The Contest Jury

A sculptor, graphic designer, adman, and author, Santo Alligo was still a very young artist when he gave physical shape to Armando Testa’s creation of Pippo, the hippopotamus for the Lines diaper brand. His terracotta portraits from the 1960s capture the essence of his subjects in a characteristically ironic, even disconcerting tone. His poster designs include ‘Toro Calcio’, for the Turin football team; World Fencing Championships (2006); and Turin’s 2021 International POP-APP Conference. Alligo’s articles on renowned illustrators and picture books of the 19 th and 20 th centuries were published by Wuz, Charta, and ‘Tuttolibri’ and ‘Domenica’, respectively the supplements of the newspapers La Stampa and Il Sole 24 ore. Since 2004, Alligo has written and edited all the editions released by the Turin-based publisher Little Nemo, beginning with the four Pittori di carta volumes. He has dedicated three volumes to Ferenc Pintér: Tutti i Maigret; Tutti gli Oscar, and Tutti gli Omnibus. His monograph Antonio Rubino - I libri illustrati pays tribute to Rubino while his Art Deco, Modes et manières d'aujourd'hui celebrates the great French Déco artists. Alligo also authored two monographs on great comic book artists: Attilio Micheluzzi, and Enrique Breccia. He dedicated his portfolio Le Mille e una Notte to Duilio Cambellotti, and curated Dino Battaglia's Moby Dick for Edizioni Lo Scarabeo. His plaquette Colette Rosselli-Non solo Donna Letizia was commissioned by the Montanelli-Bassi Foundation. Alligo has been involved in the design of numerous exhibitions. Between 2020 and 2022, he handcrafted two artist's books printed on quality paper in 99 copies: Great Illustrator's Pop Up Alphabet, and Cento illustratori italiani santificati. These were followed in 2022-23 by Pinocchio. Atlante delle edizioni dal 1883 al 2022 (An Atlas of Italian Editions from 1883 to 2022) in two deluxe and one current edition, followed by the large-format portfolio Manifesti rifiutati, 10 examples of rejected posters printed in 65 copies. In 2024, Alligo released Adelchi Galloni published by MU-SLI (Museum of School and Children's Books), and in 2025, to mark the fortieth anniversary of the illustrator’s death, Ugo Fontana, published by Little Nemo.

A Pedagogy graduate, teacher, bookseller, promoter and organiser of exhibitions and reading projects, Grazia Gotti defines herself as a cultural activist. A co-founder of Bologna’s Giannino Stoppani Children's Bookshop and Drosselmeier Academy, she is also a consultant to Bologna Children's Book Fair. Her publications include: A scuola con i libri. Avventure di una libraia maestra (2013), Ne ho vedute tante da raccontar. Crescere con i libri (2015), La biblioteca dei saperi (2021), Come un giardino. Leggere la poesia ai bambini (2021), Alla lettera (2022), La nave scuola (2023). Her books for young adults include Ventun donne all’assemblea (2016), Tre amiche e una rivoluzione. La storia di Maria Dalle Donne (2023), e Adriana, infanzia, lavoro e politica di Adriana Lodi, the Italian politician behind law 1044 instituting nursery schools in Italy. She curates Herstory. Un racconto editoriale published by Giunti, in which women authors, illustrators, translators, children's literature scholars, and book-industry professionals tell their story of women’s role in the first quarter of the second millennium.

Currently a lecturer at Lisbon’s CEG-Universidade Aberta, Daniela Marcheschi is also president of Italy’s Edizione Nazionale delle Opere di Carlo Lorenzini, the official collection of Collodi’s production. She has promoted the rediscovery of Collodi’s works for adults since the 1980s, authoring and curating many treaties on Collodi. These include essays for Il Meridiano delle Opere series (Mondadori,1995); Introduction, Chronologie a Collodi, Les Aventures de Pinocchio (Le Livre de Poche, 2010); Prológo a C. Collodi, Las Aventuras de Pinocho. Otros Relatos, Edición de F. Molina Castillo (Cátedra, 2010); Il naso corto. Una rilettura delle Avventure di Pinocchio (EDB, 2016); Pinocchio sbarca a Taiwan, in Carlo Collodi, Le Avventure di Pinocchio, Illustrazioni di Lorenzo Mattotti (Locus Publishing-Taiwan, 2025). In 1996, Marcheschi received the Carlo Collodi Special Prize (Gabinetto Vieusseux, Florence).

A Pedagogy graduate specialising in visual education, Silvana Sola is both a teacher and trainer of courses for adults on visual appreciation, illustration and art. She has been involved with children’s literature for over 20 years, curating national and international illustration exhibitions and events, and co-curating publications on the history of children's publishing and its visual content. She teaches History of Illustration at Urbino’s ISIA and coordinates the university’s two-year specialist Illustration course. Sola is responsible for IBBY Italia's national project ‘Bill’ (The Library of Legality), Bologna’s Giannino Stoppani children's bookshop, and a range of activities to promote books and reading.