PETRA

I saw Marianna Coppo's Petra online a couple of weeks ago and immediately knew I had to have it. There was just one problem: there are no English copies in print yet! Only Italian. So I ended up purchasing it from Italy, and you know what? It was totally worth it. With a working knowledge of Spanish and lot of internet translating (thank you, Google), I was able to read the book, and it is every bit as special as I thought it would be. Even if the text were not as wonderful as it is, the illustrations alone are worth all the effort

The story is about a stone named Petra. Petra is unmovable and proud of her existence until a dog passes by and picks her right up off the ground. This act alters Petra's existence forever, posing question after question about what Petra has the potential to be. A mountain? An island? How about an egg? The sky is Petra's limit. Or so she thinks.

The digital illustrations mimic gouache so the colors are solid but soft. We see Petra standing tall amongst the leaves and plants growing around her, as though she is a mountain. When she gets picked up by the dog, it's the first time we truly get a sense of how small of a stone she is. It's pretty adorable.

I very much hope there will be an English translation soon because I'd snag it in a heartbeat!