Marianna Coppo
Marianna Coppo is an author and illustrator from Rome. Her picture books include Petra (shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal), Ray, A Very Late Story, Fish and Crab, and The Book That Can Read Your Mind—named one of Barnes & Noble’s Best Picture Books of the Year, an Indigo Top 10 Best Book of the Year, and one of Smithsonian’s Ten Best Children’s Books of 2024—among others. She was a Sendak Fellow in 2025.
Her work is known for its sharp wit, gentle humor, and characters who feel both wonderfully odd and deeply relatable. Whether through laugh‑out‑loud dialogue or quiet, tender moments, her stories explore the small, surprising truths of being human.
In her spare time—between eating bruschette and searching for flight offers online—Marianna works on her picture books. She uses a mixed technique combining tempera, pastels and digital collage, but sooner or later she'll try something different. Marianna loves irreverent stories, free camping, the mountains, and drawing. She has always drawn and continues to do so “because it is the most natural way I have to understand the world,” always leaving space for the reader to imagine what happens next.
Click here to read Marianna's Mini Proust Q&I (Question and Illustration) inspired by the Proust Questionnaire.
