The Animal in the Stone

Growls like poems; applause, sighs, waving hands like names, glances and winks to express hunger or love.
Julio Serrano writes about our earliest ancestors, their first drawings, their first journey,
and the animal that one day emerged from a mark on a stone and continues to gallop in our genes
and in every heart. A poem in 10 movements, inviting us to recognise ourselves in that primal moment in the history of humanity.
Armando Fonseca contributes surprising and moving illustrations, adding new meanings and aesthetic resources to this story of us all, enriching it with every creative decision: rhythm, colour palette, phenotypic traits, Mexican craftsmanship, and cave drawings.

Key points

2026 – Winner in the Illustrators Exhibition, Bologna Children’s Book Fair
2026 – Cuatrogatos Foundation Award, USA
2026 – Golden Island Award, NAMI CONCOURS, South Korea
2025 – Golden Apple Award, Biennial of Illustrations Bratislava
2025 – Selected for the BRAW Amazing Bookshelf, Bologna Ragazzi Award
2025 – Selected for The White Ravens List
2024 – Finalist in the Golden Pinwheel Young Illustrators Competition, CCBF, China

• The poetry reconnects the reader with their most ancient, human essence, appealing to a time when communication took place through movements, grunts, onomatopoeia, and drawings rather than words.