The Enchantment of Darkness

Francesca Scotti & Claudia Palmarucci

On Christmas day, best friends Pietro and Giulia are playing their favourite game. In the dark, the objects they collect become something else to the touch and in their imagination: a fork can be the key to a secret chest, an old shoe the bed of a fairy. When their hands meet in the dark, it’s natural for them to give a name to their own dreams as well: an archaeologist and a swan, Pietro is about to say; an airplane pilot and a deer, Giulia is thinking. When one of the adults opens the door and turns the light on, the enchantment is interrupted, and Giulia and Pietro quickly hide their dreams in the darkness of their pockets, but without letting them disappear, because they could become a reality tomorrow.

A wonderful game of imagination far away from the real world and the lights of the Christmas tree. A magical story that we want to be true, not only on Christmas day.

Francesca Scotti was born in Milan and she now shares her time between Italy and Japan. With Bompiani she published Ellissi, for which she received the Metamorfosi Prize and the Enriquez Prize in 2017. Her stories have been published in various Italian and international magazines, among which La Lettura, Corriere della Sera, Granta and Kenyon Review. The Enchantment of Darkness marks her debut as a children’s book author.

Claudia Palmarucci studied at the Arts Academy of Macerata where she now teaches. She was selected for the Illustr’arte 2011 and for the prestigious CJ Picture Book 2011. In 2020, her book about Marie Curie (text by Irène Cohen-Janca) won the Bologna Ragazzi Award in the category non-fiction.

 

Books illustrated by Claudia Palmarucci