Just Right is proud to announce that four books represented by the agency have been selected for the IBBY Italia Choice 2025, a biennial honour list that celebrates the very best of Italian publishing for children and young readers.

The International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) is a global non-profit organisation founded in 1953 by Jella Lepman, driven by the belief that books can help children build a better world. Its mission is to ensure that all young people—regardless of geography or circumstance—have access to works of the highest literary and artistic quality. IBBY Italia, the Italian national section, carries this mission forward by bringing children closer to stories that inspire curiosity, reflection, and joy.

Now in its fourth edition, the IBBY Italia Choice—supported by the Associazione Italiana Editori (AIE) and the Bologna Children’s Book Fair—is a curated selection of the finest Italian books for children and young people. The 2025 list features titles published between June 2024 and July 2025, spanning categories such as picture books, fiction, poetry, non-fiction, comics, graphic novels, and toddler books.

A jury composed of professionals from across the children’s book world has selected works that stand out for their literary depth, visual excellence, and their ability to speak to young readers.

Among submissions from more than 60 publishers, four titles represented by Just Right were included in the 2025 list.

Chromosomes, written by Fabian Negrin and illustrated by Kalina Muhova, published by Edizioni Corsare

The DNA in our chromosomes carries traces of what we are and have been, layered through the generations that led up to us today. A woman in her 90s, Lucia, is the book’s narrative voice. Over a handful of pages, she embarks on a journey in reverse from today to her most distant origins. Propelled by a common thread of glances, pauses and sensations, readers slide back from now to the dawn of our existence. Travelling through time, space and memory, Lucia speaks of how lives are woven from intersections, unexpected ancestors, historical adventures, social classed, languages, countries and climates. Negrin and Muhova remind us that we are all made of the same stuff, a product of dizzying and exhilarating diversity. – Ilaria Tontardini

Micro Space Rabbits, written and illustrated by Alessio Alcini, published by Camelozampa

Alessio Alcini’s first picture book as both author and illustrator is a sciencefiction story set in an ordinary apartment in an ordinary city. Travelling on micro spaceships from far-off planet, the titular tiny rabbits land on a kitchen table, where they meet the young narrator of a tale sure to enchant space-loving boys and girls. This meeting between two worlds unfolds without the slightest mistrust, not even from the adults in the household, who rush off to the supermarket to resolve a major shortage of orange juice, something the space rabbits seems to need urgently. Elegant illustrations in carefully chosen shades of orange confirm the talent of a young illustrator who has already made a name for himself internationally. – Chiara Basile

Hortus Rhapsody, written and illustrated by Giovanni Colaneri, published by ideestortepaper

A flower strolls through the Palermo Botanical Gardens, a surreal and paradisiacal space that encourages visitors to stop, slow down and savour the sensations on offer. The author/illustrator propels the flower through the pages of this book, creating a rhythm aligned with the flower’s actions in a special score that becomes music. Line, sound and space, columns and spiralling architectures all interweave to form a jazz rhapsody that heightens the senses and encourages our gaze to enjoy this singular, unfolding sensory journey. Colours and shapes erupt in an expression of love for Nature, taking from through signs and words. – Silvana Sola

Crack, written by Matteo Pompili and Lorenzo Monaco, illustrated by Luogo Comune, published by Camelozampa

A book built on the idea that everything, sooner or later, will break… and that these moments are opportunities for change and new beginning. An egg breaks for a chick to hatch, stars explode in the sky; the earth splits apart; even our own birth begins with a mighty CRACK. Conceived as a picture books, this work conveys solid scientific precision. Highly effective illustrations convey information, clarity, and resonance to an essential text. These themes and questions are revisited and explored in greater detail in concluding, reflective pages. – Nicoletta Gramantieri

Just Right is honoured to see these four titles stand among the works that embody the excellence of contemporary Italian children’s literature.

This recognition is a celebration not only of the books themselves but also of the authors, illustrators, editors, and publishers behind them—who, through their craft, affirm the power of stories to connect us, nurture imagination, and help young readers grow into thoughtful citizens of the world.