I NEED A STORY SERIES

A picture books collection about childhood’s most difficult matters, told by light and amazing words. Beautiful stories able to deal with important themes in a delicate way.

Each volume is the result of work carried out by a group of experts working hand in hand with both author and illustrator in order to create these books.

I'm not splitting up

Giulio is a boy who has understood everything.
When his mother and father tell him that they’ve decided to split up, he pretends nothing has happened.
But he knows very well what is going on.
It’s just that he doesn’t like it, he doesn’t agree, he wants to fight against it, he wants to go back in time, to how life was before, when everything seemed perfect. But he can’t.
He has to accept the changes and move on. Giulio knows only one thing for sure, which he repeats to everyone: he’s not splitting up, oh no. This story has been created for those children who have to deal with their parents’ separation. It talks about their conflicting emotions, the need to understand and have honest answers from loved ones.
It is a story to be read together, both young and old; a way of sharing those words which when they are sometimes necessary don’t always come out.

This story is dedicated to those children who are sometimes stronger than adults. It might not seem that way, but adults notice it for sure...

 

 LOOKING AT AND TALKING ABOUTSEPARATION

<<Yesterday we had a family meeting. Like when we had to decide what to call Pepe, who was then called Pepe but could also have been Nino, Zorba, Hugo or Tim, which were our favourite names written on a piece of paper as we thought of them, but then we took a vote and Pepe got three votes out of three. But this time we already have a dog.
I’d asked for a cat, but I knew that the meeting wasn’t about that. Mum’s allergic to cats. So it was about something else.
Mum told me that she and Dad had decided to split up. Dad said that I would always be his favourite son in all the world, even in all the universe including the most far-away galaxies. It’s just that he is going to live in another house.
“You’re right, it’s got a bit small for us four, now that there’s Pepe” I said.
“When are we moving?” It was a stupid question, I know. And then Pepe is only a little sausage-dog. No, that’s not true, it wasn’t a stupid question. It’s the fact that I already know the answer. It was the answer that was stupid. The answer was no.>>

<<Dad said that Mum and I can’t go, that it’s not a house-move: it’s a separation. He and Mum are splitting up. There, they’ve both said it now, they’re quits. Mum sighed. “You see” she said “sometimes adults change their way of loving and staying together. Before they loved each other in a way which meant living and doing everything together, even having a child. Then things change. And now they love each other more like friends. And maybe they don’t want to do things together any more.”
“Which adults? ” I said. “Us” Mum replied, looking at Dad. “And what about the child?” I asked “If you’re the adults, then the child’s me.”
“Well, yes” said Dad. “The child’s you”.

“I mean, if you two split up, what do I do? Do I split up as well? Do I divide myself into two halves?” I asked. “Well, no. You do what you want. But I’m not splitting up”. And I crossed my arms. Mum started to get tears in her eyes, like when she watches romantic films. Dad started to cough, he always does when he gets nervous. They didn’t know what to say, that was clear. Dad messed up my hair a bit. Mum got up and hugged me hard from behind.
I got down from the chair, went over to the sofa and turned on the TV. I had already watched it for an our that afternoon, so time was up, but I knew that nobody was going to tell me to turn it off. Exactly.
I watched seven cartoons one after another and either they were being quiet or they were talking very softly. I never looked at them, even if I wanted to.
But I kept my ears open. I didn’t hear anything important, but I got the impression that I’d dropped a bombshell, that thing about the child - me - having to divide himself in half.
Maybe they understood that I didn’t want to. They’re adults, they know everything and they always under stand what the right thing is. Maybe they understood that this was the wrong thing. Maybe they were thinking about it and they had changed their minds. Wrong...>>

Translation by Jonathan Cox
  

THE AUTHORS

Beatrice Masini, texts: She was born in Milan where she lives and works. She is a journalist , book translator (including the Harry Potter series from the third volume on), editor of children’s books for Fabbri Editori, and she has also published forty five books for children and young people, including illustrated albums and collections of stories and novels, many of which have been published in other languages.

Monica Zani, illustrations: She was born in Faenza where she lives and works as an illustrator and graphic artist. Among the many awards and mentions she has received, she was selected for the “Mostra Illustratori” delle Fiera del Libro in Bologna in 2000 and 2009. Currently she is displaying her work in France.

Illustrated albums •  32 pages •  In 23 x 34 cm format • Age: from 3 years upwards
 
Series: I need a story

Other titles in the series: A foster-mother for princess Martina (on foster care), The house with lots of windows (on the hospitalization of children), Anna finds her dreams (on child abuse), Bibo in the mirror-land (on international adoption), My sister is a four leaf-clover (on disability and family relationships)

© Carthusia Edizioni - all rights reserved

C · A · R · T · H · U · S · I · A