The Grammar of Fantasy: An Introduction to the Art of Inventing Stories

(Hardback)

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A collection of essays from the visionary storyteller Gianni Rodari about fairy tales and folk tales and their great advantages in teaching creative storytelling.

'Rodari grasped children's need to play with life's 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.'- Jack Zipes

Translated into English by acclaimed children's 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. 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.

Reviews

RODARIS LEGACY AS CHAMPION OF CHILDRENS IMAGINATION: Building on the splash our English translation ofTelephone Talesmade in the US in 2020.

BREAKING DOWN STORYTELLING FOR TEACHERS & WRITERS

NEW ILLUSTRATIONS FROM MATT FORSYTHE

Author Bio

Widely considered the father of modern Italian childrens literature, Gianni Rodari(19201980) grew up in Northern Italy and wrote hundreds of stories, poems, and songs for children. In 1960, he collaborated with the Education Cooperation Movement to develop exercises to encourage childrens creative and critical thinking abilities. The recipient of the prestigious Andersen Prize in recognition of his contribution to childrens literature, he was also an educator of paramount importance in Italy and an activist who understood the liberating power of the imagination.

Jack Zipesis a renowned childrens historian and folklorist who has written, translated, and edited dozens of books on fairytales. He is a professor at the University of Minnesota.

Matthew Forsythelives in Montreal where he draws and paints for picture books, comics, and animations.His picture bookPokko and the Drumwas aPublishers Weeklyand NPR Book of the Year and won aBoston Globe / Horn BookHonorandCharlotte Zolotow Honor.