GIANNI RODARI (October 23, 1920 - April 11, 1980)

This site is dedicated to the Italian author Gianni Rodari and his fairy tales. He is very famous in Europe for his unique and creative stories, but little known in America. Only a few of his many works have been translated into English.

We have translated some excerpts from one of his tales, The Adventures of Chipollino, from Russian into English for you, and have written a short biography of Rodari's life, so that you might get to know this wonderful writer. We have also included some links to other fairy tale sites.

About the Author:

Gianni Rodari was born in 1920 in Italy, the son of bakers. At the age of 10 Rodari was already writing poetry and studying music. Rodari entertained the notion of making music as his professional career, but in 1929 the world Depression disrupted the lives of countless individuals, including Rodari's family. His father died that same year. The harsh reality of the Depression forced him to seek a more sensible career choice. In 1937 he received his diploma maestro, and in 1940 he returned to school to receive his concorso da maestro. These degrees gave him the qualifications needed to teach.

The hardships of World War II drew him to the anti-Fascist resistance movement. When the war ended Rodari was committed to political life and worked to secure a better future without Fascism and the violence of war. He believed this would be achieved through Communist political and social philosophy.

In 1947 Rodari began his "second career" as a creator of children's literature, fairy tales, and poetry. Rodari believed that his stories could be inspirational to children: "I think fairy tales- both old and new- can help in the development of the mind. Fairy tales are the places of all hypotheses- they can give us the keys and help us find new ways to reality; they can help the child learn about the world and give him the ability to evaluate it."

Rodari's curious and extraordinary fairy tales and the honesty of his work made his stories popular among the people of Italy. His own working class roots influenced his creative work and appealed to the youth of his nation.

Rodari's work was translated into other languages, and in the 1960s his fairy tales were published for the first time by a non-political publisher

In 1970 Rodari was awarded the Hans Christian Andersen Medal. This award was established in 1956 and awarded every two years to one author and one illustrator in celebration of a published work.

Through his work, Rodari encouraged promoting creative thinking in children and enhancing their minds and imaginations. He acknowledged the difficulty educators have in preparing children for the world that awaits them in adulthood. "Things we say can come true. The big problem is to want the right things to come true. No one alone has the magic word. We must all seek it together, in every language, with discretion, with passion, with sincerity, and with fantasy- one way we can do this is by writing stories which make children laugh. There is nothing more beautiful in the world than a child's smile. And if one day all the children in the world could laugh together, all of them, with no exceptions, then that would be a great day- let it come!"¹

Works by Gianni Rodari:

¹The quotes were an excerpt from Rodari's Hans Christian Andersen Award accepatance speech, orgininally delivered in 1970. From the Children's Literature Review, volume 24, page 202. The Children's Literature Review citation is: Gianni Rodari, "Acceptance Speeches," in Bookbird, Volume VIII, No 2, June 15, 1970, pp3-5.

(Last Modified January 2, 2004)

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