My interview with "Le figure dei libri"

Read it on Anna Castagnoli's blog Le figure dei libri

Tweak Tweak: School Library Journal Review

While on a walk, Mama Elephant’s baby holds onto her tail and “tweaks twice” to ask a question. Little Elephant’s curiosity is piqued many times along the way. The parent-child discussion is sweet and encouraging: “‘Mama? What is that?’ ‘That is a frog.’ ‘What is he doing?’ ‘He’s jumping.’ ‘Can I jump?’ ‘No, because you are not a frog. You are a little elephant. But you can stomp your foot and make a big sound.’” [...] 

Ruzzier’s ink and watercolor illustrations charmingly capture the youngster’s imaginings as she leaps over cliffs (with worried frogs looking on) and croons to an audience of bemused birds. The gentle text is perfect for sharing with toddlers.

Linda Ludke, London Public Library, Ontario, Canada 

Nursery Rhymes

I love chapbooks, especially for children. I recently bought this one on eBay. It must be English, probably 1830's or 40's, even though it bears no indication of publisher, place, or date.

Tweak Tweak: The Horn Book (Starred!) Review

[...] The pairing of Bunting’s traditional text, powered by an elegant repeating structure, with Ruzzier’s offbeat art is unexpectedly fabulous. The surreal, rather Seussian landscape (check out those hallucinatory flowers and purple hills) makes the transition to the spreads of Little Elephant’s imagined experiences effortless; the spare spikiness is also a salutary contrast to the elephants’ rounded forms and general adorableness. 

Martha V. Parravano