Skip to main content

Books that Take You There: Italy

Image
By
With the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics fast approaching, Italy is set to take the world stage! Known for delicious food, high fashion, breathtaking sights, and a rich history, Italy is a wonderful setting for any story. These books will help both emerging and middle grade readers learn more about the beautiful country and provide an atmospheric read for anyone looking to learn more about the country sometimes known as "Bel Paese". 


By Dan Yaccarino
New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2025. Picture book. 

Piccolo is a shrew who lives in Italy. He loves making lists to help him plan visits to all his favorite places around the city! As he sets out on his adventure, his plans are quickly derailed as he helps one friend after another with various tasks. This sweet picture book will teach the importance of both friendship and hazelnut gelato. 

Written by Micol Ostow
Illustated by Diobelle Cerna
San Rafael, California: Insight Editions, 2023. Picture book. 

Based on the classic film, Roman Holiday, this story takes place in Rome and follows Princess Ann as she travels to the Eternal City. Things get a little interesting, though, when she runs away and begins an adventure with an American reporter! With beautifully illustrated pictures and a kid-friendly retelling, this book is the perfect way to experience the beloved story all over again. 

Written by Uschi Müller 
Illustrated by Brittany Lane 
Berkeley: Greystone Kids, 2024. Picture book. 

Based on a true story and set at the foot of an active volcano, Mount Etna, this picture book tells the story of Salvatore, a first time goat herder. Determined to make his papa proud, Salvatore is distressed when the goats are acting strangely. However, the goats and their innate instincts might just be the thing that saves the day! 
 
By Ursula Murray Husted 
New York: Quill Tree Books, 2025. Comic. 255 pages. 

Mella, a young girl in Renaissance Italy, knows there is more in store for her than being a chicken girl for the famous artist, Sandro Botticelli. Though girls aren't allowed to be official apprentices, in her spare time, Mella has been teaching herself to paint. However, when one of Botticelli's actual apprentices discovers her artwork and threatens to claim it as his own, Mella must use her courage and wits to make sure she gets credit for what is truly hers!

By Brian Slattery
Toronto: Red Deer Press, 2023. Fiction. 432 pages. 

Set in medieval Italy, Escape to Ponti tells the story of Bec, a 14-year-old boy on the run from his cruel slave master. With the help of an unconventional and dangerous friend, Bec must make his way to the free city of Ponti. With his master right on his heels, Bec must navigate the many twists and turns thrown his way in this epic adventure story! 

By Hilary McKay
New York: Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2024. Fiction. 148 pages. 

Rosa hasn't been given the best lot in life, but despite everything, she still believes in magic. After losing her parents when she was four, she has been raised by her nasty aunt and uncle. When an unexpected turn of events gives her guardians a chance to get rid of her, Rosa is left alone in the city of Venice. Finding solace in the cats that become her companions, Rosa begins to see traces of the magic she always believed in. 

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: A Strange Thing Happened in Cherry Hall

By
A Strange Thing Happened in Cherry Hall By Jasmine Warga New York: Harper, 2024. Fiction. 211 pages. A painting has been stolen from the Penelope L. Brooks Museum and sixth-grader Rami Ahmed is worried he's the main suspect. His mother works at the museum as the lead custodian and Rami spends a lot of time hanging out at the museum while she works. On the day the painting went missing, the only people there were the security guard Ed, the cleaning crew, and Rami. Then, a mysterious girl appears in the museum. She floats around from room to room and only Rami can see her -- and she looks exactly like the girl from the missing painting. To prove his innocence and help figure out who the floating girl is, Rami partners up with an aspiring sleuth at school named Veda and the two dive into unexpected situations as they try to solve the mystery. This is a cozy mystery that is focused mostly on characters and ambiance and only a little on the mystery itself. Don't read this book if yo...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: The Factory

By
The Factory By Catherine Egan New York, NY : Scholastic Inc., 2025. Fiction. 306 pages.  Thirteen-year-old Asher Doyle has been invited to join the Factory, a secretive research facility in the desert which ostensibly extracts renewable energy from the electromagnetic fields of its young recruits. But Asher soon realizes something sinister is going on. Kids are getting sick. The adults who run the Factory seem to be keeping secrets. And the extraction process is not only painful and exhausting, but existentially troubling. Asher makes a handful of new friends who help him with an investigation that turns into a resistance, which turns into...a cliffhanger! The Factory is a page-turning sci-fi with multidimensional characters, an intriguing plot, and refreshingly straight-forward writing. Egan weaves in detail about climate crises and social unrest, making the story's dystopian setting feel rich and plausible. With its sophisticated themes and accessible storytelling, I would recomm...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: Faker

By
Faker By Gordon Korman New York: Scholastic Press, 2024. Fiction. 214 pages. 12-year-old Trey is used to starting over at a new school -- he has the routine perfectly memorized: make new friends, introduce his dad to the wealthy parents of his new friends, and "Houdini" themselves out of there before they get caught running their latest scam. Trey's dad is a master con artist, and Trey has just been promoted to full-partner. Their new scheme for the next big score brings them to the affluent suburb of Boxelder, TN where Trey's dad has cooked up a fake electric car company for investors to buy into. The only problem is that Trey is starting to grow tired of moving around and never putting down roots, especially after forming a fast friendship with Logan and developing a crush on Kaylee, a socially conscious girl in his class. As Trey longs for a normal life, is there any way he can convince his dad to get out of the family business? Gordon Korman is a perennial favorit...
Post a Comment
Read more