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Pippo the Fool
Product Code: 16557 ISBN: 978-1-57091-655-7 Binding Information: Hardcover Ages: 5 - 8 Availability: In stock. Price: $15.95 Shop A Local Bookstore
Was Pippo the Fool really Pippo the Genius? The Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence was a marvel of art, architecture, and engineering. But it lacked a finishing ornament, a crown—a dome! The city fathers had a solution: to invite the finest masters to compete for the chance to design a dome. The rumors of this contest reached the ears of Filippo Brunelleschi, better known in Florence as Pippo the Fool. As soon as he heard about the contest, Pippo knew it was the chance he had been waiting for. “If I can win the contest, I will finally lose that nickname once and for all!” This book tells the story of the construction of an architectural masterpiece—Brunelleschi’s Dome. Tracey E. Fern depicts Pippo’s prickly personality with humor and warmth, and Pau Estrada’s richly detailed illustrations bring Renaissance Florence to life. An excellent way to introduce kids to an important moment in Western engineering and history. This book is good for your brain because: Biography, Determination, Problem Solving  Author's Note Pippo the Fool is based on a true story. Filippo Brunelleschi was born in 1377 and grew up in the shadow of Florence's Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. Pippo's father wanted him to become a notary and spend his days drafting legal documents. Pippo had other ideas. He became a goldsmith, clockmaker, sculptor, and inventor. But Pippo's true love was architecture. Pippo designed several buildings in Florence, including the Pazzi Chapel, the Foundling Hospital, and a church known as Santo Spirito. The dome of Santa Maria del Fiore was his most difficult and spectacular project. No one had ever attempted to build such a large dome, and no one had any idea how such a dome could support itself. Many architects believed that without bulky external buttresses, such an enormous dome would simply collapse like a house made of cards. Pippo began work on the dome in 1420. More than three hundred stonecutters, masons, and other laborers worked on the dome. They used an estimated seven hundred trees and seventy million pounds of marble, brick, stone, and mortar. The finished dome soars nearly 295 feet from the ground and took sixteen years to build. Peek inside the book! Download the cover image! If you like this book, you'll love these: Reviews  Booklist - January 15, 2009 The Florentine - March 1, 2009
When you think of the story of Brunelleschi’s dome of Florence cathedral, you think of complicated construction machinery and mind-boggling mathematical calculations, don’t you? Well, you’re right. The story is rife with math and machines. But, it’s also spiced with plenty of anecdotes, the kind that run the gamut of human strengths and foibles. They’ve been in circulation since the Renaissance, and they’re still, even after more than five hundred years, guaranteed to appeal to young and old audiences alike. Surprisingly, these anecdotes were long trapped between the pages of scholarly books, until Ross King released them a few years ago in his popular adult non-fiction book. What was still missing, however, was an accessible children’s version of the Brunelleschi story. Decades ago Anne Rockwell wrote and illustrated Filippo's Dome, but her book is long out of print.Now Charlesbridge Publishing has published the whimsical story Pippo the Fool, written by Tracey Fern and illustrated by Pau Estrada. The words and pictures are certain to enthrall readers. Tracey Fern chose to focus on the rivalry between Filippo Brunelleschi and Lorenzo Ghiberti in a manner that is highly entertaining and sure to provoke many laughs from the younger audience. Some may wonder if it is fair to cast Brunelleschi as an eccentric, spending his time ‘designing peculiar machines no one needed and sketching outlandish structures no one wanted to build,’ but we should take all this with a grain of salt, just as we are meant to chuckle when we read of Lorenzo Ghiberti anachronistically sipping cappuccino as he gossips with the market women. In Pippo the Fool, Brunelleschi’s overriding concern is to convince the Florentines that he does not deserve the denigrating nickname, and just like in all good stories, he succeeds and exits to the applause of ‘Pippo the Genius.’ Because this is a picture book, the illustrations hold as much of our attention as the words. Pau Estrada has plundered the storehouse of images of Florentine Renaissance architecture, machinery and people to come up with his own delightful compositions. Readers who have looked closely at Italian art can play the game of identifying the sources. For a starter, the woman sitting in front of the tapestry weavers on the first page was inspired by Giotto’s Arena Chapel fresco, Woman with a Distaff. The famous ‘Catena’ panorama of Florence served for the illustration of Brunelleschi standing on a promontory overlooking Florence and pondering the dome-less cathedral. And to the reader just fresh from a visit to Masaccio and Masolino’s Brancacci Chapel, the two elegantly robed and turbaned gentlemen strolling into the scene of Brunelleschi racing to the cathedral building site will look very familiar. The book concludes with notes by the author to fill in some of the historical background, and by the artist to reveal how he prepared for illustrating the story. Pippo the Fool will no doubt stimulate many readers to want to go and Oppenheim Toy Portfolio - May 1, 2009
Though many doubted him, Filippo Brunelleschi, better known as Pippo the Fool, believed he could design the dome of the unfinished cathedral in Florence. Based on a true story, this work of historic fiction captures the climate of the times and the spirit of a man who had a dream he was determined to make a reality. Pau Estrada's delightful art adds much to the humor and drama of the tale.
Booklist's Top Ten Historical Fiction for Youth - April 15, 2009
Filled with the exciting details and dramam of Renaissance-era construction, this absorbing fictional tale introduces Filippo Brunelleschi, who designed the dome that tops the Cathedral of Florence.
Italian America Magazine - April 1, 2009
This story is based on the life of Filippo "Pippo" Brunelleschi, the man who designed the huge dome of Florence's cathedral, Santa Maria del Fiore in 1420. His design created a small inner dome to support the massive outer one, took 16 years to complete, but still stands as a marvel of construciton. This funny and endearing tale is accompanied by Pau Estrada's beautifully detailed illustrations.
School Library Journal - June 1, 2009 The Midwest Book Review, Children's Bookwatch - May 25, 2009
A Junior Library Guild Selection, Pippo the Fool is a children's picturebook based on the true story of the man who designed the dome for the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence. One of the masters invited to compete for the opportunity to design the dome, Filippo Brunelleschi was also commonly nicknamed Pippo the Fool. But the dramatic design for his dome was beyond anything previously imagined. Could Pippo the Fool truly be Pippo the Genius? A delightful tale about one of Italy's greatest engineers and architects evolves.
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