Attilio Cassinelli, grasp of youngsters's literature and ease, dies at 100 | Culture | EUROtoday

The little ones don't cease making buddies. And but, they only misplaced the oldest of the gang. Many didn’t even know him personally. He didn't go on a slide with them or run across the park. Even so, he was at all times one of many group. Because from his home, 1000’s of kilometers away, Attilio Cassinelli by no means stopped taking good care of all his tiny companions all over the world. He gave them love and respect. He taught them simplicity. They at all times understood one another completely, though he was very outdated they usually, generally, weren’t even older. He devoted the century of his life to telling and drawing tales for tiny readers. And there isn’t any doubt that he would have continued even with the 101 years that he turned on June 18. Unfortunately, he needed to depart earlier, as his daughter Alessandra confirmed to this newspaper. Even one of the best fables finish. Although Attilio will proceed to make buddies, every time one other baby discovers his books.

There are greater than 200 to select from. And in fifteen languages, together with Spanish, Basque and Catalan (by the Edebé label). Little bear helps the bees discover new flowers. A gluttonous goat eats the leaves that the little mice Titta and Meo had collected with a lot care. Everyone needs to play with Bob the canine, however first every one should resolve a activity. There are additionally little pigs that construct fragile homes, grandmothers with outsized ears or a puppet that can’t lie with out its nostril getting longer. Because Attilio (Genoa, 1923-Novi Ligure, June 7, 2024), as he was recognized, illustrated basic tales, along with inventing his personal plots. Or board video games, dominoes and even a paper zoo. Always, sure, in his unmistakable approach.

“I really don't know what a good children's book should be like. I can only say that I have always sought lightness and synthesis. “I think simple things are easier to carry,” he himself stated two years in the past. Marked and clear strains. Lively colours. Simple tales, at the least on the floor. A contact of humor. Few letters, and capital letters. Sometimes even none. Attilio shied away from nice pretensions. Perhaps as a result of the best of all was sufficient for him: to please those that learn for the primary time.

“I don't write for them, but for me, for the child I was a long time ago. If things continue to work, perhaps it is because the children have not changed much or because, at least when we are young, we have something that makes us all the same,” Attilio stated. He did it for a couple of a long time. In 2020, he celebrated 5, with the primary exhibition that the Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rome devoted to an illustrator. His mom disappeared too quickly. Her father wished her to work in a financial institution. But Attilio wished to attract. Painting, promoting graphic design. And, lastly, youngsters's literature. In 1966, at its premiere on the Bologna Fair, crucial within the sector, he hung in a small stand his debut movie, The tree home. When he returned half a century later, the occasion devoted an ideal tribute to him.

Although the recognitions accumulate. He has been referred to as a “poet in images.” Who is aware of what number of illustrators begin out impressed by the grasp's creations. After he underwent sophisticated surgical procedure within the Eighties, a category of youngsters in Sicily despatched him drawings, letters and a present. “It made me feel important,” he appreciated. As good buddies do, particularly in troublesome occasions.

In his life, he witnessed many: the Second World War, the protests of '68, the (pen)final disaster. But, it doesn’t matter what occurred, his pages continued to supply a refuge product of humanity and tenderness. And, within the course of, they renewed the hope that in the future the world would look extra like his books.

Although Attilio didn’t write together with his again to his environment both. One of his final works, They aren’t linkedso (I'm not linked), reveals the enjoyable that awaits for those who look past the display. His books have been environmentalist for thus lengthy that one can fantasize that they have been within the bookstore of the new child Greta Thunberg. “Tangible primary plots always enter the plots, such as nature, animals, trees, friendship or having a snack together. “The country life, which I prefer,” he defined.

Other issues, nevertheless, he didn’t make clear. He at all times claimed the intelligence of his readers and infrequently positioned a double web page with out textual content in his books. A wink, an invite to play with ideas: “I think that every story should include a pause, a breath made only of an atmosphere, or a silence. And I like to think that a void allows the child to imagine a part of the story.” Attilio trusted his little readers, he knew that generally it was not essential to elaborate. That's what buddies have: they perceive every part with out saying something. Even after they need to say goodbye.