What did you do during Lockdown?
Ella Khalifa is an eleven-year-old. During the Covid-19 lockdown when she was living in Italy, her life was overhauled overnight. Ella found herself with plenty of time on her hands. She put her devices away and forgot about Minecraft for a while, choosing to capitalize on this extra time to conjure up a project that would make her a net-producer of something positive in the world. The result was her first book: The A to Zee of Italy, an illustrated alphabet book of Italian words that have crossed over from their native origin to infiltrate other languages as ubiquitous cultural icons. Who doesn’t know gelato, ciao or Nutella, right?
A to Zee of Italy
A love letter to Italy
Few countries in the world inspire love and passion in its visitors like Italy. Whether it’s the delicious food and wine, timeless history, breathtaking landscapes, fast cars, or air for fashion, Italian culture is now part of your world. I wrote this book as proof that even if you didn’t know it, you already speak (a bit of ) Italian! The amazing illustrations are by my extremely talented creative partner, Marina Martinez, who you can find out more about right here.
My Art
I support
Rewriting the Future
Children just like me in my beloved Italy will be affected by the Coronavirus pandemic for a long time to come. Italy already has one of the highest early school leaving rates in Europe, at roughly 13.7%. The lockdown is expected to have a further negative effect on educational poverty impacting the most vulnerable children and adolescents. Save the Children Italy has launched an ambitious program called Rewriting the Future, aiming at raising EUR10 million to support 100,000 children in the 30 most deprived metropolitan neighborhoods in Italy, with a focus on areas most affected by COVID-19.
When my book is finally published, I will be donating proceeds from my royalties to support this fund. You too can help by donating to Save the Children Italy’s Rewriting the Future fund by clicking on the button below. Together, we can rewrite the future.
30
Of the most disadvantaged regions
100,000
Children targeted across Italy
€10,000,000
Target Fundraising Goal