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Goth Picture Books?
The beautiful nightmares of Nicoletta Ceccoli
A leading figure in European picture books, Nicoletta Ceccoli creates dark and eerie children’s books. But are they really for kids? Or has she created something new: picture books for adolescents and post-adolescents?
Winner of the Andersen Prize in 2001 for best illustrator of the year, Nicoletta Ceccoli is one of the most popular artists in Europe today. In Italy, entire bookstore windows are devoted to her children’s books. She has been featured in Mademoiselle and honored with gallery shows all over the globe (including exhibits in New York, Seattle, and Los Angeles). Cutting-edge, she has inspired hundreds of wannabes and upcoming artists.
We met at International Children’s Book Fair in Bologna in 2013 where more than 1200 children’s publishers from 75 countries were displaying their juvenile wares. We were surrounded, in other words, by hundreds of pastel bunnies and stories about endangered polar bears. In a few corners, however, customers thronged booths where a handful of publishers were showcasing the work of young illustrators following in Ceccoli’s footsteps. As if raised on a diet of Tim Burton and the…
