The book: "Hello darling, don't come back looking worn out!" It's often said, food is nourishment for the soul. Asking someone if they've eaten means letting them know we care about them, and we all have a dish close to our hearts that often comes from childhood memories and makes us feel at home even when we're far away. But there's a trick that especially those living away from home have devised to feel the warmth of their homeland and loved ones: the package from down south! It's a tradition born in southern Italy but "despite the name, there's no predetermined route that the package must take to be defined as 'from down south': it could very well start from Puglia, Valle d'Aosta, or Tuscany but also from Morocco or Peru, and reach you wherever you are in Italy or the world, and it would still be called that. The package from down south remains so even if it comes from the north, east, or west, simply because it has nothing to do with geography. It's a myth, an institution, a state of mind," Elisa Pino, "Vanity Fair." With this tender Silent book, Chiara Spinelli illustrates the journey of a package with a fanciful and visionary style: it takes shape in the native kitchen, filling with jars brimming with delicacies, crossing time and space on the backs of elephants, space rockets, and sea creatures. Once it reaches its destination, the package can finally be opened by the distant loved one, who will be overwhelmed by the love and flavors of home. The author: Chiara Spinelli grew up in Lecce but lives in Milan. Over the years, she has refined her training path by participating in illustration courses, exhibitions, and industry fairs. In 2023, she won the artist residency award at Farm Cultural Park in collaboration with the Cose Belle Festival. She published "The Sea Is..." (Kurumuny, 2021), "The Package From Down South" (Quinto Quarto, 2022), chosen as one of the 20 best debut works in the Opera Prima category of BRAW AMAZING BOOKSHELF at BCBF 2023, and "At the Top of the Mountain" (Storiedichi 2025). She illustrated the cover of the book "Teaching Italian to Migrant Women in a State of Trauma" (Mimesis 2024). She works as a freelance illustrator and educator, dedicating herself to designing workshops for children. The publishing house: QuintoQuarto
