New Releases by Gianni Rodari

In this enchantingly whimsical, darkly comic tale from Gianni Rodari (Italy’s Roald Dahl), an unlikely hero—none other than a young onion!—takes up the fight against the tyrannical Prince Lemon, with wit and heart. Cipollino is young, brave, clever, and determined—exactly the kind of valiant hero that’s bound to triumph in fairy tales. Except, did we mention that he’s also a little onion? You read that right: In this fantastic book of high political drama—a classic of Italian children’s literature—all of the characters are fruits, vegetables, and animals. Here, Cipollino sets out to free his wrongfully imprisoned father. In the process, he faces off against scoundrels of all kinds. What hangs in the balance is nothing more or less than the freedom of an entire kingdom from the senseless rules imposed by the tyrannical Prince Lemon, and the equal dignity of each blueberry, string bean, and spider. Written in the atmosphere of hope and enthusiasm of post–World War II Italy, Cipollino and his friends don’t rely on weapons and violence in their battle against injustice, but rather on jokes and tricks, ingenuity and courage, heart and solidarity. With much laughter, luck, and pluck, they band together to bring fun, respect, and decency back to the land.

From the father of modern Italian children’s literature, a guide to fairy tales and their potential for teaching creative storytelling to children—with radiant illustrations from Matthew Forsythe and a refreshed translation from Jack Zipes. “Holds great value for the adults who teach kids and the adults who write for them.“ —Mac Barnett, U.S. National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, for the New York Times “The ultimate synthesis of Rodari’s exuberant knowledge, a book of both pedagogy and poetics, poetry for teachers and pedagogy for poets.” —Italo Calvino A groundbreaking pedagogical work that is also a handbook for writers of all ages and kinds, The Grammar of Fantasy offers a playful, practical path to finding your own voice through the power of storytelling. Full of ideas, glosses on fairy tales, stories, and wide-ranging activities, this book changed how creative arts were taught in Italian schools. Gianni Rodari is not only revered as a children’s author, but also remembered for his visionary pedagogy, and it is these two fields he combines in this revolutionary essay collection. Translated into English by acclaimed scholar of folklore and children’s literature Jack Zipes, and with original art from illustrator Matthew Forsythe, this edition of The Grammar of Fantasy is one to live with and return to for its humor, intelligence, and remarkable understanding of children.

From Gianni Rodari, the father of modern Italian children’s literature, comes a pithy, humorous tale about life and death, health and wealth . . . and bandits and balloons! A refreshed translation from Batchelder Award–winner Antony Shugaar, illustrated with all-new art from Roman Muradov “Gianni Rodari gave free rein to his imagination, with inspired panache and gleeful lightness. At the same time, he had a precise and meticulous love for detail, for rich and exact language, and so all of his inventions are set in a very concrete world with real form and action.” —Italo Calvino Baron Lamberto is very old, very rich, and very sick. He lives in a villa on a private island in the middle of Lake Orta, tended to by his trusty butler, Anselmo, who keeps track of the baron’s 24 maladies, 24 banks, and endless eccentricities. After a mysterious trip to Egypt, the baron hires six people to take up residence in the attic of his villa. Their only task? To repeat his name, “Lamberto, Lamberto, Lamberto,” throughout the day. Why? It’s anyone’s guess, but—wonder of wonders—Baron Lamberto does appear to be getting better and better, little by little, day by day. But trouble looms when Lamberto’s nefarious nephew Ottavio enters the scene, scheming up a way to get his hands on the baron’s fortune. And things go from bad to worse when a band of 24 bandits (all named Lamberto, too, by the way) lays siege to the baron’s villa and attempt to hold him for ransom. In typical Rodarian fashion, Lamberto, Lamberto, Lamberto is a thoroughly enjoyable, deeply thought-provoking read. While it playfully skewers the absurdities of the rich, the bureaucracy, the media, and more, it also encourages readers to liberate their imaginations, to expect the unexpected, and to embrace the kind of possibilities that normally only happen in fairy tales.

