With a great deal of charm and buttressed by understated humor, Fern tells a fictionalized story of Renaissance architect and engineer Filippo Brunelleschi and his most magnificent work, the dome of the Cathedral of Florence. When word comes out of a contest to determine who will design the dome, Pippo, a goldsmith known for his beautiful but useless oddities, is determined to win and shed his unwanted nickname. The judges decide upon his visionary design but also decree that he must work in concert with his chief rival and primary heckler, Lorenzo. Pippo is dismayed at the prospect of doing all the work and only receiving half the glory, but his determination to see his plan through to fruition wins out. Throughout, Estrada's timeless art highlights Florence's orange-roofed architecture and colorfully attired citizens. Readers won't realize just how massive a project constructing the dome really was until they arrive at the scale-shifting details of tiny workers, scaffolds, and cranes, a scene like something from David Macaulay's The Way Things Work (1988). Although the primary drama between Pippo and Lorenzo is played out with grade-school churlishness, it offers a handy morality lesson: take joy in one's accomplishments rather than the accolades to which they might lead. An afterword fleshes out some of the historical and engineering details of the dome for those inquisitive about the Renaissance.

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

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.

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.

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.

A slice of history is served à la Florentine for the delectation of curious minds in this revealing portrait of genius Filippo Brunelleschi. Determined and stubborn, he vies with a more physically and cosmetically advantaged rival in a competition to select the designer and builder of a dome to grace Renaissance Florence’s grand cathedral. Estrada’s excellent watercolor and gouache illustrations detail 1400s Florence perfectly, from costumes to workshops to construction sites to the soaring towers projecting above the red rooftops crammed inside the city walls. Fern’s humorous text brings Pippo’s crabby persona to cranky life as he ponders, sketches, schemes, calculates, and competes his way to a glorious completed dome and lasting fame. Extended author’s and illustrator’s notes answer questions that may be raised by the simple text, and a short list of resources (adult materials) is appended. This neat blend of fact and fiction is as seamlessly constructed as the intricate brickwork of the dome on the Duomo.

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.

It’s human nature for people to love a good story about an underdog. Small guy beats big guy. It’s a classic theme – one that kids just eat up!

Tonight, Butler University, a small school in Indianapolis, will battle it out in the Final 4 of the NCAA’s March Madness basketball tournament against huge schools with much bigger sports programs. Back in the Depression, a small thoroughbred horse named Seabiscuit went from long shot to miracle worker when he soundly upset War Admiral – the 1938 Triple Crown Winner – in the “Match of the Century.” And of course, Americans love to retell how their ragtag army of patriots upset the British Empire more than two centuries ago.

The children’s picture book Pippo the Fool fits snugly in this genre. It’s a tale of an underdog, who initially gets little respect, but triumphs in the end. Children going through such a social dilemma will relate, especially kids who are a little quirky or are talented but fly under the radar.

What makes this book published by Charlesbridge an even better story is that the tale is true! Author Tracey E. Fern brings history to life as she retells the unusual circumstances surrounding the finishing of the dome on Florence’s Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Italy more than 600 years ago. It features a contest, a braggart, an underdog and justice – all tied up in pretty packaging, thanks to the charming illustrations by Pau Estrada.

Pippo the Fool also teaches moral lessons. It encourages readers to reach for the stars. It teaches the value of perseverance and the pursuit of happiness, whether faced with ridicule from the town bully, health challenges or unfair circumstances. Perhaps best of all is the belief that justice is worth hoping for!