Additional Book Information
Series: NYRB Kids
ISBN: 9781681377360
Pages: 120
Publication Date: October 17, 2023
Glowrushes
by Roberto Piumini, translated from the Italian by Leah Janeczko
“I don’t think I have read anything like this before – a tale of life, death, love and beauty. . . . I hope this unforgettable story finds all the readers it deserves.” —Philip Pullman
Long, long ago, a boy lies confined by sickness to his windowless bedchambers. He can never experience the outside world, never breathe fresh air or feel the warmth of the sun on his skin, so his doting father summons a painter to embellish his rooms with beautiful murals.
The artist sets to work, and soon there is a fabulous world on the walls, a colorful, shifting landscape peopled by shepherds and lovers, criss-crossed by armies and pirate ships. As the boy’s health fades, the artist paints on, turning the simple commission into a generous labor of love. Can he show this child the richness and beauty of the world—and of life itself—with nothing but paints and brushes?
Glowrushes is a heartbreakingly beautiful classic of Italian children’s literature.
Praise
Best for 8 and up, this elegant, moving novella is a classic of Italian children’s literature, filled with understatedly exquisite, transporting prose.
—Imogen Russell Williams, The Guardian
The ideal stocking filler for Italophile adults and thoughtful children who don’t mind a terribly sad ending (hankies at the ready). Roberto Piumini’s books feature in every school and library in Italy. . . . reading this beautiful, if sentimental, story you can see why. . . . let yourself delight in the deepening relationship between the artist and the boy at the heart of this touching, otherworldly, out-of-time novella about friendship, imagination and the power of art.
— Alex O' Connell, The Times (UK)