Step Away from the Easel

One more brushstroke never hurt anyone... or did it? In a sun-drenched Tuscan studio, the hopelessly over-enthusiastic painter Gennaro has just finished a perfectly lovely still life of pears. Signora Fortunata, the long-suffering gallery owner, only asks one small thing: step back away from the easel. But Gennaro simply cannot help himself.

One tiny tweak leads to a grand moustache, a flapping crimson cape, a Roman helmet with ridiculous feathers, and — for reasons known only to Gennaro — a Vespa parked beside the fruit. Signora Fortunata shrieks, ropes off the canvas, locks the doors, and exiles him to sweep the cobbles with a stale biscotto for company. But a locked door has never stopped a true artist. Gennaro scales the trellis with a secret pot of golden dust, and what follows is a sparkly, sludgy, utterly glorious catastrophe — just hours before the painting is due in Venice.

Maurice the whippet judges silently. The gallery owner weeps. And Gennaro, beaming beneath a flood of gold, has just one small suggestion left...

Perfect for children aged 3–7, Step Away from the Easel is a riotously funny picture book in verse about the dangers of one more little flourish — and the gleefully unstoppable artists who simply cannot resist.

Kids and parents will love:

Laugh-Out-Loud Escalation: A beautifully paced comedy as Gennaro's "improvements" spiral from moustache to cape to helmet to Vespa to a full-blown flood of golden sludge — every page funnier than the last.

Rich, Rhythmic Verse: Bouncy rhyming quatrains packed with delicious vocabulary — "theatrical," "biscotto," "ceremonious" — that are a joy to read aloud and stretch young listeners' language skills.

A Gloriously Italian Setting: Tuscan sunshine, cobbled squares, Roman helmets, and a silently disapproving whippet named Maurice give the book a warm, vivid, unmistakably European flavour.

A Gently Wise Takeaway: A warm, age-appropriate reminder that sometimes the best thing an artist — or anyone — can do is simply know when to stop.