For Love by Cristina Neri

"She hummed softly while she worked, 

inhaling all the love her father exhaled her way."

I will begin with some abridged text quotes:

Papa, why do bees exist? For love he replied, bees exist for love.

Papa, why do snails exist? For love my child. Snails exist for love.

Papa, why do worms exist? For love. Worms exist for love was all that he said.

The little girl named Carina, falls, head first, into a prickly cactus plant while trying to rescue a beetle from a spider web. This is a moment that will make all readers gasp.

But Papa, why do spines exist? And he replies again. For love. Spines exist for love. 

But Papa, I don’t understand how everything can exist for love? 

He replies – my child nothing can exist without love.

Every day Carina and her father leave their little white washed cottage near a seaside fishing village, climbing a treacherous path with their donkey to a parcel of land where her father grows their crops of beans and tomatoes. 

Of all the books submitted for New Illustrator and Picture Book in 2021 for the 2022 awards, For Love by Christina Neri, published by LakePress was the only book we received with a dust jacket. I know they are an expensive extra but seeing that dust jacket I was sure this would be a carefully designed book. And I was right!

This book contains a rich vocabulary – words such as the eternal sea; spellbound by the magic of the retreating moon, slumbering volcano, and terrace walls built from pebbles spat out from the sea.

Cristina Neri uses a very appealing palette of colours, shades of dark denim blue, brighter reds, green and yellow, for her digital graphic art. She uses matt paper and fills each illustration with patterns of fine lines which give her pages texture. I love the way Cristina Neri shows emotional depth in the way she draws the eyes of the young girl and her father. And the young girl has delicate pink cheeks reminiscent of the art by Austrian illustrator Julie Volk.  Every page turn is interesting and at times even surprising. This book celebrates the relationship between a father and his daughter, patience, the reassurances that come from daily routines and the importance of love in a family. 

I just have two very tiny criticisms relating to the design of this book (even though I adore the design it could be even better). Firstly I wish the end papers had been illustrated although the red colour does echo the title. Secondly the front fly leaf has author information but this should be printed on the back fly leaf leaving the front fly leaf for the blurb such as the one on the back cover. This is the usual convention with dust jackets. 

Take a look at this detailed review in Reading Time. Here is the trailer where you can see inside this book. 

One of the New Illustrator judges for the CBCA 2022 awards said: The beautiful illustrations in this book perfectly complement the gentle story and theme. The choice of medium and style is original, and I love how the blue shades work to enhance the brighter reds, greens and yellows, with recurring symbols of love and nature throughout. 

The story is set on the island of Salina, one of the seven islands of the Aeolian archipelago located just off the north coast of Sicily. 

For Love was shortlisted for the 2022 CBCA New Illustrator award - one of six special titles.

The judges said: This is a very assured first book. The illustrations enhance the story line — providing further information and insight into character, setting, plot and theme. The choice of medium and style is original, and the blue shades enhance the brighter reds, greens and yellows, with recurring symbols of love and nature used throughout. The overall theme is reflected in the bright red endpapers, tying to the bold red font on the front cover. The production values of this book; a dust jacket, beautiful heavy matte stock and wonderful design make this book stand out from other entries in this category.

Cristina Neri has a new book coming soon:

The CBCA New Illustrator Award (originally called The Crighton Award) began in 1988 and it is such an important prize. I am sure you will be amazed to read this list of previous winners:

• Kim Gamble The Magnificent Nose & Other Marvels
• Anne Spudvilas The Race
• Shaun Tan The Viewer
• Anna Pignataro I’m in the Sky and I Can’t Come Back
• Freya Blackwood Two Summers
• Anna Walker Santa’s Aussie Holiday 
• Andy Geppert (Tim Brown) Little Big Tree
• Andrew Joyner (Ursula Dubosarsky) The Terrible Plop
• Marc Martin A Forest