There is a country where people speak little. In this strange country, to be able to pronounce the words you have to buy and swallow them. The most important words, however, cost a lot and not everyone can afford them. Little Philéas is in love with the sweet Cybelle and would like to say "I love you", but he does not have enough money in the piggy bank. On the contrary, Oscar, who is very rich and arrogant, has decided to let the girl know that one day he will marry her. Who will succeed in conquering Cybelle's heart?

There is a country where people almost never talk. It is the country of the great factory of words. He does not speak anyone because words cost: you have to buy them and swallow them, to use them. There are words that only the rich can afford; others hide in the trash, others can be grabbed with the screens, like butterflies. In this country lives Philéas, a child with an empty piggy bank but in love with Cybelle: on his birthday he would like to say something special, but the words cost too much, so he decides to use some found on the street, because he has nothing else. The problem is that even Oscar, a very rich child, is in love with Cybelle: having a lot of money, he talks to her constantly, with big words like "marriage" and "love", which really cost a lot. Philéas decides to use three words captured with the net and risk everything. Cybelle hears them. And, in spite of everything, he knows to whom this gesture has cost more.
Agnès de Lestrade gives us a modern fairytale, set in a strange country that is the mirror of all the modern difficulty in giving the right value to words (and the publisher Terre di Mezzo, the same that publishes the book, organizes on the subject a writing workshop for young people entitled "The great factory of words"). On the part of de Lestrade there is no concession to sentimentality or moralism: the end of history, in its simplicity, is self-sufficient, without frills and useless words, in perfect coherence with the rest of the story. Words know who to talk to. The great factory of words, however, also teaches something about feelings: quantity is not always directly proportional to the quality of emotions. And Philèas, who knows, puts everything he has in the field without reserve. Oscar, on the contrary, overwhelmed by the possibilities that his parents' money offers him, does not give value to what he says and, consequently, to what he feels.



While Cybelle, a farsighted child, captures the beauty of common words, which acquire value thanks to the love of Philéas, thus becoming infinitely more precious than those sold at the factory of words. Valeria Docampo's drawings of Argentina, clear and protagonists of the page, show a beautiful contrast between the brown tones of the landscapes and the darker characters and the red of the said
i, which becomes predominant when Philéas gives his words to Cybelle (with her beautiful cherry dress): red, the color of sentiment par excellence, envelops everything, just when it is now clear to the reader that, to love someone, not we need strange words. "There is a country where people almost never talk.
It is the country of the great factory of words ". He does not speak anyone because words cost: you have to buy them and swallow them, to use them. There are words that only the rich can afford; others hide in the trash, others can be grabbed with the screens, like butterflies. In this country lives Philéas, a child with an empty piggy bank but in love with Cybelle: on his birthday he would like to say something special, but the words cost too much, so he decides to use some found on the street, because he has nothing else. The problem is that even Oscar, a very rich child, is in love with Cybelle: having a lot of money, he talks to her constantly, with big words like "marriage" and "love", which really cost a lot. Philéas decides to use three words captured with the net and risk everything. Cybelle hears them. And, in spite of everything, he knows to whom this gesture has cost more.
Agnès de Lestrade gives us a modern fairytale, set in a strange country that is the mirror of all the modern difficulty in giving the right value to words (and the publisher Terre di Mezzo, the same that publishes the book, organizes on the subject a writing workshop for young people entitled "The great factory of words").

On the part of de Lestrade there is no concession to sentimentality or moralism: the end of history, in its simplicity, is self-sufficient, without frills and useless words, in perfect coherence with the rest of the story. Words know who to talk to. The great factory of words, however, also teaches something about feelings: quantity is not always directly proportional to the quality of emotions.
 

And Philèas, who knows, puts everything he has in the field without reserve. Oscar, on the contrary, overwhelmed by the possibilities that his parents' money offers him, does not give value to what he says and, consequently, to what he feels. While Cybelle, a farsighted child, captures the beauty of common words, which acquire value thanks to the love of Philéas, thus becoming infinitely more precious than those sold at the factory of words. The drawings by Valeria Docampo from Argentina, sharp and protagonists of the page, show a beautiful contrast between the brown tones of the landscapes and the darkest characters and the red of the details, which becomes predominant when Philéas gives his words to Cybelle (with her beautiful cherry dress): red, the color of sentiment par excellence, envelops everything, just when it is now clear to the reader that, to love someone, you do not need strange words.