nidasio, Grazia (illus.)
Dal diario di una bambina troppo occupata (A too busy girl's diary)
Trieste : Einaudi Ragazzi, 2000. – [144pp]
(Einaudi Ragazzi : Storie e rime ; 127)
ISBN 88-7926-329-3
Child - Stress - Allergy - Family
A ten-year-old girl writes down in her diary what she does in her very busy daily life:
back home from school there are lots of homework and she has to cope with swimming, piano
and English lessons. She does everything to meet her parents' expectations, but there is
no time left to play with dolls, to go out with friends or to throw stones into a river
just for fun. One day, she is discovered to suffer from an allergy which proves to be a
psychosomatic reaction caused by stress. Her understanding parents change their attitude
towards their daughter and help her to overcome stressful times. This is a brilliantly
told tale about family relationships, full of witty, real-life dialogues and inner
monologues. The authors convincingly evoke the child's world while the attractive
illustrations capture the narrative highlights. (10+)
136
Calvino, Italo (text)
Ceccoli, Nicoletta (illus.)
La foresta-radice-labirinto (The forest-root-labyrinth)
Mondadori : Milano, 2000. – 50pp
(Piccola contemporanea ; 3)
ISBN 88-04-47923-x
Nature - Rural life - City life - Knight - Fairy tale
This fairy tale by Calvino had been out-of-print for a long time. Now, it has been
rediscovered for this new, well-designed series. Back from war, King Clovis finds his town
surrounded by an inextricable forest. He begins to wander through a labyrinth of roots
that look like branches, while the branches mingle with roots. In this overwhelming
nature, characters are torn between feeling and reason in their quest for harmony. The
black-and-white illustrations with shades of grey and green attractively capture the main
events of this magic story. The illustrator's characteristic style of judicious and
fascinating drawings in this book reaches a strong poetic potential. (7+)
137
DeSimone, Roberto (text)
Altan (illus.)
Fiabe campane (Fairy tales from Campania)
Trieste : Ed. EL, 2000. – [148pp]
(Il Tesoro)
ISBN 88-477-0535-5
Campania - Fairy tale
This is a selection of 21 stories, legends and fairy tales rewritten by the well-known
artistic director, composer, and writer Roberto De Simone. He uses folktale motifs, mainly
taken from the Campania region, to create literary fairy tales. The volume begins with the
famous »Cinderella-cat tale« and features religious figures, country people and the
Neapolitan character of Punch. The warm colours of the illustrations exude a sense of
gaiety. (8+)
138
Giaume, Giovanna (text)
Marabotto, Paolo (illus.)
Il Futurismo : tutto corre rapido (Futurism : everything runs fast)
Roma : Lapis [et al.], 2000. – 8pp
(L'arte tra le mani ; 4)
ISBN 88-87546-20-7
Art - Futurism - Painting
This is the third volume of a new series in which the author introduces children to the
works of the most important artists of Futurism. It presents an interesting way of leading
children to become
acquainted with modern art in an active way: in addition to reading the text and
appreciating the iconographic material, the young readers are asked to cut and assemble
card forms. This will help children to grasp the essence of the Futurist message: the
movement and dynamism of the modern world are expressed by the beauty of speed. (8+)
139
Lobe, Mira (text)
Rapaccini, Chiara (illus.)
Giorgi, Fiammetta (transl.)
Creiamo il mondo! (Let's make the world!)
Casale Monferrato (AL) : Piemme Junior, 2000. – [40pp]
(Il battello a vapore / I pirati ; 29)
ISBN 88-384-8029-x
(German orig. title: Wir machen die Welt!)
World - Creation - Creativity - Spare Time
This Italian edition of a story by the renowned Austrian author features new illustrations
which were nominated for the »Premio d'Illustrazione Il Battello a Vapore« in 1999.
Marco and Lena, brother and sister, decide to switch off television and spend their
afternoon playing »Let's pretend we are ...«. They are quite ambitious because they want
»to recreate« the world; starting from dark chaos they pretend to create the sun with a
ceiling lamp and the moon with a bedside-lamp; a blue carpet and a checked blanket
represent the sea and the earth. Their fantasy goes on with the creation of animals,
plants and also human beings. The stunning coloured pencil drawings enhance the appeal of
this unusual endeavour. The illustrator captures the shifting emotions with her original
visual language of naive flat shapes. (4+)
140
Masini, Beatrice (text)
Monaco, Octavia (illus.)
Ciro in cerca d'amore (Ciro in mood for love)
Milano : Ed. Arka, 2000. – [32pp]
(Collana di perle)
ISBN 88-8072-094-5
Venice - Cat - Love - Diversity
When the full moon shines on Venice, the city of love unfolds all its charms and arouses
the desire
for love – not only in romantically inclined humans but in cats too. Ciro, a Venetian
cat, is looking for »love«, and after many adventures he finds it in a child, who takes
care of him and respects his feline character. The easy-to-read text is accompanied by
beautiful illustrations, which render the magic atmosphere of Venice with gentle colours
and fine contours. (7+)
141
Melis, Alberto
Il segreto dello scrigno (The casket's secret)
Casale Monferrato (AL) : Piemme Junior, 2000. – [186pp]
([Il battello a vapore / Serie rossa / Serie oro] ; 7)
ISBN 88-384-7707-8
Adventure - Judaean History - Adolescence - Love - Friendship
Joachim is the hero of this adventurous and gripping novel set back 2000 years ago in the
Judaean Kingdom. He falls in love with Sarah, a young slave girl, and tries to free her
from the greedy merchant. The strong willed boy finds his only helper in Joshua, a special
friend. Together, they overcome all difficulties and rescue Sarah. This book is an
excellent starting point for young adults to discuss and to reflect upon the values of
love and friendship. The author succeeds in giving a convincing portrait of an adolescent
boy at a decisive time of life, conveying his feelings facing the first major difficulties
of life. (12+) (Premio Il Battello a Vapore [Narrativa]; 1999)
142
Merenda, Adriana (text)
Ferraro, Alessandro (illus.)
