Five stars! This is a lovely book which combines an anthology of the work of Ursula and Celestino Piatti with a brief biography of the couple. As a former child who read the Piattis’ books, and as a former children’s librarian, it was so interesting to learn their background while reliving the books I loved as a child. This is the perfect purchase or gift for anyone with an interest in art, the nostalgia of having read Piatti books as a child, or anyone who wants to share the books of their childhood with the children in their life.

I am so grateful to NetGalley and NorthSouth Books for the opportunity to read and review Piatti For Children.

These stories were charming! I loved the rough edged art and the whimsical plots. Kids will love this.

A colorful collection of seven children's stories written and illustrated by former husband-wife duo Ursula and Celestino Piatti. A fanciful read for young children either as read aloud of for self-read. The Piattis' distinctive art style and narration kindles the imagination in young and old alike.

Thank you to NorthSouth Books and NetGalley, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This collection of stories illustrated by well-known Swiss artist Celestino Piatti (from the '60s and '70s) is a gem as far as the illustrations go. They are so evocative and colorful. At the same time, the stories are a bit disjointed, with an animal alphabet included, as well as several short moralistic tales by different authors. The illustrations tie eveything together, and the kids I shared this with loved them too.

PIATTI FOR CHILDREN is a feast for the eyes from the beloved Swiss artist Celestino Piatti. Combines his seven famous children's picture books into one volume. Perfect for young readers and adults alike.

Pub Date 01 Feb 2022
#PiattiforChildren #NetGalley

Thanks to the author, North South Books Inc., NorthSouth Books, and NetGalley for the ARC; opinions are mine.

I love this collection of Piatti's works. It's fun and vibrant. Most artists, young or old, will appreciate this as a gift.

What a joy to have all these stories and the AMAZING art in one place! Beautiful art accompanies fantastic stories, rhymes, and poems for children. And, while this may be a children's book, it is delightful for all ages.

I love these illustrations soooooo much but the stories are all so bizarre. The first one/alphabet one was my favorite.

Thanks to the publishers for sharing this one. It's a nice collection with some beautiful illustrations. My full review appears on Weekend Notes.

Thank you to the North South Books Inc and NetGalley for the advanced electronic copy of this book. I didn’t know anything about Celestino Piatti before reading this book. I also didn’t realize that this book is a little anthology with 7 of his stories and illustrations, so that was a nice surprise. I also enjoyed the variations on the drawing style with woodblock-like style in some stories and more traditional one in others (the dormouse and the crayfish stories). The selection of stories felt a little disjointed, however, as it combines an animal-based ABC story with a moral filled story about the crayfish and the golden apple.

Having only seen one instance of Piatti's books before now, here is a welcome gift of seven of them in one – making this a lot for design fans and for children alike. I can't take to his overtly naive-seeming, splodgy-woodcut-imitating visuals, however, meaning some of these pieces weren't to my taste. Luckily, he doesn't stick to that one trope – a girl and her pet dormouse is done much more traditionally, for want of a better word, and if anything when a crayfish leads a parade of the disgruntled animals through the forest the style is almost the happy medium between the routine and the thicker-lined work elsewhere.

If you think I should not be concentrating so much on the visual side of things, then there are clues galore that I should be. The title is one, as is the fact that the introduction lists the authors involved, without telling who to credit for each one. (And anyway, the one with the circus visit is rather boring, so perhaps ignorance is bliss.) Some might say that leaving the authorship right to the last is doing writers a disservice, but as his wife-that-was gets three of the credits, we have to let it slide.

Ultimately, the volume is a little haphazard – a fine and rhyming animal-based ABC, a bit of the Christmas story, and a great moralistic piece concerning a singular golden apple all clash somewhat in how different they are. They might only work within the same covers because they've been illustrated by the same man, but would the young reader worry about that? Well, as s/he'll care for some of this and not all, I think three stars is the going rate.

Piatti for Children is a collection of stories illustrated by Celestino Piatti in the '60s and '70s. I adore the illustrations from that era and I can't wait to see the print version of the book, as the quality of ink has improved from the era of origination. The stories are for the most part written by different authors, so it is the illustrations that tie everything together. This would make a lovely bedtime storybook for young children or a collector's item for fans of illustrations.