a book of biophilia
Out now! Published 5th April 2024 by StoriediChi Edizioni!
See it on their website here.
Reviews about Biofilia:
Visto in fiera - dossier highlighting the trends coming out of BCBF 2024. ‘Biofilia’ listed as the first of these trends.
Robinson, la Repubblica - BCBF special - Biofilia mentioned as a book to watch out for.
Io Donna, Correira della Sera - Biofilia listed as one of the unmissable highlights of the BCBF 2024.
Andersen n.411 - Review ‘Parole Scelte’, p. 80, by Federica Galvani
tuttolibri n.2384, La Stampa - Review ‘Per far frusciare parole sconosciute’
Children's picturebook showing special experiences in nature. Unique, hard-to-translate words from different languages appear alongside their definition on tracing paper flaps. The flaps then open to show painterly illustrations, gradually moving through autumn, winter, spring and summer.
Runner up in Batsford Picturebook Prize 2021
Painting for “Komorebi” selected for display at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2021
Longlisted for dPictus Unpublished Picturebook Showcase 2021
Original project conception, using tracing paper folds.
A note about the choice of words…
Readers may notice that the words chosen come predominantly from languages of the Northern hemisphere. I agonised over the choice for weeks, discussed them with colleagues and editors, and spent hours researching cultural appropriation. I found some beautiful words in Chinese, various African languages, and indigenous Australian, but felt that an illustration I did to represent these words could potentially end up being inappropriate as a result of misunderstanding, with such a short time frame excluding me doing any decently thorough research. In the end, I thought the best course would be choosing languages from cultures I felt I had at least a tiny bit of familiarity with.
Speaking with the editor, we sincerely hope in the future to do a book, or several books, including an even wider range of languages and cultures!