Over the last 10 years children’s and teens' books focusing on art have become more popular and published. What’s the message worldwide publishers are trying to convey?
A book can be a precious means to get the youngsters to approach the arts. The book is a work of art itself. It has an own “voice” catching, surprising, debating with the reader, just as a work of art does. Again, books may help discover and comprehend the language of art. Indeed, “the child and the artist live in the same country, a land with no borders, a place of transformation and metamorphosis”.

These are just a few good reasons to support the engagement of the publishing industry in arts books. In my opinion, the same reasons brought into being the Scaffale d’Arte in Rome’s Palazzo delle Esposizioni, both a book library and a place where people connect with books and artists, in harmony with the on-going exhibition.

What were the main criteria for evaluation required in Art Books, this year’s special sategory?
Personally, I loved to find out new and unusual books, necessary and not-to-be-missed books to be flickered through and read, by myself or with somebody.

A number of  areas of art have been portayed to children through notable publications. Which other areas do you feel is still missing from the general offering?
I’ll say, contemporary art is still nowadays the big absentee, except for excellent titles from the french publishing industry and the ones “made in USA”. That’s a shame, because tackling contemporary issues and languages may help our children find direction in the complex world we live in.