Go Ask Giorgio
by Patricia Wittmann
Macmillan, 1992

Will struck a balance between the rhythm of story and the action of its pictures in Go Ask Giorgio, by Patricia Wittmann. Giorgio's life becomes increasingly unmanageable as he takes on the jobs of all of his friends.

Will altered Giorgio's size, posture, and placement on the page -- as well as his growing collection of hats -- to signal the mounting confusion of his overwhelming duties. The energy of the story is distinctly Italian, gleaned from photographs of an Italian village a friend brought back from a trip abroad.

They provided Will with models for characters, costumes, and buildings, but not for Giorgio. For his main character, Will discovered a model closer to home: his mailman had just the demeanor and gait that Will sensed in the story. So an American mailman was transformed into an Italian jack-of-all-trades.

Reviews

From Horn Book: When Giorgio literally and figuratively wears more than his usual hats as gas station attendant, gardener, and cook, he finds that he has too much to do and no longer enjoys his work. He and the townspeople, however, happily resolve the situation. Oil and pastel illustrations, using bold shapes and color, depict Giorgio's Italian village and his dilemma. -- Copyright © 1993 The Horn Book, Inc. All rights reserved.