The Picture Book Buzz - Interview w/Ilaria Urbinati and Review of Cowboys at the Ballet
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Ilaria Urbinati is an award-winning freelance illustrator based in Italy.
She’s been working as an illustrator since 2008: Ilaria began her career as character designer and colorist for animation, then started working as a freelancer, exploring illustration for editorial projects, children's books and advertising. She’s also a passionate graphic novelist and enjoys both writing and illustrating her works.
Ilaria is the illustrator of 32 books, including Song After Song: The Musical Life of Julie Andrews by Julie Hedlund (2023), The Vertical Sea by Brian Freschi, translated by Carla Roncalli Di Montorio (2022), Books by Horseback: A Librarian's Brave Journey to Deliver Books to Children by Emma Carlson Berne (2021), Being Mindful Like Grandpa by Sheri Mabry (2021), Saving the Countryside: The Story of Beatrix Potter and Peter Rabbit by Linda Marshall (2020),
Ilaria’s newest picture book, Cowboys at the Ballet: The Story of Choreographer Agnes de Mille, by Claire Wrenn Bobrow was released on March 31st.
Welcome Ilaria,
Hi Maria! Thank you for your interview.
Tell us a little about yourself. (Where/when do you illustrate? How long have you been illustrating? What is your favorite type of book to illustrate?)
I’ve been illustrating books for quite a while now (it’s almost 15 years) I’m currently work from home, in Bologna (Italy), where I’ve a Studio full of books. I’ve always been very passionate about illustrated books and, in fact, I love them all. I like illustrated books for middle-grade-readers, graphic novels, and of course picture books.
Every book has its specifies and I can’t decide on my favorite kind of project.
It's wonderful to "meet" you. I visited Bologna for the Book Fair years back and really enjoyed wandering around. What a great place to live and work! What is one of the most fun or unusual places where you’ve created an illustration?
I love to draw on vacation: I usually carry a sketchbook and a small box of watercolors literally everywhere. Sometimes it’s just refreshing to take a pause and observe the world, painting for a little while. I’ve created small illustrations of my trip in very different places from the MOMA in New York to the Sierra Leone’s Jungle.
I imagine you made some interesting sketches at both locations. What about the manuscript for Cowboys at the Ballet: The Story of Choreographer Agnes de Mille captured your inspiration or spark of interest?
First, I love ballet and dance in general and depicting the story of a dancer and choreographer was super interesting for me. I’ve have also practiced ballet for a while in my adulthood and it was a very fun (and challenging) experience.
Since childhood, I have had a personal interest in musical theatre. Even though I didn't know Agnes DeMille's choreography in detail, it was very interesting for me to delve deeper into her work.
I can see why the book appealed to you and based just on the cover, why the editors chose you to illustrate the book. I love that high-flying kick. What was the hardest or most challenging thing about illustrating Cowboys at the Ballet? And what was the most fun?
The most challenging thing was creating all the different places where Agnes travelled and worked during her training and career. Los Angeles, London, New York, Colorado… The book is full of different atmospheres and I wanted to show in the best way the changes of scenario and ambience. There was also the necessity of being true and respectful of the historical moment when the action took place.
Image © Ilaria Urbinati, 2026.
The most fun was, of course, drawing the dance poses! I absolutely LOVED that.
That is so obvious just from your end pages. How many revisions did the illustrations take from first draft to publication for Cowboys at the Ballet?
Not many! It was a bliss: most of the images that you see where approved without changes at all. The art direction was subtle, but very effective: every time I’ve received a note I thought “This is a brilliant idea.”
That's a blessing. Is there any image you are particularly proud of? What is your favorite spread?
Text © Claire Wrenn Bobrow, 2026. Image © Ilaria Urbinati, 2026.
My favorites are the first one and the last one! The one with Agnes in Los Angeles during her childhood dancing in the garden and the last one, in the Theatre, with her signature jump. I wanted to create a connection between the past and the future of this incredible woman.
I love the joy you captured in Agnes' garden dance. I'll leave the last one for the readers to discover. What's something you want your readers to learn or know about Cowboys at the Ballet?
Sometimes readers don’t think about it, but there’s a lot of research and study beyond a book about a real person: the places, the dresses, the hair and in this case her work as an artist! Every spread page is the result of a lot of questions like: “What where the dresses of the children that studied ballet in the 1930s?” “What could it be a color palette that evokes the Rodeo in Colorado in the 1950s?”
It’s thrilling but also very challenging and it’s the beautiful job of an illustrator to find the answer of all those questions.
Are there any new projects you are working on now that you can share a tidbit with us?
I’ve just finished a sweet project for an Italian publisher about classical ballet. It will have a color palette just in black/white and pale pink.
I’m currently working on a young adult publication about different stories of Italian craftsmanship that is super interesting.
Exciting. Good luck with these and future projects. Last question, what is your favorite National Park or Forest, regional park, or city park (anywhere in the world)? Or the one you’re longing to visit. Why?
© Muriel Gasquy
I’d love to visit again the Parc National de Port-Cros in France. I’ve visited it as a child and have some lovely memories.
