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Machiavelli
We made Machiavelli books for kids. “Machiavellian” has meant sneaky and untrustworthy for five hundred years — but the man behind the word wasn’t either of those things. He spent fourteen years watching power up close and wrote down patterns that still hold up: see things as they are, prepare in the calm, mean what you say, know when to be a fox and when to be a lion. Those patterns are stronger than the cultural baggage, and they translate cleanly to a 4-year-old learning when to push and when to think, or a 9-year-old reading about a Renaissance Italy where being sharp was a survival skill.
The Fox and the Lion
Picture Book (8.5" × 8.5") · Full Color Cut-Paper Collage
Two animal friends move through a forest together. Fox is clever — she watches, waits, finds another way. Lion is brave — he stands tall, pushes through, roars when the moment demands it. Five hundred years ago, Machiavelli wrote that a real leader carries both. This book hands that idea to a 0-to-4-year-old, before the world tells them they have to pick one.
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How to Prince and Princess
Picture Book (8.5" × 8.5") · Full Color Soft Crayon
Five hundred years ago, Machiavelli named the six things that separate leaders who last from leaders who fall. This book gives those six practices in rhyme, addressed directly to a three- to seven-year-old as a prince or princess in training. Prepare. Pay attention. Mean what you say. Hold your ground. Be a fox sometimes, a lion others. And know that half of what happens isn’t up to you.
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The Patterns of Power
Chapter Book (6" × 9") · Black & White Illustrations
Niccolò Machiavelli spent fourteen years watching power up close — popes, dukes, the Florentine families who ran a city without ever wearing a crown. Then he lost everything, sat down at a small farm by candlelight, and wrote the patterns he’d seen. This book gives a six- to ten-year-old the man, the city, the books, and the patterns of power — before the cultural baggage gets there first.
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