Welcome back to #WorldKidLit month! Today we will be looking at some more wonderful Italian picture books.

Sergio Ruzzier is an Italian illustrator, author, and translator. He was a 2011 Sendak Fellow, won the Andersen Prize in Italy in 2023, and has had two of his books (Fox and Chick: The Party in 2019, and Fish and Wave in 2023) selected as Geisel Honor Books. In 2024, he translated Maurice Sendak’s last book, Bumble-Ardy, into Italian. If you happen to be in Pisa between now and 28 February, 2025, you can see an exhibit of his work, including original plates from several of his books, at the Museo della Grafica there.

I was introduced to Ruzzier’s work at the ALA annual conference a few years ago, where I met him (briefly!) while he was signing books at his publisher’s booth. The books were an immediate hit with my daughter. I appreciated the beautiful illustrations (he takes inspiration from Giotto and Bosch!), and that he often publishes his books in both English and Italian, doing the translations himself. He nows lives in Italy again, after spending many years in New York.

Here are two books to check out for your library or bookshelf!

The Real Story (2023), written and illustrated by Sergio Ruzzier. Ruzzier also wrote an Italian edition, published as La Storia Vera (2024). The story is simple: Cat’s cookie jar is broken and empty, and Mouse is the obvious culprit. When Cat asks what happened – what really happened – Mouse tells a series of more and more outlandish stories in response. There are aliens and bugs and sentient cookies, all up to all kinds of cookie-related nonsense. Mouse, of course, is innocent. The illustrations are delightful – lots of beautiful little details – and the ending is both funny and satisfying. Do we want the truth, or is a tall tale (and an imaginative friend) sometimes what we really need?

NO! Said Custard the Squirrel (2022), written and illustrated by Sergio Ruzzier. Custard the Squirrel may look like a duck to the reader, but as he gently and firmly lets his rodent friend know, he is most definitely a squirrel. Does he want to quack? No! Does he want to lay an egg? No! Does he want to swim in the lake? No! A simple and gentle primer on accepting someone when they tell you who they are.

Ruzzier’s other popular titles include:

• This is Not a Picture Book! (2016) / Stupido Libro! (2016)
• The Party: and Other Stories (2018) / La Festa e Altre Storie (2018)
• A Letter for Leo (2014) / Una Lettera per Leo (2015)

To learn more about Sergio Ruzzier, visit his website.

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Kim Beeman is currently living in Rome. Before moving to Italy, Kim spent over a decade in Asia, working as a librarian at Shrewsbury International School in Bangkok and Tanglin Trust School in Singapore. She also co-founded the International School Librarians in Europe conference, and is a member of the advisory board for the Librarians Knowledge Sharing Workshop. Before working in school libraries, Kim worked as a cookbook librarian at The French Culinary Institute in New York City for many years, where she completed the professional culinary program and was certified as a sommelier through the Court of Master Sommeliers.  [LinkedIn]