Giovanna Zoboli

Waking up one day, a crocodile goes through his morning activities in this wordless picture-book, from brushing his teeth to eating his breakfast. Heading out the door, his commute begins, taking him across the city on public transportation. This professional crocodile is heading to work... but what and where is work?

Originally published in Italy as Professione coccodrillo, this charming picture-book features an engaging story, one with a humorous surprise ending. Although credited to author show more Giovanna Zoboli - no doubt the creator of the story outline - the narrative here rests on illustrator Mariachiara Di Giorgio's artwork, which is beautifully expressive. I loved the many instances in which passers-by surreptitiously watch the crocodile in their midst, as if trying to figure out what he is doing there. I also loved the inclusion of the occasional other animal commuter in the illustrations. Recommended to anyone who enjoys wordless picture-books, or who is looking for "translations" of Italian and/or European children's books. show less

Italian author/illustrator team Giovanna Zoboli and Simona Mulazzani, who have also collaborated on The Big Book of Slumber and Felix, here delivery a dreamy meditation on the animal world, and the many amazing characteristics of specific animals. As the narrator wishes they had this or that - the contentment of a dog when it is snowing outside, the thoughts of the deer who listens in the wood - it becomes clear that what is sought is more than just special skills. It is connection - to the show more natural world, and to the cosmos itself. This last is evident, as the book closes with the wish for "the huge ears of an elephant to hear what the heavens say..."

Originally published in Italy as Vorrei avere, I Wish I Had... is another of those Zoboli titles that seems so simple and sweet upon the surface, but which offers hidden depths of meaning and delight, for the alert reader. In this respect, it reminds me of Zoboli's The Most Mysterious Mouse, which was the single best picture-book I read, back in 2016. I notice that many reviewers seemed to dislike this one, reading the narrative as a simple wish for various animals' abilities. For me though, the wishes expressed spoke more to what those abilities signified, in the larger scheme. Thus the wish for the singing of the whale as it crosses the ocean is not simply a desire for the whale's own voice, but a longing for a means of self guidance through the darkness, a longing for a method of finding one's own kin. Each of the wishes expressed here could thus be interpreted either on the surface level, or on a deeper level. The accompanying artwork from Mulazzani is just breathtakingly beautiful, with gorgeous details - the designs on the whale's body, the apartment building-looking trees that the lemurs are climbing - that add to the richness of each scene. I don't know that this one will strike everyone as it did me. Perhaps I am over-interpreting, but then, reading is in the eye of the reader, not the writer, so I won't apologize. Instead, I'll respond to the book's title by wishing that more of Zoboli's titles had been translated into English! Recommended to picture-book readers who appreciate gorgeous art, and dreamy, more philosophical texts. show less

A mice-obsessed tabby cat spends his days imagining every different kind of mouse in this surreally entertaining picture-book from Italy. From eighty-eight mice in checkered jackets singing in the rain, to one hundred and forty-four mice riding a triple-decker bus, from the mouse who lost a tooth to the one who wore a red sack, every murine figure imaginable parades through his mind's eye. Every one, that is, save a most mysterious mouse that hovers just out of reach, somehow there but not show more there. Will the cat ever meet this mysterious rodent? If he does, what effect will it have on him...?

Originally published in Italy as Il Topo Che Non C'era, this wonderfully appealing picture-book is presented to the American market by the marvelous Enchanted Lion Books, a small Brooklyn-based publisher specializing in translated children's books. I found the narrative quite entertaining, with its introverted feline hero, determined to imagine one million mice by the time he is eighteen years old. The way in which author Giovanna Zoboli ties the kind of mice being imagined to particular moods on the part of the cat, was very well-done, and quite thought-provoking, highlighting for young children reading and/or listening to the story, that what we think about at any given moment may indeed by driven by our emotional state. The artwork by Lisa D'Andrea is simply delighttul, beautifully capturing the many mice imagined by the cat, as well as the cat's own changeable state. Beautiful, droll, a bit surreal - story and artwork work seamlessly together in A Most Mysterious Mouse, making it one of my favorite recent picture-books from abroad. Well done, Zoboli and D'Andrea, and well done to Enchanted Lion Books for having it translated! Recommended to anyone looking for interesting and slightly off-beat children's stories featuring cats, mice, friendship, and/or dreams. show less

Author Giovanna Zoboli describes a series of slumbering animals in repose in her rhyming text, while artist Simona Mulazzani depicts those animals in their various beds, perches and hideaways. From mice and mole in the cellar, to two camels sleeping on bunk-beds in the desert, the species and locales may vary, but the peaceful quiet of sleep remains constant.

Originally published in Italy as Il grande libro dei pisolini, this lovely picture-book offers a whimsical look at sleeping animals, show more one where beds are lodged securely in trees and birds sleep in hammocks. I found Mulazzani's artwork absolutely beautiful - the deep colors, the stylized, somewhat quirky animal figures, all combined to create peaceful nighttime vistas - but thought Zoboli's text was rather uneven. Sometimes the rhyme scheme worked, and sometimes it felt a little forced to me, as if words were being chosen solely because of the sound they created. As I have read other books from Zoboli that I enjoyed - her A Most Mysterious Mouse was one of the best picture-books I read last year! (2016) - I put a lot of this down to issues of translation, as I would imagine rhyming poetry must be very difficult to translate from one language to another. Despite those moments where I thought the text stumbled a bit, I still enjoyed The Big Book of Slumber, and would recommend it to those looking for new goodnight/bedtime books. show less