Temple University and never left. After earning a graduate degree in printmaking and book arts at the University of the Arts, Pizzoli spent years balancing day jobs, teaching, and freelance illustration before landing his first children’s book contract in 2011.
a]:text-blue-mid [&>a]:no-underline [&>a]:hover:shadow-lightmode px-4 font-medium”>On his perfect day, Pizzoli keeps things close to home: coffee in the Italian Market, pizza in a community garden, dessert from John’s Water Ice, and time on his steps with neighbors before the family’s nightly dance party, preferably to anything other than Shakira.
a]:text-blue-mid [&>a]:no-underline [&>a]:hover:shadow-lightmode px-4 font-medium”>Around 7, I’ll say it’s time to eat breakfast and get ready for school. Breakfast in our house is just Cheerios, toast, and fresh fruit. Then I walk them to school. One of the things I love about our neighborhood, and Philly in general, is that you can walk anywhere.
a]:text-blue-mid [&>a]:no-underline [&>a]:hover:shadow-lightmode px-4 font-medium”>On a perfect day, I’ll go a little out of my way and stop at Gleaners Cafe in the Italian Market. Gleaners is the punkest and friendliest coffee shop in the city. I love that they have no Wi-Fi, so customers actually interact and talk with one another. They always have an art show going on, and they have a library with a lot of my books.
a]:text-blue-mid [&>a]:no-underline [&>a]:hover:shadow-lightmode px-4 font-medium”>My first stop after coffee is usually Fishbox. It’s a package delivery service.
a]:text-blue-mid [&>a]:no-underline [&>a]:hover:shadow-lightmode px-4 font-medium”>Once I’ve got my mail, I go to the studio and work for a couple of hours.
Kay Healy, is an artist too. She makes books, comics for kids, picture books, and these huge installation art pieces. We share the studio. I have the whole second floor, and she has the whole third floor.
11:30 a.m.
New Wave Cafe or Lightbox Cafe. At New Wave, I’ll get a burger and fries. At Lightbox, the falafel is really good.
12:30 p.m.
a]:text-blue-mid [&>a]:no-underline [&>a]:hover:shadow-lightmode px-4 font-medium”>My favorite used bookstore in the city is Brickbat Books. If I need inspiration or just need to get out of my own head in the afternoon, I’ll go there. They sell books, comics, and records. They have great taste. Or, I’ll go to Partners and Son, a comic shop around the corner, or to Atomic City Comics on South Street.
Philly AIDS Thrift is great too. I was just there the other day and bought this used book. It’s the life’s work of a counterfeit stamp maker. He made fake stamps and sold them to stamp collectors. It had all of his graphics. I’m going to collage them somehow.
a]:text-blue-mid [&>a]:no-underline [&>a]:hover:shadow-lightmode px-4 font-medium”>I pick up my kids from school around 3. If it’s a beautiful sunny day, we’ll go chill in Washington Square for a while. I’ll let them run around the fountain, and we’ll play in the grass. Washington Square is just beautiful this time of year.
a]:text-blue-mid [&>a]:no-underline [&>a]:hover:shadow-lightmode px-4 font-medium”>After the park, we’ll wander down to our local library, Charles Santore Library. Santore is great because they have a great children’s book section, but they also have crayons and coloring stuff. If the kids don’t want to grab books, they can just sit there and draw, which we often do.
a]:text-blue-mid [&>a]:no-underline [&>a]:hover:shadow-lightmode px-4 font-medium”>We still get DVDs from the library. We have a PS5 at home, so we can watch them. The kids are very into Hayao Miyazaki movies right now. They love Ponyo and My Neighbor Totoro. They’re beautiful films.
Pitruco Pizza truck. My favorite pizza from them is the mushroom pizza. They also have a delicious eggplant pizza with whipped ricotta.
a]:text-blue-mid [&>a]:no-underline [&>a]:hover:shadow-lightmode px-4 font-medium”>Kay has had a community garden plot for maybe 12 years. It’s mostly Kay’s. I water it occasionally.
a]:text-blue-mid [&>a]:no-underline [&>a]:hover:shadow-lightmode px-4 font-medium”>The kids can water the plants and dig for worms while we catch up.
John’s Water Ice. It’s my favorite ice cream spot. The kids will get water ice, and I’ll get cookies-and-cream ice cream. I love John’s because you see everybody in the neighborhood there. It’s inexpensive, too. It’s like $3.50 for a big cone of ice cream, and even cheaper for water ice.
a]:text-blue-mid [&>a]:no-underline [&>a]:hover:shadow-lightmode px-4 font-medium”>The last thing we do before bed is read a few books. Maybe my new one, When the Sun Goes Down. We’ll sing some songs, and then we’ll all go to sleep.