#182 of 1001 · January 29, 2021

There’s a deceptive depth of philosophically thought-provoking material bundled into Pezzetino by Leo Lionni. The book presents us with an abstract geometric universe in which motley organisms composed of brightly colored square tiles roam around a barren landscape of marbled rock. Each is named for its characteristic behavior or environment: the one-who-runs, the strong-one, the swimming-one, the one-on-the-mountain, the flying-one, the wise-one. Far different is Pezzetino (Italian for “little piece”), a single orange square who concludes from his diminutive size that he must be a mislaid fragment of one of his larger compatriots. Seeing Pezzetino’s distress, the wise-one sends him on a quest to the Island of Wham, where he discovers the unexpected truth of his inner nature. Lionni’s clear, expressive writing style and his favored medium of variegated collage blend to form a satisfying meditation on existential questions of identity and belonging. #leolionni #piece #pieces #island #book #books #childrensbooks #beautifulbook #beautifulbooks #beautifulbookcover #beautifulbookcovers #picturebook #picturebooks #picturebookillustration #picturebookillustrations #picturebookart #childrensbookillustration #childrensliterature #illustration #kidlit #kidsbooks #bookworm #booklover #booklovers #bibliophile #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookstagrammers #instabook #instabooks