About this Event
The MFA Illustration as Visual Essay Program at the School of Visual Arts, in partnership with Rizzoli Bookstore is pleased to announce a new series of public conversations dedicated to the art and craft of the picture book.
The fourth event will take place on March 23 at 6 PM, featuring Dasha Tolstikova and Brian Floca.
Hosted at Rizzoli Bookstore, the series brings together fellows, artists, illustrators, writers, and editors to discuss the creative and collaborative processes behind illustrated storytelling.
Speakers will examine the history and evolving traditions of the picture book, exploring how images and words work together to create stories that resonate across generations. Though often associated with childhood, picture books remain powerful literary, visual, and cultural forms for readers of all ages, bridging memory, imagination, and shared experience.
At a time when many cultural institutions face defunding and financial strain, iconic bookstores like Rizzoli help bridge the gap by providing vital spaces for dialogue, learning, and cultural exchange.
PLEASE NOTE: RSVPs are encouraged but not required. Seating is limited and will be first come, first served. Doors open at 5:30 pm.
Can't attend? Order your signed copies of and (please specify that you would like it signed in the comments box at checkout).
In this enchantingly whimsical tale from Italy's great children's author Gianni Rodari, a young onion named Cipollino sets out into the world to study scoundrels, and in so doing, he undoes the tyrannical Prince Lemon, while making a legion of friends along the way.
A 2026 Mildred L. Batchelder Honor Book!
One of 100 Scope Notes’s Most Astonishingly Unconventional Children’s Books of 2025!
One of New York Magazine / The Strategist's Best New Books for Kids Published in 2025!
A Kirkus Reviews Fall Preview selection!
Cipollino is young, brave, clever, and determined—exactly the kind of valiant hero that’s bound to triumph in fairy tales.
In this colorful, episodic adventure story, in which nearly everyone is animal, vegetable, or fruit, Cipollino leaves home and sets off into the world to free his wrongfully imprisoned father. In the process, he faces off against scoundrels of all kinds with wit and humor, while winning both allies and friends.
What hangs in the balance is the freedom of an entire kingdom from the ridiculous rules of the all-powerful Prince Lemon and the dignity of each blueberry, string bean, and spider!
This is a charming, comic, highly readable work of fiction for readers 9 and up, which also has the distinction of being one of Hayao Miyazaki’s "50 Favorite Children’s Books" of all time.
“An extraordinary delight for a reader of any age.” —The New York Times Book Review
Brian Floca explores Apollo 11’s famed moon landing with this newly expanded edition of Moonshot!
Simply told, grandly shown, and now with eight additional pages of brand-new art and more in-depth information about the historic moon landing, here is the flight of Apollo 11. Here for a new generation of readers and explorers are the steady astronauts clicking themselves into gloves and helmets, strapping themselves into sideways seats. Here are their great machines in all their detail and monumentality, the ROAR of rockets, and the silence of the Moon. Here is a story of adventure and discovery—a story of leaving and returning during the summer of 1969, and a story of home, seen whole, from far away.
Dasha Tolstikova has written and/or illustrated many books for young readers including The Jacket, a New York Times Notable Children's Book, and A Year Without Mom, which Kirkus praised in a starred review as “fascinating and heartfelt” and named Best Middle-Grade Books of the Year and Best Middle-Grade Graphic Novels of the Year.
Her latest illustrated book, The Adventures of Cipollino, by Gianni Rodari was awarded the Batchelder Honor in 2026.
Originally from Moscow, Russia, Dasha lives in Brooklyn, NY.
Brian Floca is the author and illustrator of Keeping the City Going, Locomotive, Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11, Lightship, and other acclaimed picture books. He is the illustrator of Avi’s Poppy Stories series, among many other titles, and is the author of Island Storm, illustrated by Sydney Smith. Brian’s books have received the Caldecott Medal, four Robert F. Sibert Honor awards, and have been selected three times for the annual New York Times Best Illustrated Books list. Brian was born and raised in Temple, Texas, and now lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Rizzoli Bookstore, 1133 Broadway, New York, United States
USD 0.00