Factual as well as whimsical, and humorously illustrated, this is the first English-language publication of the answers given by one of Italy''s greatest and most beloved children''s authors to children''s questions about animals, nature, technology, and culture. Winner of the 2023 Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs’s English Translation Prize! Gianni Rodari is widely regarded as the father of modern Italian children''s literature. A firm believer in the great intelligence of children, he worked both as a teacher and a journalist. For a number of years, children across Italy sent their questions to his weekly newspaper column—questions Rodari answered, most inventively, with rhymes and little poems. Why didn''t he reply with facts alone? Because he wanted to provoke children into thinking about questions, norms, and language itself. The Book of Whys collects a selection of these questions—from "Why does an elephant have a trunk?" to "Why does a car need fuel?" to "Why are we born?"—along with Rodari''s answers, which beautifully serve to highlight the complexities, simplicities, and absurdities of our world. With a fresh translation from Antony Shugaar, who also translated Rodari''s Telephone Tales (the 2021 Batchelder Award winner), and playful illustrations in colored pencils from artist JooHee Yoon (Beastly Verse; The Tiger Who Would Be King, a New York Times Best Illustrated Book of 2015; Inside Out and Upside Down), The Book of Whys is a playful, surprising, and poetically informative book for all those who are curious about the world and ready to play with the ways things are.

A New York Times/New York Public Library Best Illustrated Children''s Book of 2022 ★ Everyone knows how "Little Red Riding Hood" goes. But Grandpa keeps getting the story all wrong, with hilarious results! "Once upon a time, there was a little girl called Little Yellow Riding Hood—" "Not yellow! It''s Red Riding Hood!" So begins the story of a grandpa playfully recounting the well-known fairytale—or his version, at least—to his granddaughter. Try as she might to get him back on track, Grandpa keeps on adding things to the mix, both outlandish and mundane! The end result is an unpredictable tale that comes alive as it''s being told, born out of imaginative play and familial affection. This spirited picture book will surprise and delight from start to finish, while reminding readers that storytelling is not only a creative act of improvisation and interaction, but also a powerful pathway for connection and love. Telling Stories Wrong was written by Gianni Rodari, widely regarded as the father of modern Italian children''s literature. It exemplifies his great respect for the intelligence of children and the kind of work he did as an educator, developing numerous games and exercises for children to engage and think beyond the status quo, imagining what happens after the end of a familiar story, or what possibilities open up when a new ingredient is introduced. This book is illustrated with great affection by the illustrious artist Beatrice Alemagna (Child of Glass), who counts Gianni Rodari as one of her "spiritual fathers."

Verdadeiro clássico publicado em diversos países, este livro é a obra-prima de um dos mais geniais escritores contemporâneos: Gianni Rodari. Jornalista, professor, poeta e militante da causa operária, Rodari dedicou boa parte da vida ao magistério e a outra a escrever livros infantis, sua grande paixão. Fruto de sua experiência como professor e de seu convívio com crianças de seu país, a Itália, e de outras regiões, Gramática da fantasia é um tesouro para pais e educadores que desejam ampliar a imaginação dos pequenos. Partindo de fábulas populares, brincadeiras, adivinhas e diversos outros recursos criativos, Rodari nos oferece um verdadeiro compêndio de estímulos à criatividade. Com humor refinado e linguagem simples, ele também critica duramente o modo como a escola e a sociedade impõem às crianças padrões rígidos e, muitas vezes, castradores.

Lista de los mejores libros para niños y jóvenes (Banco del Libro, Venezuela) Alicia Paf es pequeña y siempre se mete en líos, aunque siempre sale airosa de sus fantásticas aventuras. Ella no se sorprende si cae dentro de una página llena de ilustraciones y habla con el Lobo o si cae dentro del tintero o se mete dentro de una pompa de jabón y tiene que volver a casa... Junto a Alicia es fácil vivir un mundo lleno de fantasía y de imaginación.

