Elisa Bartone

The illustrations are stunning. Peppe has 8 sisters, a sick father, and his mother is dead. He looks for work to help his family and finally finds a job lighting street lamps at night. His father is ashamed that he is working in the streets and slowly drains Peppe's confidence. Then one night he decides not to light the lamps and, alas, his sister doesn't come home. So, his father changes his mind and pep talks him to go keep working.
I think the father character is complicated-would love to hear the opinion of children. Themes of responsibility, family, and dignity in all work.… (mere)

My heart goes out to Peppe! He is so committed to finding any job to support his family of nine. When he finds a job lighting lamps, his father unkindly makes him feel that this is hardly a job he can be proud of. His wishes as he lights each lamp shows us what a generous and big-hearted person he is. When finally he gets discouraged by his father's words, and stays home one day, Little Italy is in darkness and utter chaos. When he ventures out to light the lamps at his father's request, he finds his lost sister and finally wins praise from his father.
The watercolor illustrations give us a feel of Little Italy in the time when there was no electricity. It takes us back to the people and street life of those ages.
A touching story with a relatable theme: how we often strive to seek praise from people who have very high expectations of us and are not satisfied with the approval of others around us.… (mere)

Rosina immigrated with her family from Italy. She was bullied by some girls in her school for having a red necklace to ward off the evil eye and talking different. Rosina just wanted to be American so she gave her doll an American name and she demanded to be called Rosie. When her father told her that she would be Queen of their Italian Feast Celebration she was angry because it was not American and that is all she wanted. For the celebration instead of coming to parade as Queen she came out dressed as the Statue of Liberty because she was American. A young Italian boy named Jimmy who was friends with her brother joined her dressed as Uncle Sam and the Parade and Feast continued on. In the last line of the book they decide that they should keep some of their Italian traditions like this wonderful feast. I like this story because it shows that you may feel like you need to change to fit in but really you can be accepted as you are. Those girls may have made fun of her traditions but she had a family and a community that understood and knew why they were important. With their support she could teach others that to be American does not mean to leave her Italian heritage behind. Even though she does not do this in the story I feel that last line kind of sets that idea up when they decide that Italian traditions don't all have to be left in Italy. I think these concepts can be applied to any child feeling different in a new place.… (mere)