This Would Never Happen to Rita

A stunning new picture book from Simona Ciraolo who, with wit, style and emotional insight, shows her readers that imperfections and making a mess are beautiful, vital parts of childhood.

A little girl and her best friend, Rita, are drawing together. Rita's drawing is very beautiful and her dad tells her that he will keep it forever. The girl looks at her own drawing. It's good, too, she thinks, but then ... she sees it: a stain. The next day, she finds another stain - an inky blue mark on her crisp white dress. This would never happen to Rita. The stain begins to blot everything and soon, it is all the girl can see. Everything is ruined. The stain, however, has other ideas. It begins to take on a life of its own - dancing across the pages of the book, speaking to the girl and encouraging her to see that it is not a mess or a mistake ... but something joyful and surprising. Life is full of beautiful mess.

About the author

Simona Ciraolo is the illustrator of Can't Catch Me! by Timothy Knapman and the author-illustrator of If Winter Comes, Tell it I'm Not here, and other books for children. She studied animation at the National Film School in Turin, Italy, and earned an MA in Illustration at the Cambridge School of Art, where she was awarded the Sebastian Walker Award in 2014. Born in Sardinia, Italy, Simona now lives in London. Find her online at simonaciraolo.com or on Instagram as @simonaciraolo.

Report

It may be a book about embracing life's imperfections but Simona Ciraolo's This Would Never Happen to Rita (£12.99?, Walker) is itself rather perfect. Imogen Carter The Observer

Product details

• Authors: Simona Ciraolo, Ciraolo Simona
• Assisted by: Simona Ciraolo (Illustration), Ciraolo Simona (Illustration)
• Publisher: Walker Books Uk
• Languages: English
• Age Recommendation: ages 3 to 7
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 23.10.2025
• EAN: 9781529521016
• ISBN: 978-1-5295-2101-6
• No. of pages: 40
• Dimensions: 220 mm x 288 mm x 10 mm
• Subjects: Children's and young people's books > Children's books up to 11 years of age; SELF-HELP / Creativity, Memory improvement & thinking techniques, Memory improvement and thinking techniques, ocd; perfectionism; self acceptance; self belief; creativity