Whatever Happened to my Sister? Simona Ciraolo

A young girl sets out to find out exactly what happened to her sister. Who is this new sister? Why does she never want to play anymore?
For anyone who has ever felt left behind, Simona Ciraolo, the best-selling author of Hug Me, paints a touchingly sweet portrayal of the transience of childhood and how adolescence and growing up can be a truly mystifying experience.
Simona Ciraolo is a Sardinian born author and illustrator whose witty and endearing tales recently won her the Sebastian Walker Award. Ciraolo studied animation at the National Film School in Turin, Italy, before moving to the United Kingdom where she undertook an MA in children's book illustration at the Cambridge School of Art. She has also worked as a freelance 2D animator for children's TV shows and illustrated five picture books for an independent Italian publisher. Simona lives in South London.

 As Ciraolo’s second picture book opens, a girl in a blue playsuit is looking at her family photo album. “I’d had my suspicions for a while,” she says, ”that someone had replaced my sister with a girl who looked a lot like her.” The next spread shows her frowning as her lithe preteen sibling reaches into a cupboard: “My sister was never so tall. Did it happen overnight?” The younger sister continues to struggle against the inevitable as the older girl, absorbed in music and a possible crush, says “No” to offers of all their old shared amusements. The more the younger sister considers the transformation, the sadder she grows—until, at her lowest, her sister emerges from her room and offers a new kind of fun. Ciraolo (Hug Me) handles soft crayon with practiced (not to mention fashion-magazine-worthy) skill, drawing domestic scenes and clothing in a palette of warm grays and olives, accented with vivid orange. The advent of adolescence in an older sibling is a less common theme for a picture book, and Ciraolo treats it with style and charm. Ages 5–up. (Nov)

“I’ve had my suspicions for a while. But now I know the truth. Someone has replaced my sister with a girl that looks a lot like her...”

And so a young girl sets out to find out exactly what happened to her sister. Who is this new sister? Why does she never want to play anymore?