In Omegna, a small town on Lake Orta in Piedmont, Gianni Rodari was born on October 23, 1920 - the writer who would later turn a bulb into a hero, telephone conversations into fairy tales, and the ridiculous into a tool for thinking.
His real name was Giovanni Francesco Rodari. His father, Giuseppe, was a baker, but died in 1929, when Gianni was only nine years old. His mother then moved with him and his brother to Gavirate, in the province of Varese. Rodari graduated from pedagogical school in 1937 and briefly worked as an elementary school teacher.
From the teacher's room to the newspaper pages
His path to literature passed through journalism. After World War II, Rodari began working for the newspaper “Unita“, and later wrote for “Paese sera“. It was the concise journalistic form - the precise expression, the fast rhythm and the ability to say a lot in a few words - that remained visible in his children's books.
In 1944, Rodari joined the Italian Communist Party and participated in the Resistance. In the post-war years, he began to write for the youngest, without underestimating them and without turning his stories into edifying lessons.
Cipollino, the Blue Arrow and Tales on the Telephone
Among Rodari's first great successes was “The Adventures of Cipollino“, published in 1951. In it, vegetables and fruits become a society of heroes who confront power, poverty and injustice. The fantastic form allows the author to talk about the real world without losing his sense of humor.
This was followed by “The Journey of the Blue Arrow“, “Gelsomino in the Land of Liars“, “Cake in the Sky“ and “Tales on the Telephone“. The last book is made up of short stories that a father tells his daughter on the phone. It is precisely the brevity, paradox and unexpected ending that turn the individual tales into memorable literary miniatures.
Fantasy as a skill, not as an escape
In 1973, “Grammar of Fantasy“ was published – a book dedicated to the art of inventing stories. Rodari describes various ways of working with language and imagination, among which is the so-called “fantastic binomial“ – the combination of two unrelated words, from whose tension a story can be born.
“All uses of the word for all – not because everyone is a creator, but so that no one is a slave.“This thought sums up a large part of his understanding of children's literature. For Rodari, language is not an ornament, but a means for a person to name the world, to ask questions and imagine a different outcome.
Recognition also comes from outside Italy. In 1970, Rodari received the “Hans Christian Andersen“ award - the highest international honor for authors of children's literature, awarded for a lifetime contribution. He remains the only Italian writer to win the prize for writing.
Gianni Rodari died in Rome on April 14, 1980, but his books continue to live on in schools, libraries and family reading. He leaves children not only with characters and funny situations, but with the confidence that one word, placed next to another, can open a door to a whole new world.
Sources: treccani.it