It was little Davide, from class 5^B at the G. Marconi primary school in Casale di Scodosia (PD) who won first place in our first children’s poetry contest with the poem L’eschimese:

In famiglia avevo un eschimese
ma abitava in un altro paese,
non viveva in mezzo ai poli
ma in un frigorifero pieno di ghiaccioli.
Gli piaceva collezionare cubetti di ghiaccio
e ogni tanto gli dava un assaggio.
Quello al peperoncino affumicato
era il più buono insieme al prosciutto salato,
invece quello al cavolfiore
di sicuro per lui era il peggiore.
Il frigorifero  era gigantesco
e il suo posto era sempre bello fresco.
Chiunque diceva brrrr.. che freddo polare
invece per lui era come un’isola tropicale.

Davide and his classmates thus won a copy each of Piccole poesie di famiglia and a €50 voucher to spend on books for their class library. 

Thank you to teacher Erica Borin and congratulations to all the little poets who took on the challenge: the pupils of teachers Elisa Mittino (3^B) and Ilaria Angeleri (3^A), from the Casa Angelo Custode Institute in Alessandria; the pupils of teachers Elisabetta Cardella (5^E), Florinda Gennaro (5^G), Novella Peschi (3^C), Patrizia Striano (5^B), Roberta Marconi (5^D), Sara Carpi (4^B), Serena Baldi (5^F), Marianna Speranza (4^A) and Francesca Esposito (3^A), from the I. C. Mozart in Rome; the 4^C of teacher Ginetta Latini, from the Brunacci Primary School in Milan; the 4^A of teacher Ornella Faggion from the G. Marconi Primary School in Casale di Scodosia.

THE BOOK

“My family, seen from the outside, is a bit like any other… But do you think there really is a normal family? I am convinced that in each of us there is some strangeness, each of us has had some adventure, each of us can tell some bizarre anecdote. And the same goes for families! Here you have the complete and extravagant catalogue of my family (of ours, actually, since my sister is the book’s illustrator), told through 50 little poems inspired by our ancestors: there are the kidnappers (which one is the real culprit?), the flight attendant, the tailor, the prisoner and many others!”

A collection of poems written and illustrated in an ironic, fresh and hilarious tone, inviting young readers to look at those around them with different eyes and try their hand at drawing the family tree of their own family.

The ironic and brilliant style of Nobel Prize-winning poet Wisława Szymborska is reborn in the poems of her most trusted friend: Michał Rusinek

“Piccole Poesie di Famiglia” is available also in ebook on the main platforms (Amazon Kindle, Kobo, Apple Libri, IBS…).

Piccole poesie di famiglia by Michał and Joanna Rusinek, translated by Linda Del Sarto, is available in bookshops, on our website and in all major online stores.