Nicoletta Ceccoli – illustratör

Ever since she could remember, Violet and her mother have been locked away in a tower by the evil Queen Bogdana, who has the kingdom under her spell. The queen has everything she wants except one thing - beauty. Violet possesses this beauty. She also has a secret: though she is very small, both her spirit and her heart are mighty. But when Violet is summoned by Bogdana to start training to become a real princess, her mother is banished from the castle, and they're forbidden to see each other ever again. With everyone's lives in the balance, it's up to Violet to break the spell and reunite her family.

Once upon a time, a rich merchant lived with his daughter. He loved the girl for her beautiful face and her sweet heart. But after his wife died, he decided to marry a second time, and his new wife was selfish and cruel. She had two daughters of her own who were just like her…This story of Cinderella is based on the version collected and published by the seventeenth-century author Charles Perrault. Perrault’s Cinderella echoes the elegance and luxury of the French court of King Louis XIV, and it’s from his version that we get Cinderella’s famous glass slippers. Sarah L. Thomson’s beautiful retelling of the classic fairy tale is matched with the uniquely stunning artwork of Nicoletta Ceccoli rendered in acrylics on paper and digitally. This is a picture book to treasure.

What do you spy with your little eye? Join a young boy on an adventure across the seas and discover the surprising sight he spots through his spyglass! The rhyming, cumulative text with its familiar "I Spy..." refrain invites readers to point out colorful details and engage with the story.