Gianni Rodari

The Italian Author Gianni Rodari wrote many beloved children's books and was awarded the prestigious Andersen Prize. But he was also an educator of paramount importance in Italy and an activist who understood the liberating power of the imagination. He is one of the twentieth century's greatest authors for children, and Italy's greatest. Influenced by French surrealism and linguistics, Rodari stressed the importance of poetic language, metaphor, made-up language, and play. At a time when schooling was all about factual knowledge, Rodari wrote The Grammar of Fantasy, a radically imaginative book about storytelling and play. He was a forerunner of writing techniques such as the "fantastic binomial" and the utopian, world engendering "what if...." The relevance of Rodari's works today lies in his poetics of imagination, his humanist yet challenging approach to reality, and his themes, such as war and peace, immigration, injustice, inequality, and liberty. Forty years after his death, Rodari's writing is as powerful and innovative as ever. He died in Rome in 1980.

Gianni Rodari's Titles

Grammar of Fantasy An Introduction to the Art of Inventing Stories

The Grammar of Fantasy

From the father of modern Italian children's literature, a guide to fairy tales and their potential for teaching creative storytelling to childrenwith...


Lamberto, Lamberto, Lamberto

Lamberto, Lamberto, Lamberto

From Gianni Rodari, the father of modern Italian children's literature, comes a pithy, humorous tale about life and death, health and wealth...


Book of Whys

The Book of Whys

Factual as well as whimsical, andhumorously illustrated, this is the first English-language publication of theanswers given by one of Italy's...


Daydreamy Child Takes a Walk

A Daydreamy Child Takes a Walk

Written by Gianni Rodari, the father of modern Italian children's literature, and charmingly illustrated by award-winning artist Beatrice Alemagna,...


Telling Stories Wrong

Telling Stories Wrong

ANewYork Times/New York Public Library Best Illustrated Children's Book of 2022★Everyone knows how "Little Red Riding Hood" goes. But Grandpa...


Telephone Tales

Telephone Tales

Night after night, a father spins a new, fantastical bedtime story for his daughter from the other end of the telephone.