Il borgomastro di Francoforte
(The mayor of Frankfurt)
Roma : Nuove Edizioni Romane, 2000. – [168pp]
(Nuova biblioteca dei ragazzi ; 35 : Narrativa)
ISBN 88-85990-73-8
Detective - Football - Humour - Adult - Child
This gripping novel contains all elements of a Sdetective story: Tom Branco, a though,
self-absorbed detective, supported in his work by a bungling assistant and a charming
secretary. But the narration soon reveals that the author parodies this kind of mystery
tale: Matteo, a little boy, contrasts ironically with the only apparently mature adult
world. The play on narrative conventions makes this a thoroughly entertaining book with
humour that children will certainly appreciate. The text has an attractive layout with
black-and-white sketches which capture the dynamic quality of the narrative. (9+)
Special Mention
143
Pitzorno, Bianca (text)
Blake, Quentin (illus.)
Tornatrįs (The return)
Milano : Mondadori, 2000. – [304pp]
(Contemporanea)
ISBN 88-04-47611-7
Television - Orphan - Growing-up - Friendship - Racism
Colomba, an eleven-year old girl, experiences a life full of difficulties after her
father's death and her mother's depression. Television programmes have bewitched Colomba's
mother, who spends the family's money on TV-sales but forgets to pay bills and buy food.
Colomba would like to switch back time. But when she feels that she has »reached the
limits«, her life changes through a series of interesting encounters. The red-haired
protagonist regains a positive view of life thanks to her friendship with people from
different nationalities and backgrounds. Together, the friends fight a racist politician
and his followers who want »to clean« their neighbourhood from poor and foreign people.
This book advocates a fierce criticism of aggressive television policies that try to spy
and manipulate people's emotions. This engaging novel is very strong on characterisation:
it gives excellent insight into the psychological development of the strong-willed
girl-protagonist; the minor characters never remain flat. (10+) <>
144
Roncaglia, Silvia (text)
Cerretti, Cristiana (illus.)
Ma che razza di razza č? (What people is this?)
Roma : Cittą Nuova, 2000. – [45pp]
(I colori del mondo) (I riquadri)
ISBN 88-311-8062-2
Diversity - Equality - Race - Multicultural education
The teacher in school talks about the many different habitats in the world. For homework,
the children have to do a project on the different human races. »Ah, always those damn
projects!«, exclaims the young protagonist. But at home his little brother Pino arouses
in him great interest for the subject. Turning over the pages of a book on the peoples of
the world, Pino always points at the pictures of a »Mommy with Child« even if they wear
different dresses, hairstyles and have different skin colours. Attractively illustrated
with bright pastel line-and-wash drawings, this easy-to-read story will enrich
multicultural library collections. (7+) (Premio per l'Ambiente; 1999)<>
145
Vicic, Ugo (text)
Natalini, Sandro (illus.)
La vendetta delle bestiazze (The beasts' revenge)
Firenze : Fatatrac, 2000 – [62pp]
(I nuovi ottagoni ; 25)
ISBN 88-8222-056-7
Animals - Man
This is a delightful collection of 14 short stories in which the author takes sides with
the animals in a light-hearted tone. The beasts appear as grotesque, their descriptions
and characterisations are full of queer and highly original ideas over-throwing
stereotypes. The book presents an up-side-down world in which giraffes eat dancers, monk
seals attack nuns, koalas are carnivorous and so on. Some tales' endings have catchy
nonsense rhymes that capture the child's spirit of play. The comic graphical
interpretations of these animal fantasy tales are filled with ironic details. (8+)
146
Visconti, Guido (text)
Landmann, Bimba (illus.)
Quel genio di Leonardo (Leonardo, a real genius)
Milano : Ed. Arka, 2000. – [36pp]
(Collana di perle d'arte)
ISBN 88-8072-093-7
Leonardo <da Vinci> - Art - Painting
This accomplished picture book celebrates Leonardo da Vinci, the most famous Renaissance
artist. The story of his life is retold with refined skill and set against the carefully
reconstructed historical background. The narrative is enriched by quotations from
Leonardo's writings, appropriately simplified for young readers. Like all great masters,
Leonardo was accompanied by a student, Giacomo, whom he treated like his own son. The
author skilfully suggests the complexity and extensiveness of Leonard's interests, his
artistic and scientific activities, which are attractively illustrated with colourful,
full page drawings. With her sensitive and painterly style, the illustrator adds an extra
dimension to the story, expanding the children's imagination. (7+)