"I’ve always loved illustrated calendars — I’ve had a special fondness for them since I was a child.
Every year my mum would bring one home from her bookshop wanderings around Florence: the Advent calendar, with its tiny windows, and another one for the year to come.

Those images kept me company day after day, all year long, dissolving the walls of my little room and letting me dream of faraway, magical places.

My journey as an illustrator — and later as an author — actually began with a calendar: the one for Città del Sole, for which I won a contest and created their 2012 calendar A Walk Through Fairy Tales.

Every year since then, keeping my mum’s tradition alive, I spend time and care choosing the illustrated calendars that will keep me company through the seasons — and I always end up buying more than one, for different rooms!
I love discovering the beautiful creations (and self-published gems) made by fellow illustrators… there are so many wonderful ones!

For quite some time, I’ve wanted to make one of my own — and that’s how my 2026 Calendar came to life, featuring my imaginary friends, who over the years have become a little fantastic family of their own, quietly joining my real one.

I hope that those who have loved them within the pages of my books will be happy to find them again through the months of the coming year."