A lifelong mission to accomplish. An unexpected journey through pipes and rivers reveals a shocking truth. A new and almost impossible mission to achieve...

- Winner of the 11th International Literary Competition "Locanda del Doge" 2023 as best Children's Fiction Book.
- 2nd prize of the 7th edition of the "Premio Internazionale Castrovillari Città Cultura" in the section Literature for Children.
- Finalist of the 17th edition of the International Literary Prize "Massa, Città Fiabesca di Mare e di Marmo" in the section Children's Fiction Book.
- Mention of Merit of the International Literary Prize "Le Pietre di Anuaria" 2023 in the section Children's Fiction Book.

Pelucco is a small polyester fiber microplastic that lives in a winter garment for children. He was born to carry out a noble mission that he honors daily with great pleasure and diligence: keeping children warm. However, one day, something unexpected happens: a muddy footprint left by a dog on his sweater alienates him from everything he had known and loved up to that point.

On his journey home, Pelucco will meet new friends who will reveal a new world that will transform his mission into something even more noble: to help young and old protect the sea from marine contamination.

Pelucco's adventures, described in a funny and moving narrative, are appropriately designed by the authors (a university researcher in the area of materials science and a writer) to explain to children all the latest scientific findings about the mechanism of introduction of microplastics into different aquatic environments, describing how microplastics can travel through pipes, sewer networks, wastewater treatment plants and rivers, reaching not only the seas and oceans but also other environmental compartments such as land or air. Through the story of Pelucco and the friends he met on his journey, the ecological impacts of microplastic pollution and the key players in introducing microplastics into the environment are highlighted.

Finally, the book concludes with tips, practical advice, and daily actions to decrease microplastics' input into the oceans. The book also includes a glossary that aids in understanding some of the terms covered in the story.

This book can be used as an aid by teachers, disseminators, and associations concerned with protecting and informing about the environment, as it illustrates simply the environmental impacts of marine contamination by plastics and microplastics.

In conclusion, "Pelucco, a Journey of Microplastics" is a real journey of discovery of a new world that is still little known but very important for future generations.