Monsieur Claquette’s Sunday
Premio Malerba for picture books 2025 – 2nd prize winner
Premio Malerba for picture books 2025 – 2nd prize winnerTomorrow is an important day for Monsieur Claquette: it’s Sunday. Like every Sunday, he will go to his dance lesson. And, like every Sunday, he will be very agitated. Like every Sunday, he will put a lot of effort into calculating every possible unexpected event: he wants to arrive at a very precise time. Not a minute before, not a minute after.
Why? Because at that exact time, his beloved Madame Pochette will also arrive at the dance school!
By the same author or illustrator
-
A Too-Secret Agent
His name? Classified. His mission? Unknown. Even to him! Ettorino Dobecco is a secret agent… or he would be, if he weren’t too secret — even for the Organisation. When a mysterious parcel arrives with his name on it, Ettorino must decide if it’s the beginning of a real mission, or just the biggest swindle of his life. Between confused…
-
The Elves On Strike
An ironic, laugh-out-loud story about the funniest Christmas revolution ever! Why does everyone love Santa while nobody remembers the elves who actually make the toys? Fed up with staying in the shadows, the elves rise up. Led by the ambitious Piotr and his loyal sidekick Filip, they declare independence and decide to run Christmas on their own. But without Santa…
-
Ghosts Are Kindly Asked Not To Scream
From the duo who won both the Andersen and Super-Andersen Prizes comes a spooky, funny ghost story. In Naples’ haunted Hotel Lojacono, four eccentric ghosts revel in scaring guests – until a famous actress books the entire hotel and demands silence. Miserable and forbidden to scream, they stumble on clues to a long-lost treasure and join forces with Armida, a…
-
Who Stole The Star?
Who stole the sheriff’s star? A mystery full of fur, fun, and fuzzy suspects. Sheriff Biscottino McKenzy is proud of his quiet, orderly town. But one morning, his precious star badge goes missing! He immediately suspects the last three “free” rascals in town: Pippy Dakota (an otter who runs a hair salon), Coccola Bill (a dad-badger taking care of his cubs),…
-
When I’m a Caveman
“What will you do when you grow up?” they ask me every time. “You can do this and that, there’s plenty of choice! The manager, the principal, or the administrator. The magistrate, the judge, or the mega-director.” But I will do something completely different, let me say it loud and clear! I will do the best job that exists in…
-
Uncle Cringe
Everyone has an Uncle Cringe. But Neve’s is the worst one of all. And this will be the most embarrassing trip of her whole life. Neve is certain of one thing in life: every family has an Uncle Cringe. And unfortunately, hers is the cringiest of all. Always over the top with unlikely jokes, embarrassing dancing and an obsession with…
-
I Am a Leaf
“One day I am blowing, one day I can’t get going. One day blazing sun, one day there is none.” Day after day, like a leaf in the wind, our emotions change. Sometimes we feel light and free, other times we feel weighed down. One day we feel brave, the next we feel scared and small. Some days we feel…
-
Detective Linus and the Turquoise Falcon – vol. 1
The most famous detective around… at least according to him! With a flair for drama, an eccentric sense of style, and a huge ego, young detective Linus investigates the most absurd and hilarious crimes in town. Surrounded by a cast of equally quirky characters. One summer morning, a postcard arrives at Linus’s house from his friend Giangi. Apparently there’s a…
-
A Colour In The Crowd
A child reflects on his identity in rhyme, starting from the fact that he is something different depending on the context. A tenant in the building; a pupil at school; on the street, for some, he is an unwelcome dash of colour. A colour can become anything it wants when it’s set free. A delicate rhyming tale that’s full of…
-
An Accidental Christmas
During the night of an eclipse, a raccoon lights a beacon to illuminate the wood. The blackbirds, observing the light, mistakenly believe that Christmas has arrived, and they hurry to turn on all the lights hidden among the trees for the occasion, waking up rabbits, badgers and foxes who, rubbing their eyes, look around and shout: “It’s Christmas! We need…
-
Ogre Nostril’s Christmas
What happens at Christmas in the land of ogres, where every year the ugliest house wins a prize? This year, the competition is fiercer than ever. Ogres are pulling roofs off, breeding swarms of bugs, and unleashing explosions, turning their street into a chaotic mess. But one house remains strangely untouched by all this destruction—Ogre Nostril’s home. No matter how…
-
Detective Linus: an Explosive Case for a Crackling Hero – vol. 5
The most famous young detective around. At least, according to him. Linus likes to work in the shadows, but he’s a detective so famous that he’s destined for glory! He claims to have a personal secretary, whom he refers to as Mum for convenience’s sake, and an assistant, Bagarre, a little dog whose potential Mum doesn’t seem to have understood…
-
Detective Linus and the Dishonourable Case of the Missing Honourable – vol. 4
The most famous young detective around. At least, according to him. Linus likes to work in the shadows, but he’s a detective so famous that he’s destined for glory! He claims to have a personal secretary, whom he refers to as Mum for convenience’s sake, and an assistant, Bagarre, a little dog whose potential Mum doesn’t seem to have understood…
-
Detective Linus: His Enemies Hate Him, His Friends Put up with Him – vol. 3
The most famous young detective around. At least, according to him. Linus likes to work in the shadows, but he’s a detective so famous that he’s destined for glory! He claims to have a personal secretary, whom he refers to as Mum for convenience’s sake, and an assistant, Bagarre, a little dog whose potential Mum doesn’t seem to have understood…
-
Detective Linus Incredibly Solves Another Case – vol. 2
The most famous young detective around. At least, according to him. Linus likes to work in the shadows, but he’s a detective so famous that he’s destined for glory! He claims to have a personal secretary, whom he refers to as Mum for convenience’s sake, and an assistant, Bagarre, a little dog whose potential Mum doesn’t seem to have understood…
-
I Wrote You a Book (Just not This One!)
A sweet and tender dedication to Mum, an amusing homage to a child’s imagination. Sometimes it takes a whole book to tell a person how much you love her. And if that person is Mum, it will have to be a beautiful book: full of pictures, difficult words, beautiful things to make her smile, music. And everything will have to…
