Reading Club October: Children’s Literature | Tales to have fun with - Εικόνα

Our Reading Club for young book lovers, hosted by the theater educator Artemis Manou, continues at the Cultural Center this autumn
The book that will inspire this month’s meeting is “Tante storie per giocare” (Tales to have fun with) by Gianni Rodari.

Our young readers will have the chance to share their impressions, feelings and thoughts, as well as to travel, using their imagination as the vehicle and the book of the month as their launch pad, into the exciting worlds that spring up from its pages. 

The book
Who said that every story should only have one ending? Gianni Rodari never liked rules that are imposed without being justified. And he thought that the rule that every story should only have one ending ought to be challenged, in order to prove whether or not it is correct. 
And here is the result: Tales to have fun with, a book of twenty unusual stories. But their endings are not what you think! Because there isn’t just one but three different versions of the ending! The author suggests them and then leaves it up to us, the readers, then choose the one we like!
So – if you’d like to laugh, think, and play with this book that is bursting with humor, word games and freedom, join us on our date in October. And together we will follow the path that Rodari showed us: not only will we choose the ending we prefer, but we’ll also create one of our very own!
(…and a little spoiler: if you want to know which ending the author prefers for each tale, flick over to the final pages of the book. Why does he prefer that particular ending? Which one did you choose? And, most importantly, why?)

The author
Gianni Rodari was born in the province of Novara in Italy. He worked briefly as a teacher, before moving on to journalism. He came to children’s writing almost by accident. His books have been translated into several languages and received numerous awards, including the Hans Christian Andersen Medal (1970), which is considered the Nobel prize of children’s literature. 

Thanks to Gianni Rodari, children’s literature has broken out of the boundaries of “less important” literary production and, with its charming complexity, reclaimed its place in the history of literature and pedagogy. The common denominator in Rodari’s stories is the timelessness of his themes, the restless spirit of his characters, moral dilemmas and courageous protest. With his trademark humor of the absurd, a play on stereotypes, and imaginative subversions of language, the author invites young and old to break free of molds, prejudice and compromise, and look further. 

The Reading Club hostess: 
Artemis Manou completed her undergraduate studies at the Faculty of Philology (majoring in Linguistics) of the University of Athens School of Philosophy, and gained a Master’s Degree in Teaching Modern Greek as a Foreign/Second Language; she also attended the Vasilis Diamantopoulos School of Drama. Having spent several years working in private education and as an actor, in 2009 she combined her love for theater and children as a facilitator and director of theater groups. She has worked with the Onassis Foundation Stegi on the Youth Theater Festival, writing plays and staging performances for teenagers, and was a contributor in the experiential learning program “Contemporary Art: first you live… then you understand” held by the Onassis Stegi in primary schools, where she organized, along with Jenny Argyriou, Andreas Kasapis and Myrto Tikov, creative expression workshops based on stimuli from contemporary art. Since 2017, she runs workshops for children, teenagers and education professionals at the National Theater. She has written a total of 15 plays for young people. The National Theater’s program “Theater in Greek”, addressed to Greek and refugee teenagers, holds a special place in her heart. Her play “To Taxidi”, which she co-wrote with Vangelis Kyriakou, was included in the repertoire of the Young People’s Stage of the National Theater (“Mikro Ethniko”) in 2018. She was born and lives in Athens. But she dreams of living in many more places – along with her family. 

A pre-meeting project for Reading Club members
Pick a story from the book that inspires you and, before reading the three alternative endings provided by the author, think about and write your own ending, that you think would bring the story to a nice conclusion!
And one more thing: is this an ending that a grown-up would like? Your mum or your dad? What ending do you think they would prefer?

Sunday 24/10 | 17:00-18:00
BOOK TOWER

For children aged 7 to 10 years old
Up to 22 participants
Free participation by online pre-registration

Preregistration starts on Monday 04/10 at 12.00.

To take part in the Reading Club, all registered participants are required to read the book of the month. 

“Tante storie per giocare” by Gianni Rodari is available in Greek translation from Kedros Publications.
 
As part of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center's collaboration with the National Library of Greece, the children's book for October's Reading Club has been chosen by NLG staff members. 

 

Kids up to 11 years old will be required to provide a negative COVID-19 self test result, taken within the last 24 hours from the webpage selftesting.gov.gr or a certificate of recovery valid from 2 to 6 months after the illness. Kids aged 12 and above will be required to show a valid COVID-19 vaccination certificate or certificate of recovery.

The use of face mask and social distancing measures are mandatory in indoor and outdoor areas of the SNFCC, in accordance with Hellenic National Public Health Organization regulations. 

Due to public health measures, there may be changes regarding either the staging of the event, or the maximum number of participants.

Children should always be accompanied by parents or adult chaperones, who should stay outside the activity area for as long as the activity lasts.

 

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