Beatrice Alemagna / 开普饭

I strongly believe in children. I have something to say and to show to them. Something urgent. —— Beatrice Alemagna

Beatrice Alemagna 1973年出生于意大利博洛尼亚，毕业于意大利乌尔比诺高等工业艺术学院，是意大利著名的儿童绘本插画家，曾获安徒生奖和其他诸多世界性插画奖项，现工作生活于巴黎。

Beatrice Alemagna八岁起就立志要成为一位画家和小说家，当她回忆起自己儿时的理想时，脸上的表情像是执拗小女孩的一般，她说，她相信孩子身上有很多神奇的力量，而她愿意去捕捉这些令人惊讶的力量。Beatrice Alemagna为法国蓬皮杜艺术中心工作了近十年，在此期间她出版了二十本儿童绘本，作品也被翻译成十三国语言在全世界发行。

Bookworm Baby对Beatrice Alemagna的一篇采访

BWB: What inspired you to write Little Big Boubo?

BA: Since I became a mother (almost four years ago) the child took a central position in my work.

I feel like exploring his issues and the phases he is going through. Obviously my daughter has inspired the book. During this delicate period between two and three years, in which children don't know whether they should define themselves as "little" (like a baby) or already claim to be "big" (like a grown up person). During this time, what it's surprising is that they, by themselves, change their perception respect to their interest. One is "big" or "little" respect to what he desires, at a certain time.

BWB: I love the size of the book for Little Big Boubo. Was this purposely designed for little hands?

BA: Absolutely. As you can see in the little movie I made to present the book, it's easy and pleasant to manipulate the book with tiny hands.

BWB: What has been the highlight of your career so far?

BA: I have lived a lot of beautiful moments. One of them was to receive a letter from Tomi Ungerer telling me that he would love to meet me because he loved my work.

BWB: A Lion in Paris is one of my favourite books of yours. Which title are you most proud of?

BA: Besides the Lion in Paris (which is not only the story of a stranger in the unknown town, but also my own autobiography), currently my favorite books (and for different purpose) are : Jo singe garçon, The five Misfits (to be released in 2015 by wide eyed Editions) and the Marvelous Fluffy squishy itty bitty (provisional title, 2015 Thames & Hudson).

BWB: You use collage a lot in your work, what inspired this love?

BA: Collage allows to get out of your own stereotype, to draw with the obstacle of scissors, and this is very inspiring, for me.

BWB: You're originally from Italy but now live in Paris. Would you say that Paris is now your home forever?

BA: I really cannot answer to this question! Only life will tell.

BWB: A lot of your books feature animals, do you prefer to draw these over people?

BA: I don't have any preferences, in fact I have always loved to tell stories of children, directly related to reality, it's been only a few years since I started to use the animal as a way to talk about the child. And it is a very new and pleasant thing.

BWB: What usually fuels your next book or illustration?

BA: The love of discovery and change.

Beatrice Alemagna的书封设计