--- PARISTÒRIAS IN TELÈFONU cuntenent istòrias nàschidas dae s''iscontru ocasionaÌe de duas paràulas, istòrias cuncordadas a ricalcu, o postas a sa revessa, dae àteras istòrias, istòrias pro giogare, istòrias nàschidas dae faddinas de ortografia o de datilografia, imbentos caratzados dae ammentos, ammentos caratzados dae imbentos, contàssias, giogos verbales, ideas pro romanzos de fantasièntzia presentados comente paristòrias, ideas pro tiriteras no iscritas, diàlogos intre ditzos, contigheddos chi lassant intzertare sas leturas de psicanàlisi, o de etnografia, chi los ant pilisados. In sustàntzia, est unu libru chi babbos, mannois e maistros diant pòdere finas impreare comente unu manuale pro imbentare istòrias e impreare pro irrichire su diàlogu issoro cun sos piseddos. Su tìtulu chi acùrtziat a pare su mundu de sas paristòrias e su de sa tecnologia, podet bòlere nàrrere chi s''autore impreat mèdios modernos pro fàghere calicuna cosa de antigu, ma finas su contràriu. Su telèfonu est, in prus, unu "gioghitu" chi agradat meda a sos piseddos. E, como, sos telefoneddos mòbiles rapresentant unu mèdiu nou de relatzione ma finas de creatzione, cun testos, figuras, sonos, chi sighint e afòrtint s''imbentu rodarianu, chi lìberta sa fantasia. --- Gianni Rodari nàschidu in Omegna (Novara) in su 1920, a pustis de àere fatu a maistru elementare pro pagu tempus, at traballadu iscriende in l''Unità e in Paese Sera. Dae tando at cumintzadu a iscrìere pro sos pitzinnos, faghende finas programas pro sa RAI. Est istadu diretore de su Pioniere, pro pitzinnos, e de su Giornale dei genitori. At collaboradu a longu cun su Corriere dei Piccoli, in ue at publicadu finas sas istórias chi presentamus in custu libru. At iscritu libros medas, bortados in deghinas de limbas, e at otentu prèmios de importu, comente s''Andersen in su 1970. Rodari est mortu in Roma in su 1980.

Gianni Rodari estaba convencido de que "los errores no están en las palabras, sino en las cosas; hay que corregir los dictados, pero sobre todo hay que corregir el mundo"; de ahí nacen las historias y las rimas de este libro lleno de personajes divertidos y estrafalarios, y bastantes errores ortográficos y gramaticales. Pero que no cunda el pánico: para corregir los errores, el "maestro" Gianni usaba una valiosa gramática de la fantasía capaz de permitirnos a todos, a través de la sonrisa, el uso total de la palabra, "no para que todo el mundo sea artista, sino para que nadie sea esclavo" ¿Vale la pena que un niño aprenda llorando lo que puede aprender riendo? Si se juntaran todas las lágrimas vertidas en los cinco continentes por culpa de la ortografía, se obtendría una cascada que podría utilizarse para producir energía eléctrica. Claro que el coste de esta energía me parecería excesivo. Los errores son necesarios, útiles como el pan y a menudo también hermosos: un ejemplo es la torre de Pisa. Este libro está lleno de errores, y no son solo faltas de ortografía. Algunos son evidentes a simple vista, otros están escondidos en adivinanzas. Algunos están en verso, otros en prosa. No todos son errores infantiles, lo cual responde perfectamente a la realidad: el mundo sería maravilloso si solo se equivocaran los niños. Entre padres podemos decirlo, pero no está mal que también lo sepan los chiquillos.

La hija del señor Bianchi no puede dormirse sin que le cuenten un cuento. Así que su padre, viajante de comercio, cada noche, estuviera donde estuviese, la telefoneaba a las nueve en punto y le contaba un cuento. Dicen que cuando el señor Bianchi telefoneaba a Varese, las señoritas de la telefónica suspendían todas las llamadas para escuchar sus cuentos. ¡Claro! Algunos son tan bonitos... Cuentos por telefono (1962), es uno de los libros más significativos de nuestro catálogo, ya que sigue publicándose y leyendose en las escuelas con el mismo exito desde hace más de medio siglo. Por ello, en el centenario del nacimiento de Rodari, hemos querido homenajearlo que esta edición especial, con nueva maqueta e ilustraciones a color. Setenta cuentos que nacen de una visión crítica del mundo, llena de realidad y optimismo, que invitan a pensar con amplitud de miras y sin prejuicios, siempre por el camino de la tolerancia y la amistad.

"Fruto del interés por la literatura infantil, en los años sesenta Gianni Rodari recorrió las escuelas italianas «a contar cuentos y a responder a las preguntas de los niños. Porque, de hecho, siempre hay un niño que pregunta ¿Cómo se inventan las historias?, y merece una respuesta sincera». A través del contacto directo con el alumnado, Rodari observa, conversa y toma apuntes, intentando descubrir los procedimientos del arte de crear historias. Esta actividad será la base de su obra teórica más importante, «Grammatica della fantasia» (1973), que tomó forma en un encuentro con docentes en el que Rodari participó en 1972, invitado por el Ayuntamiento de Reggio Emilia."--Page [4] of cover.

A collection of twenty-six stories by Gianni Rodari. The stories in this anthology combine humor, imagination, and fantasy, while offering us a critical and ironic vision of today''s world.