Cameron Kids Releases Pablo Neruda Picture Book on September 18

ODE TO AN ONION: Pablo Neruda & His Muse
Written by Alexandria Giardino & Illustrated by Felicita Sala

A poetic picture book inspired by Pablo Neruda’s poem, “Ode to the Onion,” this rich, sensory story is also an ode to life’s opposites: earth and sky, darkness and light, grief and joy, as shown through beloved poet Pablo Neruda and his muse, Matilde Urrutia.

Pablo has a lunch date with his friend Matilde, who shows the moody poet her garden. Where he sees conflict and sadness, Matilde sees love and hope. The story is less a biography of Pablo and his muse, and more an exploration of life's inherent contrasts. As Pablo discovers, the onion is a vegetable that is both humble and luminous, dark and light, gloomy and glad, full of grief and of joy—just like life.

In this Junior Library Guild Selection, Giardino’s heartfelt storytelling is complemented by up-and-coming illustrator Felicita Sala’s whimsical, vibrant illustrations. The book’s endnotes include an educational author’s note about the poet and his muse, a poem by Neruda (in both the original Spanish and with an English translation), as well as an archival photograph. Opalescent vellum endpapers mimic onion skin and round off the book's beautiful, detailed presentation.

ODE TO AN ONION
Written by: Alexandria Giardino
Illustrated by: Felicita Sala
Publisher: Cameron Kids (an imprint of Cameron + Company)
ISBN: 978-1-944903-34-3
Format: Hardcover with jacket, 40 pages, 10 x 11.5
Publication Date: September 18, 2018
Distributor: ABRAMS
Retail: $17.95    
Age Range: 4 to 8

Alexandria Giardino is a writer and translator. Her work includes a translation of My Life with Pablo Neruda by Matilde Urrutia and essays that have appeared in the Village Voice Literary Supplement, Marie Claire, Discover, American Poetry Review, and on air at KQED. Giardino lives with her family in Northern California. Ode to an Onion is her first children’s book.

Felicita Sala is the illustrator of several picture books, including Mr. Crum’s Potato Predicament, Big Foot and Little Foot, and My Father Is a Polar Bear. Sala lives in Rome with her family.

CAMERON + COMPANY 149 Kentucky Street, Suite 7 • Petaluma, California 94952
707.769.1617 • Fax 415.223.8520 • http://www.cameronbooks.com

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