Nonna-approved books that sing
From "Nella vecchia fattoria" to "Ninna Nanna," the songs Italian families have sung for generations. Performed and illustrated by native speaking artists.
"My 3yo grandson was singing and dancing along to the songs in the books. What pure joy watching him. Thank you!"
Nonno R., Verified Buyer
Shop the collection
Behind the illustrations
Meet Elettra, the artist behind our Italian collection
Every Lufi & Friends book is illustrated by a native speaker of that language, someone who grew up with these songs, stories and culture.
Elettra
Illustrator · Italian collection
What snack fueled your creativity for the Italian collection?
"You can surely say I have a soft spot for sweets, and chocolate in particular! So, a good slice of bread with Nutella and a glass of milk is a great creative partner on my desk as I sketch my illustrations."
How did you choose the color palette?
"For starters, I am a huge classic animation fan and a 2D animator myself, so one of my influences for the Italian collection was definitely old hand-painted animated movie backgrounds and characters from the '80s and '90s. But I also wanted to infuse it with the personal touch of a palette that kind of reminds me of the Italian countryside, with little references to the aesthetic of the very charming Italian towns."
Which song was the most fun to illustrate?
"I love drawing animals! So I definitely had fun with all the animal characters in the Italian collection. Some songs, however, were particularly fun and challenging. For example, with the singing crocodile I painted for Il coccodrillo come fa in the Italian Animal songs book, I had fun giving him a personality and surrounding him with a swampy audience."
More voices of home
Heritage collections from around the world
