Pepper and Me - Hardcover

by Beatrice Alemagna (Author)

A New York Times Best Children's Book of 2024
A Kirkus Best Picture Book of the Year
A Kirkus Best Picture-Book Conversation Starter of 2024
A 2024 Kids' Indie Next List pick
A Society of Illustrators 2024 Gold Medal Winner

From three-time NYT Best Illustrated creator of On a Magical Do-Nothing Day comes a stunning picture book about a little girl, the scab on her knee, and the healing they do together.

In this utterly enchanting and unexpected tale from international picture book star Beatrice Alemagna, a childhood mishap is the occasion for growth and self-reflection. When a little girl falls on the street, scraping her knee, her father tells her not to worry, that "a beautiful scab will form." But she does worry! The scab is not beautiful and it's keeping her from bending her knee! When will it ever go away? By the time the scab--who she has named Pepper--falls off, something astonishing has happened: the girl has come to feel affection for the scab and has a hard time letting go. With an unerring understanding of a child's emotional life and a dash of absurdist wit, this picture book will stand with classics from creators like Tomi Ungerer and William Steig, who explore the weird, funny essence of childhood.

"How could you not immediately adore and trust this voice?"
--Bruce Handy, The New York Times Book Review

"Pepper & Me is a simple story, but is also a secret door to what days and weeks feel like when you are small. Beatrice Alemagna has the key, and we're so lucky that she does."
--Jon Klassen, Caldecott Medalist for This is Not My Hat

Author Biography

Beatrice Alemagna was born in Italy in 1973. At the age of eight, she decided that whatever the cost she would become a "painter and writer of novels" when she grew up. Alemagna is the author-illustrator of more than 40 books that have been translated and published in 25 countries, and she has received numerous awards for her books, including three New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Book Awards, and a special prize at the Bologna Book Fair this past year. She has been nominated numerous times for the Astrid Lindgren Prize.