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The Thread of Life: Twelve Old Italian Tales
Tales of jealousy and just desserts, the wise and the wicked, slyness and silliness--all weave a brilliant tapestry of magic and merriment in this timeless collection of Italian folktales. Each tale imparts a moral in a humorous and highly original manner, and each is brought to life with lavish illustrations that convey the rich heritage of Italian culture. Full color.
80 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1957
2 people are currently reading
51 people want to read
About the author
Mary GrandPré
62 books970 followersMary GrandPré is an American illustrator best known for her cover and chapter illustrations of the Harry Potter books in their U.S. editions published by Scholastic. She received a Caldecott Honor in 2015 for illustrating Barb Rosenstock's The Noisy Paint Box: The Colors and Sounds of Kandinsky's Abstract Art. GrandPré, who creates her artwork with paint and pastels, has illustrated more than twenty books and has appeared in gallery exhibitions and periodicals such as The New Yorker, Atlantic Monthly, and The Wall Street Journal.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
December 21, 2018
I truly enjoyed reading these tales that provide lessons for living well with others. My favorite is The Wooden Bowl, which teaches kindness and moved me to tears. The illustrations are lovely.
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October 13, 2015Title: The Thread of Life: Twelve Old Italian Tales
Author: Domenico Vittorini
Illustrator: Mary GrandPre
Genre: European Folktale
Theme(s): Folklore, Fairytales, Italian, Humor
Opening line/sentence: There was a time when Italian traders and explorers, finding the way to the East blocked by the Turks, turned west in their search for new lands to trade with--a search that led them to the New World.
Brief Book Summary: This book of folktales tells twelve different Italian tales. The subjects of the stories range from the Italian Cinderella, “Cenerentola” to why the month of March has 31 days. The sprinkling of illustrations compliment, but do not take over messages of the fascinating folklore.
Professional Recommendation/Review #1:
Kathy Broderick (Booklist)
Vittorini’s animated retellings of 12 Italian tales are republished here with beautiful new illustrations from GrandPre, who also did Chin Yu Min and the Ginger Cat (1993). The stories include appealing characters, such as greedy Giocondo, fast thinking chef Chichibio, and the lovely Cenerentola (an Italian Cinderella), as well as a good dose of humor. A sense of Italy’s spirit permeates the volume, which sports Italian settings in the illustrations and Italian names and history in the text. With plenty of white space and images that cut into type, the book’s design uses GrandPre’s palett of earthy browns and plums that lends a sophistication and helps make accessible literary stories that may not be familiar to a U.S. audience.
Professional Recommendation/Review #2:
HornBook
This newly illustrated edition of 'Old Italian Tales' features stories--often witty, sometimes philosophical or sentimental--told in elegant, readable language. Interestingly, justice and just rewards figure in many of the tales. The vigorous artwork, with its simplified, sculptural faces and rich, out-of-the-ordinary colors, adds to the appeal.
Response to Two Professional Reviews:
The reviews of this book both discuss the dynamics of the tales being told throughout it. They touch upon the wit of not only the characters, but also the wit in Vittorini’s retellings. They also discuss the drawings by GrandPre and the way the colors emphasize the moods and culture of the story.
Evaluation of Literary Elements:
This book of folklore does a wonderful job of balancing pictures and text, never overwhelming the pages with one. The illustrations are clear to set the stage in Italy, with fanciful clothing, beautiful countryside, and of course, lots of food and wine. The text uses Italian names and words and is sometimes, but not always incorporated through the illustrations.
Consideration of Instructional Application:
This book would be wonderful for teaching children about the Italian culture. It can also be used to inspire folk tales in children’s writing. The Italian spirit creates dynamic that students can use, or they can use it to inspired by their own culture.
Author: Domenico Vittorini
Illustrator: Mary GrandPre
Genre: European Folktale
Theme(s): Folklore, Fairytales, Italian, Humor
Opening line/sentence: There was a time when Italian traders and explorers, finding the way to the East blocked by the Turks, turned west in their search for new lands to trade with--a search that led them to the New World.
Brief Book Summary: This book of folktales tells twelve different Italian tales. The subjects of the stories range from the Italian Cinderella, “Cenerentola” to why the month of March has 31 days. The sprinkling of illustrations compliment, but do not take over messages of the fascinating folklore.
Professional Recommendation/Review #1:
Kathy Broderick (Booklist)
Vittorini’s animated retellings of 12 Italian tales are republished here with beautiful new illustrations from GrandPre, who also did Chin Yu Min and the Ginger Cat (1993). The stories include appealing characters, such as greedy Giocondo, fast thinking chef Chichibio, and the lovely Cenerentola (an Italian Cinderella), as well as a good dose of humor. A sense of Italy’s spirit permeates the volume, which sports Italian settings in the illustrations and Italian names and history in the text. With plenty of white space and images that cut into type, the book’s design uses GrandPre’s palett of earthy browns and plums that lends a sophistication and helps make accessible literary stories that may not be familiar to a U.S. audience.
