Italy

Materials from Italy

Just A Girl: A True Story Of World War Ii

In this award-winning memoir translated from Italian to English, a Jewish girl grows up during a difficult time of racial discrimination and war, and discovers light in unexpected places. This classic, powerful story from Lia Levi is adapted for young readers, with beautiful black-and-white illustrations, a family photo album, and a powerful author’s note to readers. 1938, Italy. Six-year-old Lia loves to build sandcastles at the beach and her biggest problem is her shyness and quiet, birdlike voice–until prime minister Mussolini joins forces with Hitler in World War II, and everything changes. Now there are laws saying Jewish children can’t go to school, Jews can’t work, or go on vacation. It’s difficult for Lia to understand why this is happening to her family. When her father loses his job, they must give up their home and move from city to city.As war comes closer, it becomes too dangerous to stay together, and Lia and her sisters are sent to hide at a convent. Will she ever be “just a girl” again? The memoir is full of poignant moments of friendship and loss, dreaded tests at school, told in Lia’s captivating voice, as she grows into a young teen.

A Daydreamy Child Takes A Walk

Even though he has promised his mama he will stay focused, Little Giovanni cannot help but continue to daydream and pay attention to the smaller, more wonderous, details of the world around him. Written by the father of modern Italian children’s literature, Gianni Rodari, with a Batchelder Award winning translation by Antony Shugaar, A Daydreamy Child Takes a Walk is beautifully illustrated by New York Public Library Best illustrator, Beatrice Alemagna and is sure to delight young readers with its assertion of the power and value of childlike wonder.

Come Closer, Tatita

This moving tale introduces the youngest picture book audience to a girl who misses her grandmother, whom she calls Tata or Tatita, as is traditional in many Spanish-speaking cultures and yearns to spend time with her. But Tatita is not here any more. The spare, striking illustrations make it ambiguous whether the girl misses her tata because she lives in a faraway place, is ill, or has passed on. Yet this gorgeous, deceptively simple book’s ending makes it clear that no matter what, your tatita lives in your heart, and you can always hold her in your memory.

Harold Phillip Snipperpot’s Disastrous Day

Lonely seven-year-old Harold Phillip Snipperpot is excited when his parents, not known for their affection, throw him a birthday party attended exclusively by animals, but things take a turn when his guests start destroying the house, forcing Harold to try and save his party from calamity with surprising results.

Telling Stories Wrong

Grandpa playfully recounts a familiar fairytale or his version, at least to his granddaughter, and try as she might to get him back on track, he keeps on adding things to the mix, resulting in an unpredictable tale that comes alive as it is being told.

Featured in WOW Review Volume XV, Issue 2.