A touching story of love and the true meaning of family
a surprise wood in the
M
Translation by Angus Yuen-Killick
Cosetta Zanotti Lucia Scuderi
Mama and Papa Bear are eagerly awaiting the magical arrival of a new addition.
But when the little one arrives, he isn’t quite the cub they were expecting . . .
Davide, the choice to live in silence in this immobile body is proof that you have arrived on this earth to teach those you meet the power of no words and unconditional love.
Thank you, Cosetta, for the luminous gift of this story; Lucia, for the shapes and colors you gave to this book; Chiara, without whom this project would never have begun.
Rosita and Papa Giorgio
Mamma
a surprise wood in the M
Translation by Angus Yuen-Killick
Comet Press • Brooklyn
Red
Cosetta Zanotti Lucia Scuderi
On a moonlit night a fine thread descended from a star. It skimmed over the mountaintops and slipped down into the dark forest.
It traveled slowly, weaving here and there between the branches of the trees, until it arrived at 29 Wood Lane.
Gently, it placed something on the ground.
And finally, it disappeared, dissolving in a soft trail of shimmering light.
“Here he is. Did you see?” Mama Bear exclaimed happily.
“Finally, he’s arrived!” Papa Bear cheered as he opened the front door.
Then, he asked, “Are we sure he’s at the right address?”
“They are never wrong. Look! It says, ‘29 Wood Lane’ on the tag. That’s us!” replied Mama Bear.
Papa Bear sniffed the air and said, “He’s
our cub. I smell the stardust!”
“Welcome!” exclaimed Papa Bear, passionately.
“Welcome!” exclaimed Mama Bear, hugging the bowl.
“What name shall we give our cub?”
“I have no idea. I know bear names, but not names for fish.”
“How about Bruno?”
“Too common.”
“Paws?”
“That doesn’t fit!”
“Well then, let’s call him Fin.”
“That’s perfect!” replied Mama Bear.
As soon as they heard the happy news, the forest animals came running to congratulate them.
Fin darted about in his bowl. He was happy to see so many woodland friends around him.
“I expected he’d be different,” said Squirrel.
“He’s very cute, though,” said Frog kindly. “Perhaps with more hair,” commented Woodpecker.
“He has no ears,” murmured Hare.
“And he doesn’t walk,” Mole muttered.
“But he swims,” added Fox.
“And he blows bubbles!” said Frog, again kindly.
“Since when do two bears adopt a fish?” grumbled Owl.
“Since the fish chose us!” bellowed Papa Bear.
“See, the fish chose them!” croaked Frog loudly.
Fin recognized Papa Bear’s voice and blew lots of bubbles, which went pop , pop , pop on the surface of the water.
Fin had chosen his parents, he remembered it well. Even when he was on his star, before he was born, he knew they were waiting for him.
“He can’t even talk. He just blows bubbles!” Owl insisted grumpily.
It was now sunrise, and the first rays of the sun caressed the leaves of the trees.
Mama Bear and Papa Bear walked down the forest path with Fin’s bowl between their paws.
“Who knows where they are headed?” wondered Woodpecker.
“Maybe they are taking Fin back,” commented Crow.
“He wasn’t hairy enough!” said Blackbird.
“Are you ready?” asked Mama Bear and Papa Bear.
Fin nodded, giving a gentle flick of his tail. And together they shouted . . .
”jump!”
Several days passed. The house on Wood Lane remained empty.
“Where are the bears?” asked Squirrel as he leaped between the branches.
“They left without a word,” answered Woodpecker.
“I haven’t seen the strange family in a while!” snorted Hare.
“Well, let’s go find them,” proposed Frog.
“That’s a good idea!” they all replied.
The group of animals walked down the forest path. Only Owl seemed doubtful about what they were doing.