Thank you, Ilaria, for sharing with us a bit about yourself and your new picture book.
To find out more about Ilaria Urbinati, or to contact her:
Website: https://ilariaurbinati.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ilaria_urbinati/
Review of Cowboys at the Ballet: The Story of Choreographer Agnes de Mille
My mother introduced me to musicals and we had a particular affinity for Brigadoon. But I did not know anything about the choreographer Agnes de Mille. This stunningly illustrated and intriguing picture book biography offers a look at the twisty and at times rocky trail she endured in her determination to bring to ballet and Broadway a uniquely American style based on honest emotions and ordinary gestures. It's a great book about following your dreams, carving your own path, and perservering despite all life throws at you.
Cowboys at the Ballet: The Story of Choreographer Agnes de Mille
Author: Claire Wrenn Bobrow
Illustrator: Ilaria Urbinati
Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers (March 31, 2026)
Ages: 4 - 8
Nonfiction
Themes:
Ballet, female choreographer, biography, and dance.
Synopsis:
A spirited picture book about the epic struggle and dramatic breakthrough of Agnes de Mille, the legendary choreographer of Oklahoma! and Carousel whose work changed the course of Broadway history.
Something new is about to happen,
something extraordinary.
In a dusty California town, Agnes de Mille dreams of becoming a dancer. She gallops to New York, then London, performing a show here, a dance there, combining old steps with new. But no one knows what to make of Agnes. She’s not a ballet dancer or a modern dancer or a folk dancer. So what is she? Then one summer she attends a rodeo, where the cowboys’ powerful and unbridled movements transform her life—and the history of dance—forever.
Opening Lines:
Lights dim.
Whispers hush.
Excitement crackles through the crowd.
Something new is about to happen on this famous stage,
something extraordinary.
Tonight, after a long, hard road . . .
there will be cowboys at the ballet.
What I LOVED about this book:
This is an interesting way to start a biography, by beginning almost at the end and then shifting into Agnes' childhood and building back to this moment. Ilaria Urbinati's elegant, richly toned theatre creates a wonderful sense of anticipation, just before the curtain rises.
Text © Claire Wrenn Bobrow, 2026. Image © Ilaria Urbinati, 2026.
With a wonderful shift in light, Ilaria Urbinati accompanies Claire Wrenn Bobrow's introduction of Agnes, a girl wishing to be a dancer, growing up in a "dusty California town awash with dreams" full of cowboys, rattlesnakes, and sagebrush. I love the lightheartedness and joy in this image.
Text © Claire Wrenn Bobrow, 2026. Image © Ilaria Urbinati, 2026.
Though she struggles to master ballet techniques, her joy of dancing and a head full of stories result in her creating unique dance moves full of horses, pirates, and humor. Continuing the cowboy theme, "Agnes gallops...to New York" where "[s]he bucks and snorts with energy and ideas." Then jumping into the "seething stampede of creativity," Agnes creates her own style. I love the way the illustration uses a twisting trail of colorful footprints and swirls in combination with a variety of costumes, poses, and leaps. Unable to fit into a traditional, modern, or folk dance mold, Agnes is ultimately captivated by the movement of cowboys when she attends a rodeo.
Agnes keeps working and performing, perfecting her craft and own style. Eventually, she's asked to choreograph a film, a play, and a Broadway musical. But it flops. The text and illustration combine to create the perfect "dark moment of the soul," for Agnes. Yet, the light streaming through the windows and the sparkle of floating dust falling around her, beautifully foreshadowing the next spread and her aha! moment in a sunny London park. When she thinks back to her dusty town, the rodeo, and "thunderous hoofbeats, twirling ropes, and . . . cowboys," her joy and imagination propel her forward to create shows with unique western choreography.
Text © Claire Wrenn Bobrow, 2026. Image © Ilaria Urbinati, 2026.
Just as things looked up, World War II started. Ilaria Urbinati gorgeously captured this moment, with fighter planes swallowed by ominous dark clouds as they leave London. Resulting in yet another period of despair for Agnes, gorgeously captured and succinctly described appropriately for young readers.
I love the way Claire Wrenn Bobrow carried the theme of Agnes' life throughout the biography by weaving "cowboy" and range elements all throughout the text. ("where had her trail gone cold," "almost feel the horse beneath her," "sits tall in the saddle," and "dried up like watering holes in the desert.") The inspiring ending explores Agnes' determination not to quit, a little bit of luck, and lots of hard work. It includes a wonderful wrap back to the opening image of the theater and the expectant crowds and a spotlight moment for Anges herself. A wonderfully detailed and captivating author's note offers additional information on Agnes, her family, and her numerous accomplishments, honors, and awards. This is a magnificent nonfiction biography of a talented dancer, choreographer, and author who captivated America.
Resources:
make up your own dance moves to a song you love. Now, swap favorite songs with a friend or family member. Each of you make up a dance to this other song or music. How are your own dances different? How are the same? How do they compare to your friend's or family member's dance?
do you have a musical that you enjoy? What do you like most about it?