Professional Recommendation/Review #2:
HornBook
This newly illustrated edition of 'Old Italian Tales' features stories--often witty, sometimes philosophical or sentimental--told in elegant, readable language. Interestingly, justice and just rewards figure in many of the tales. The vigorous artwork, with its simplified, sculptural faces and rich, out-of-the-ordinary colors, adds to the appeal.
Response to Two Professional Reviews:
The reviews of this book both discuss the dynamics of the tales being told throughout it. They touch upon the wit of not only the characters, but also the wit in Vittorini’s retellings. They also discuss the drawings by GrandPre and the way the colors emphasize the moods and culture of the story.
Evaluation of Literary Elements:
This book of folklore does a wonderful job of balancing pictures and text, never overwhelming the pages with one. The illustrations are clear to set the stage in Italy, with fanciful clothing, beautiful countryside, and of course, lots of food and wine. The text uses Italian names and words and is sometimes, but not always incorporated through the illustrations.
Consideration of Instructional Application:
This book would be wonderful for teaching children about the Italian culture. It can also be used to inspire folk tales in children’s writing. The Italian spirit creates dynamic that students can use, or they can use it to inspired by their own culture.
October 12, 2009
I am of Italian descent, and I have never heard any of these tales before. They were subtle and clever and profound. "The Wooden Bowl" and "The Thread of Life" explore themes of aging. "A Wise Sentence", "The Man, the Serpent and the Fox", "A Strange Reward" and "The Wise Judge" explore themes of justice. "The One-Legged Crane" and "The Adventurous Winnower" show the rewards of a quick wit. The somewhat caricature-like illustrations go well with the overall tone of the collection.
December 30, 2019
Perfectly brief and engaging bedtime stories (most of which I'd never heard before), superbly illustrated with Mary GrandPre's gorgeous works of art. A rare gem that should be in every child's library of fairytales.
September 27, 2019
Great set of tales.
October 22, 2025
I love audiobooks on CD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 13, 2009
The Thread of Life is a collection of traditional Italian tales. I liked many of the stories. I read this as a read-aloud with my kids. Some of the stories were fairy tales and some were more like anecdotes. "The Three Fools" we recognized as a similar story to The Three Silles by Steven Kellogg. And "Cenerentola" was like a cross between "Cinderella" and "Fair, Brown, and Trembling" (she went to church instead of the ball). The other tales were new to us and we liked that they often mentioned places in Italy.
But "The Wise Judge" and "The Wooden Bowl" were nice enough but perhaps best left to another collection. I'm not an expert on Italian fairy tales but I would hope a fair sampling of the style could omit the little quips.
The illustrations are all by Mary GrandPre of Harry Potter fame. Her color palette is inviting and her stylized drawings add an interesting flavor.
Overall I would recommend this book.
But "The Wise Judge" and "The Wooden Bowl" were nice enough but perhaps best left to another collection. I'm not an expert on Italian fairy tales but I would hope a fair sampling of the style could omit the little quips.
The illustrations are all by Mary GrandPre of Harry Potter fame. Her color palette is inviting and her stylized drawings add an interesting flavor.
Overall I would recommend this book.
June 11, 2015
I got this book because of Mary GrandPre's illustrations. And they did not disappoint--so clever, to the point, and gorgeous as well. I love looking at the pictures. But as it turns out I think the stories are just as wonderful as can be. I enjoyed every single one. They are just the right length and each one is special and moving and smart and put a smile on my face. This is a really fabulous book IMHO. It has a dozen wonderful stories and lots of pictures. I think it was quite a bargain.
Want to read
November 9, 2009I checked this out from the library because of Mary GrandPre's illustrations hoping it would assuage some homesickness for Hogwarts. I ran out of time to read the stories but the illustrations are quite nice and it's fun to see a style similar to the HP illustrations even though these are full-color and glossy!
July 13, 2008
I read this for class. The folktales were great for storytelling, the illustrations are the amazing part of the book
March 12, 2015
The illustrations are amazing. I would suggest this book for late elementary school students.
May 5, 2015
A great read especially for Italians. I like how it tells you all different stories. Definitely different than most books
March 12, 2015
The tales are amusing and have good morals, and the illustrations are colorful and interesting.
January 9, 2009
The illustrations are lovely. Mary GrandPré calls it "soft geometry."
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews