The Grammar of Fantasy: An Introduction to the Art of Inventing Stories
English
By (author): Gianni Rodari
Translated by: Jack Zipes
Illustrated by: Matt Forsythe, Matthew Forsythe
From the father of modern Italian childrens literature, a guide to fairytales and folk tales and their great advantages in teaching creative storytelling.
A groundbreaking pedagogical work that is also a handbook for writers of all ages and kinds, The Grammar of Fantasy gives each of us a playful, practical path to finding our own voice through the power of storytelling. Full of ideas, glosses on fairytales, stories, and wide-ranging activities, including the fantastic binomial, this book changed how creative arts were taught in Italian schools.
Gianni Rodari is widely regarded as the father of modern Italian childrens literature, but he is also remembered for his visionary pedagogy, and it is these two fields he combines in this revolutionary essay collection. Translated into English by acclaimed childrens historian Jack Zipes and illustrated for the first time ever by Matthew Forsythe, this edition of The Grammar of Fantasy is one to live with and return to for its humor, intelligence, and truly deep understanding of children.
As translator and esteemed fairytale scholar Jack Zipes puts it, Rodari grasped childrens need to play with lifes rules by using the grammar of their own imaginations. They must be encouraged to question, challenge, destroy, mock, eliminate, generate, and reproduce their own language and meanings through stories that will enable them to narrate their own lives.
I hope this small book, writes Rodari, can be useful for all those people who believe it is necessary for the imagination to have a place in education; for all those who trust in the creativity of children; and for all those who know the liberating value of the word. See moreWill deliver when available. Publication date 16 May 2024