“Welcome, friends,” said Mama Bear. “Extremely ready!” they almost all replied. “Are you all ready?” asked Papa Bear. And together they shouted . . .
ju u uuuuump!” ”
A SURPRISE IN THE WOOD was born from the desire to share that every life is unique, rare, and special, like Davide’s, who we adopted at just twenty-six days old, and thus he became part of our family, giving us the joy of becoming parents. It was April 23, 2003. After a few months, in which everything seemed normal and wonderful, we realized that something was wrong: Davide could not control his head or the movement of his body. From that moment, the search for a diagnosis began. Twelve years later, in January 2015, the rare disease that afflicts Davide was finally given a name: ALLANHERNDON- DUDLEY SYNDROME (AHDS).
After looking at his future and the long journey ahead of him, we decided to found UNA VITA RARA AHDS-MCT8 ONLUS, an association aimed at making this disease better known and raising funds to support research. The symbol of the association is a heart, which represents the infinite love that all AHDS patients are able to convey through their smile and their eyes. A heart outlined in blue, the color of the sky and the sea, the color that unites everything and gives us strength to continue
to fight despite the mark the disease has inflicted on our lives. We hope this book is an invitation to experience the surprises that life brings us every day. For us, despite the difficulties, it has been like this, a life of surprises.
We are your voice, your legs, your arms, our little angel. Papa has always said coming down from the sky you fell, breaking your wings, but don’t be afraid, we will do everything to fix them! We will always fight for your eyes to shine like the stars!
Mama Rosita and Papa Giorgio with Davide, who loves being in the water
ALLAN-HERNDON-DUDLEY SYNDROME
(AHDS ) is a deficiency of the thyroid hormone transporter MCT8, which fails to properly transport the thyroid hormone T3 into cells. It is a rare congenital, genetic (the mutated gene is SLC16A2), and hereditary encephalopathy. It predominantly affects males, who have a fifty percent chance of developing the disease if the mother is a carrier of the gene, while females are more likely to be carriers without experiencing symptoms. The disease is characterized by severe psychomotor retardation, hypotonia of the axis, spasticity of the limbs, dystonia, and in some cases, as for Davide, epilepsy. AHDS-MCT8 is a very rare disease with an estimated two hundred patients worldwide.
PUBLISHER’S NOTE: As our family was brought together through adoption, this book resonated with us on many levels. Our world has changed since the book was originally printed in 2018, and it is our understanding that it has been a difficult time for Davide and his family. We at Red Comet Press are honored to tell their story and have a portion of the proceeds from the sale of this book be donated to the Una Vita Rara Foundation. For more information please visit: www.unavitarara.it or write to unavitarara@gmail.com.
Instagram: una_vita_rara
Facebook: AHDS-MCT8 Una Vita Rara Onlus To donate: www.unavitarara.it/it/donazioni
A Surprise in the Wood
This edition published in 2025 by Red Comet Press, LLC, Brooklyn, NY
First published as Sorpresa nel Bosco Italian Text © 2018 Cosetta Zanotti • Illustrations © 2018 Lucia Scuderi
Copyright © 2018 Fatatrac, a brand of Edizioni del Borgo S.r.l., Casalecchio di Reno (Bologna), Italy • www.fatatrac.it
Translation by Angus Yuen-Killick • English translation © Red Comet Press, LLC
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
Library of Congress Control Number: 2024930225
ISBN (HB): 978-1-63655-092-3 ISBN (Ebook): 978-1-63655-093-0
First Edition Manufactured in China Red Comet Press is distributed by ABRAMS, New York RedCometPress.com
Cosetta Zanotti is a children’s book author from Brescia, Italy. Her stories have been published widely in Italy and have been translated into numerous languages. She meets children in schools and libraries where she develops family enrichment projects through her storytelling. She has also curated many prestigious literary events for children across Italy.
Lucia Scuderi is a painter and illustrator who lives in Catania on the island of Sicily. She has illustrated books for children and teenagers for some of the most prominent Italian publishing houses. Some of her titles have been published in France, Switzerland, Spain, Korea, the US, and China. She has received numerous awards including the 2013 Andersen Prize for best Italian illustrator.
Angus Yuen-Killick is a translator and the publisher of Red Comet Press. Originally from the UK, he lived in Rome and now lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.
