Readings for children

A journey into the world of children’s literature

The animated readings for children are coordinated, and partly held, by Pino Costalunga.

Costalunga is an expert in children’s literature, and has consolidated experience as an author of children’s books and theatre texts for young people. He has been and is often a guest at important literary festivals such as Festivaletteratura in Mantua, I Boreali, Parole di Carta in Galliate, Tuttestorie in Cagliari, FLA Pescara Festival and others. He collaborates with various publishing houses specialising in children’s literature and translates from Swedish. In the theatrical field he works as an actor and director, has collaborated with many companies, including the Teatro Stabile del Veneto and often works abroad. For some years he has been working on projects for children in the educational sector of the Gran Teatro La Fenice in Venice.  

A project to be built together

Costalunga and all the foundation’s collaborators create animated reading paths with the client (schools, libraries, bookshops, associations, etc.). Thanks to his extensive knowledge of both children’s literature and traditional storytelling, a tailor-made route is created.  

Leggere fa male alla salute (Reading is bad for your health), a course for secondary school children on reading and books. Il Bosco delle lettere (The forest of letters) and Principessa Piccolina (Little Princess), based on books produced by Pino Costalunga and published by Raffaello Editore (the first written by Pino Costalunga, the second by Ulf Stark and translated from Swedish by Pino Costalunga). Storie di Orchi, Lupi e Streghe (Stories of Ogres, Wolves and Witches), a path on scary stories. Storie da Mangiare (Stories to eat), a journey through stories about food, Storie d’acqua (Water Stories), stories about water and the climate problem, and many others. Marta Boscaini’s animated readings Batticuore and Un drago sulle nuvole complete the offer.  

Step by step: how our readings are organised

We need: a suitable space, possibly protected, in libraries, multipurpose facilities, schools or gardens. In these places, we try, in its essence and implementation, to respect and remain faithful to the original work from which the readings are taken. After the reading we always allocate a moment of interaction between children and operators in order to encourage comparison and mutual exchange of knowledge.