Today I’m gonna catch a stag beetle - The case of the Italian publishing house kira kira edizioni

In recent years, the offer of picture books in Italy has increased and, as there are many publishers, both small and large, to survive in such a competitive market, small publishers need to develop their own unique style. This dissertation studies the case of kira kira edizioni, a small Italian publishing house. Founded by Elena Rambaldi, kira kira edizioni is unique case in the Italian context, as it is a publishing house that only publishes picture books by Japanese authors. This dissertation examines those picture books, explaining also the reasons for their publication. To do so, it is organised into five chapters. The first chapter outlines the history of Italian picture books to better understand the context in which kira kira edizioni operates. The history of kira kira edizioni is presented in Chapter 2. Through an interview with Rambaldi, information is elicited on the reasons for its founding, what types of books it publishes and its editorial plans. The picture books translated into kira kira edizioni are discussed in Chapter 3, dividing them into six groups by theme. Each picture book is discussed in terms of its story, illustrations and deeper meaning. In Chapter 4, the five original picture books by kira kira edizioni are analysed, dividing them in two categories. The first are picture books in which both text and illustrations are by Japanese authors. The second are picture books with illustrations by a Japanese artist and text by an Italian author. In Chapter 5, through an interview with Rambaldi, among other topics we find out about the future of the publishing house. To conclude, three appendixes are included: the texts of the interviews with Rambaldi and Tiberi (kira kira edizioni’s main translator), and a list of kira kira edizioni picture books in chronological publication’s order.