My Hideaway
by Melania Longo
When I started writing about the games I played with my brother as a child, I never imagined it would become a book.
First, I started collecting memories. Every evening, after dinner, I took refuge at my desk, waiting for silence and just the right moment. The warm light of the lamp became a sun, helping me to “see” better as I’d search for details—very small things, sometimes hidden.
We were in the middle of the first pandemic lockdown and I did this to “connect with” my brother since we couldn’t in real life. I did it to hear my mother’s voice again—to see her face within me and make it shine in everything around me.
After all these trips into my past memories, I realized that I had captured a particular moment. It had taken a precise shape—one linked to one of my brother’s favorite games. I read what I wrote out loud—first to my husband Alessandro, then to some friends.
With their encouragement, I decided to send what I wrote to my Italian publisher. Alessandro’s illustrations would come later, once we set to work to create this as a book.
This is how Hideaway was born—a book about refuge and escape. It is also, about being in a quiet place, and all the while, going towards what we are yet to know. It is a story that says keep imagining and you can build wings to go wherever you want. Whenever you want.” I hope it will speak not just to children, but even more so, to adults.
The “real” hideaway that my brother and I built— wasn’t under a blanket with a leaf pattern, as seen in the book, but it was under the desk in our bedroom. The entrance was created by two chairs that became, depending on our imaginations, a window or a door. My father still lives in that house and that desk is still there. Looking at it now, the space was and is incredibly small, and yet, it was a magical place to spend afternoons and evenings.
It was a nest, but also a cabinet of wonders—from time to time adorned or inhabited by new things. We would go exploring all over the house, looking for a small treasures to take with us. We were never without cookies or a bit of cake that our mother prepared. Oh, what I would give to be that child again and find myself sitting in the den, waiting for the delivery of her sweet gifts.
As thoughts moved and words flowed, I now realize how this story drew on the writings of some of those who inspired and taught me— Gianni Rodari, Alberto Manzi, Leo Lionni and Bruno Munari. In this book, I hope you find something that will make you think about them.
I’m curious if you also had a hideaway and who you played with. Long live life! Long live the memories that keep us alive!
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Melania Longo is an art historian who specializes in the study of reading images with a focus on responses to illustrated books. She has collaborated with Alessandro Sanna before. Hideaway is her first book to be translated into English.
Alessandro Sanna is one of Italy’s leading contemporary illustrators. His books have received wide recognition, including accolades from the New York Times and the New Yorker. He recently served as Italian Children’s Laureate.