Saturday 24 October, 3pm at the Victoria Library, 160 Buckingham Palace Road, London SW1W 9TR
BOOK O’CLOCK is the book club for children aged 4 to 11 promoted by the Italian Cultural Institute in London – in collaboration with Gloria Danili, Italian-London author of books for children and young people, and SIAL School. It was broadcast online from September 2021 on the ICI London channels, continued live from 2023 at the school in Holland Park, and from February 2026 it will make an appearance among the shelves of the Children’s Room – within the wonderful setting of the Victoria Library.
At the next appointment on 24 October, Gloria Danili awaits you with a truly very special picture book because, just think… it was written by her!
A tale of witches and wild, nature-inspired magic, this story was sparked by Gloria and her family’s move across London—from paved urban streets to a leafy borough filled with storybook deer, ancient trees, and bright, exotic parakeets. The magic truly took root when they met a fascinating new neighbour who glided by in flowing, goddess-like dresses, accompanied by her scruffy black cat.
The picture book follows young Sofia into a modern fairytale world rich with enchanted herbs, ancient words, and mysterious ingredients. It is a whimsical journey into the shared imagination of author and illustrator: Gloria’s evocative storytelling—full of “a lady with very long silver-coloured braids” and sensory delights of “smoke and scents, flowers and music… and a toucan, too!”—weaves seamlessly with Ericavale Morello’s vivid visual references, ranging from David Bowie and The Beatles to Harry Potter and Maurice Sendak’s iconic Wild Things.
PS Participation in the event is free upon registration – with the full name of the accompanying adult.
Book your place HERE
Ericavale Morello was born in Turin in 1983, where she lives and works. She studied Architecture at the Politecnico di Torino, where she obtained a PhD in collaboration with the FAIP faculty of Porto on freehand drawing in relation to architectural design. She graduated from the International School of Comics in Turin. She teaches art and image in lower secondary schools; she is a professional illustrator and painter. She grew up breathing a great passion and interest for pictorial art through her father, an indefatigable researcher and collector. Since December 2020, together with Francesca Tancini, she has curated the online project of which she is co-author, “Storie di illustrastorie”, which became a book in November 2021. She made her debut as author and illustrator with the multi-award-winning Vendesi Casa D’artista (March 2023) for Camelozampa (finalist for Andersen, Soligatto, White Ravens 2023, Marchio microeditoria di qualità and second place Premio Malerba 2024), followed by Raperonzolo (finalist for the Premio Rodari 2025) with text by the Brothers Grimm (November 2024) and Traslochi d’artista (March 2025) with special mention for microeditoria di qualità, again for Camelozampa. Other picture books include La Caccia al tesoro di Zazie (with text by Elena Levi) for Clichy and Gli stivali di Vincent for Bummy ed. (April 2026 with text by B. Sidoti), the first volume of a series she conceived that unites fairy tale and art and that will see her collaborating with different text authors. In recent years, artistic dissemination, accompanied by a Rodarian spirit of play and storytelling, has become her hallmark, to which she adds in her latest picture books (La caccia al tesoro di Zazie with text by Elena Levi for Clichy-Sprea, October 2025), La mia strana vicina (with text by Gloria Danili for Edizioni Corsare, April 2026) and La pianta di Nadia (with text by Cristina Bellemo, forthcoming for Settenove in autumn 2026) a discourse on the principle of childhood self-determination through the imaginative and free dimension of fantasy.
Gloria Danili was born in Monza in September 1982 with a vivid imagination. In September 2026, 44 years later, she fulfilled her lifelong dream of bringing one of her books to the stage in her beloved London—at the historic Bridewell Theatre, off Fleet Street—alongside an exceptional creative team featuring Michael Rosen as narrator, Polka Theatre associate director Roman Stefanski, and a creative partnership with the Charles Dickens Museum. She was delighted to welcome over 900 London schoolchildren and their teachers to the performances, which received widespread acclaim and glowing feedback.
Holding a master’s degree in creative writing from the Catholic University of Milan, she began her career writing for children’s television (DeAKids and Super!) before publishing Tamara Tombé e la stella del teatro (Lapis Edizioni) and the five-book Blanche series (Il Battello a Vapore / Pocket Jeunesse). With Edizioni Corsare, she published La bizzarra società segreta di Mr Moore (2022) and her debut picture book, La mia strana vicina (2026), illustrated by Ericavale Morello.
She is represented by Angela Catrani’s literary agency, In Altre Parole. Since 2021, she has curated and hosted Book O’Clock for the Italian Cultural Institute in London (held at SIAL.school and Victoria Library), and since 2025, she has chaired the jury for Il Circolo’s MatchPoint Junior children’s literacy and arts competition. She is the founder and producer of the theatre production company Scrambled Books Ltd.
A dreamer is always a dreamer, and Gloria is already hard at work expanding and scaling up the production for its next chapter… follow the journey on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook (@mrmooreshow)!
Gloria Danili
Riding my inner child’s imagination. Since 1982.
Producer, playwright and children’s book author.