My Uncle Guido Is a Bricklayer

Sgaldramuni & Irene Volpiano

Guido builds houses for others day and night. And his hands work quickly, but his imagination works even quicker. And in his head is a woman who becomes his wife. But she is no ordinary woman—she can’t resist the temptations of more food, more clothes, bigger furniture, bigger rooms. She is a “house-filler.” Eventually, the house Guido has built for them explodes.

Uncle Guido builds another house, but then history repeats itself. Uncle Guido builds bigger and bigger houses, cutting down trees, paving the hills, filling rivers and lakes with concrete.

Finally, Guido builds another house, this time as big as the world. If this final house explodes, what will happen to his wife, his imagination, and his noble profession?

The first-time illustrator Irene Volpiano captures the surreal and ironic tone of this tale perfectly with her scenarios, her colors, and her immersively atmospheric style.