• Age: 5 to 11
• Grade: k to 6

A heartwarming story about keeping memories alive and passing on traditions. For little writers ages 5 years and up.

Grandma is reading from a diary. Lissy listens intently to the exciting stories. But . . . who are these stories actually about?

Ellen DeLange's profile page

Ilaria Zanellato's profile page

Ellen DeLange has been fascinated by picture books ever since she was a child growing up in the Netherlands. In the attic of her home, she assembled a small library and shared her collection with friends and family. As an adult, she started traveling and expanded her library with picture books from all over the world. Ellen also enjoyed inventing her own stories and was encouraged by her daughter to write her first picture book, A Story with a Tale. Ellen has a doctorate in medical sciences and currently lives in Canada where she loves to walk in the woods with her Jack Russell terriers, drink lots of tea after a busy day, and sail on the ocean to clear her mind.

Ilaria Zanellato was born in North-West Italy.
She started loving drawing when she was at Primary School and discovered oil colors thanks to her mother’s passion. That’s also when she decided to undertake a real study in the field of Art graduating from the Art High School in Novara. Thanks to a scholarship, she attended the IED Institute in Turin and graduated in illustration and Visual Communication. Today Ilaria actively works as an illustrator and as an author of children's books. Ilaria creates her own worlds using collage, colored pencil, graphite, and acrylic. She was selected finalist at 1st Little Hakka International Picture Book Competition (2017) Golden Pinwheel Young Illustrators Competition (2018) and Posterheroes- (2019).

"A young girl learns about the importance of stories and forges a deeper connection with her grandmother in this colorful picture book. Lissy is excited to give her grandmother her birthday presents, but is confused when Grandma thanks her for the “diary.” To explain, Grandma reads her some passages from one of her childhood diaries, inspiring Lissy to start her own. Cozy illustrations depict passages from Grandma’s diary alongside the present-day reading, demonstrating the power of words to hold histories—and carry on legacies." - Foreword Reviews

"An evocative celebration of keeping stories alive through generations that may inspire young readers to save their own stories in diary form." - Booklist