• Age: 5 to 8
• Grade: k to 3

“A REFRESHINGLY ORIGINAL YULETIDE TALE.” —KIRKUS REVIEWS
This fantastical Christmas book introduces children to Befana, the iconic witch from Italian folklore, who steals into children’s homes on Epiphany Eve to fill their stockings with treats and signal the coming of spring.
I come from Forever and Beyond, flying on a witch’s broom. I come to fill your stockings. Make sure they don’t have holes or are mismatched or, worse, dirty. By the way, I have nothing to do with that clumsy oaf dressed in red with his herd of reindeer …

In this magical picture book, the all-powerful and unstoppable Christmas witch, Befana, shares a letter to children about what happens on Epiphany Eve, or the fifth of January, when she takes to the sky to deliver gifts to all children everywhere.

Befana is as fast as the wind on her broom, dressed in her warmest cloak. Jetting through the winter night, she cannot be seen, but all children know when she’s been there from her gifts of sweets, nuts, and dried fruit, as well as her most precious gift of all: new weather, water, and sun. Because, with Befana’s visit, “begins the celebration of Nature's rebirth.”

A gorgeously-illustrated celebration of witches, holiday traditions, gift-giving, and nature, Yours, Befana makes the perfect bedtime story at Christmastime for readers young and old. At the back of the book, comic-book-style panels share secret facts about Befana: how she came to be all-powerful, her magic skills, and her origins in Greek mythology.

“It’s useless to hide it: I love you all,” writes Befana as she signs her letter with “Yours, Befana.” Befana’s funny, fearsome, and ultimately loving letter is destined to be enjoyed by children and families every holiday season.

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Genni Gunn is an author, musician and translator. Born in Trieste, she came to Canada as a child. She has published fourteen books: four novels -- The Cipher, Solitaria (longlisted for the Giller Prize), Tracing Iris (made into a film, The Riverbank), and Thrice Upon a Time (finalist for the Commonwealth Writers' Prize); three short story collections -- Permanent Tourists (finalist for the ReLit Prize), Hungers, and On the Road; three poetry collections -- Accidents (finalist for the Di Cicco Poetry Prize), Faceless, and Mating in Captivity (finalist for the Gerald Lampert Award); and a collection of personal essays, Tracks: Journeys in Time and Place (finalist for the CNFC Reader's Choice Award). As well, she has translated from Italian three collections of poems by two renowned Italian authors: Text Me by Corrado Calabro, and Traveling in the Gait of a Fox (finalist for the Premio Internazionale Diego Valeri for Literary Translation) and Devour Me Too (finalist for the John Glassco Translation Prize) by Dacia Maraini. Three of Gunn's books have been translated into Italian and Dutch.

As well as books, she has written an opera libretto, Alternate Visions, produced by Chants Libres in 2007 (music by John Oliver), and projected in a simulcast at The Western Front in Vancouver; her poem, "Hot Summer Nights" has been turned into classical vocal music by John Oliver, and performed internationally. Before she turned to writing full-time, Gunn toured Canada extensively with a variety of bands (bass guitar, piano and vocals). Since then, she has performed at hundreds of readings and writers' festivals. Gunn has a B.F.A. and an M.F.A. from the University of British Columbia. She lives in Vancouver.

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“Beautiful and folkloric illustrations […] for public libraries interested in adding diversity to their holiday or folklore sections."
—Youth Services Book Review

“Will certainly add color to a school or home exploration of holiday traditions around the world."
—Booklist

“Washed in candy colors, Beretta’s shape-based artwork mixes natural motifs with contemporary geometric human-made environments, modernizing the story’s mythic dimensions. Back matter provides clarifying context.”
—Publishers Weekly

“[With] shimmering images… a charming vintage cinematic feel….Intriguing, a refreshingly original Yuletide tale."
—Kirkus Reviews