The works of Gianni Rodari won the hearts of children around the world. According to the writer, books, like toys, should in an entertaining way teach a child basic life principles. So Gianni Rodari tried to make his works for children: bright, vital, instructive. The years of his childhood cannot be called prosperous, nevertheless, he did not get angry at life: in his tales there are a lot of bright and humorous, but they are not without the sad aspects of social inequality. After all, the book must be true, reveal all aspects of life, even if it is a fairy tale about a boy with an excessively loud voice, or about poor Cipollino, or about the journey of toys before Christmas.
Writer Biography
The writer comes from a baker's family. Unfortunately, the father of the future writer died of pneumonia when Gianni was a ten-year-old boy. The family remained on the shoulders of one mother. In addition to Gianni, Rodari had two more sons.
For lack of funds for a secular school, the boys go to study in a theological seminary. How Rodari did not like these classes, so boring and monotonous! So he ran off to the library afterwards to at least have some fun. There he was fond of books by Schopenhauer and Nietzsche, completely uncharacteristic for a teenager.
Great joy was the graduation. The young man enters the university, at the same time begins to work as a teacher, because it was necessary to support the mother, exhausting herself to feed her sons. Life began to improve, but this period did not last long: the war began.
Rodars did not take to the front - he was declared unfit for military service due to poor health. Difficult economic conditions, lack of money forced the writer to join the fascist party. Although he did not stay a member of it for long, he joined the Resistance.
After the war, Rodari works as a journalist, writes children's books. The year 1953 brought happiness to the writer's personal life: he marries, and four years later becomes a father. His daughter Paola became an only child. During these years he does not publish works, he is engaged in journalism (in 1957, Rodari was certified as a professional journalist).
The writer received worldwide recognition after presenting him with the Andersen Prize, a prestigious literary award.
Rodari died in 1980 from a serious illness.
The formation of creativity
How did the works of Gianni Rodari for children begin to appear? The list of them is very impressive. This includes fairy tales, short stories, and even poems. The writer began his creative activity in 1950, releasing a small collection of poems, and after that - the fairy tale "The Adventures of Cipollino". Then he was appointed chief editor of the children's magazine - this dictated the direction of writing.
Especially the tale of the onion boy, a fighter against social injustice, fell in love with the USSR. Already in 1953, the young residents of the Union began to read it with interest. The translation was led by S. Marshak himself.
In the late 60s, Rodari devoted all his time to journalism, temporarily abandoning the writing of children's works. He only works with the younger generation.
Many of the works of Gianni Rodari put in the movie, and in one of them he starred himself.
The success of Cipollino prompted the writer to create his subsequent tales of Gelsomino and the Blue Arrow. He also writes numerous short tales, short stories, instructive poems - such are the works of Gianni Rodari. Their list is so large that we dwell on the largest and most famous. Let's start with the very first, which brought the writer popularity, - "The Adventures of Cipollino"
Rodari storyteller: "The Adventures of Chippolino"
This tale immediately comes to mind as soon as the question is asked: “What works did Gianni Rodari write?” Which of the children was not sad with Pan Pumpkin, was not angry with the oppressor Senor Tomato, did not admire the brave boy Cipollino ?!
The tale fell in love with readers around the world, survived numerous productions on the stage, animated and film versions. Particularly loved the work in the USSR. Probably because serious questions of class inequality arise in a fairy tale. This distinguishes many children's works of Gianni Rodari.
The tale tells the story of poor Chipollino, whose father was absurdly thrown into prison - he inadvertently stepped on the foot of Prince Lemon, the ruler of an imaginary country of vegetables. Having promised to rescue the parent, the onion boy goes on a journey. It should be said that Rodari does not specify the name of the country, which indicates its universality. At the head - Prince Lemon and Countess Cherries, they have a manager - Senor Tomato. All of them will have to be punished by Cipollino and his newfound friends.
Thus, in a laid-back game, bright and funny characters, young readers discover the truth about a world where there is social injustice and oppression of the poor. Rodari tried to draw a parallel with the fairy tale “Pinocchio”, however, its author Collodi questions of social hatred, poverty and injustice, although they sound, but are not reflected as clearly as in “Cipollino”.
"Jelsomino in the Land of Liars"
Gianni Rodari could not stand the lie. He considered liars and hypocrites to be the greatest enemies of man. In his opinion, only truth could break the shackles of iniquity. She, like a breaking voice, must break the lie. Such a gift and endowed Rodari Jelsomino.
The plot of the tale unfolds in the Land of liars, where the main character falls - the boy Dzhelsomino (translated into Russian as "jasmine"), with an ultra-loud voice. At first, the boy does not understand whether it is a gift or a curse. However, making sure that he does not belong among ordinary people, Jelsomino leaves his hometown. When traveling, he finds himself in a magical world - a country where everyone tells a lie: ink is sold instead of bread in a store, people speak insults to each other instead of compliments, artists paint implausible pictures, and only fake money is used. Even animals must obey this rule: cats - bark, cows - neigh, dogs - meow, and horses - moo.
The blame for everything is the dictatorship of King Giacomon. At first, Jelsomino does not understand what is happening around, but soon gets used to new conditions, makes friends, among whom there is even a three-legged cat, which, unlike other relatives, does not want to bark at all. Friends expose the king, and the country begins to live in an atmosphere of truth.
It is noteworthy that the works of Gianni Rodari gave the world winged sayings. One of them concerns the wonderful voice of Jelsomino. The fact that a person speaks like Jelsomino means that he is excessively loud. Sometimes the expression "sings like Jelsomino" can be defined as high praise in the style of solo performance. The same name is used for an exceptionally honest person.
There were several translations of the tale, and very much, like the numerous works of Gianni Rodari for children, she fell in love with the inhabitants of the USSR.
The Journey of the Blue Arrow
Childhood Rodari can hardly be called happy and joyful. All the sadness and injustice of this state of affairs, when children from poor families cannot receive gifts because their parents do not have money, resulted in the fairy tale “The Journey of the Blue Arrow”.
Toys living in a shop window every day see a boy who looks sadly at an electronic train. The mother of the child does not have money to buy a toy: she has not yet paid for the Christmas gifts of the past two years. By the way, the original refers to Christmas gifts, while the translation refers to New Year's gifts.
Toys decide to end injustice and go on a trip to the children who were left on Christmas Day without gifts. This list was shared with them by the assistant shopkeeper. Boy Francesco himself at this time is taken hostage during the robbery of a toy store. The police do not believe in his innocence, but the shopkeeper, an elderly Fairy, whose seriousness is only a mask, saves the boy.
"Tales by phone"
The “Tales by Phone” is imbued with special poetry. These works of Gianni Rodari are based on folklore motifs. These are the tales of the candied palace, which everyone in the square could taste.
These short stories are full of deep meaning: you need to be attentive (a fairy tale about a boy who was constantly losing things and even body parts), kind, responsive. However, one must also be able to look at the world from an unusual side (“Blue Traffic Light”).
Tales condemn laziness, rudeness and even gluttony.
Grammar of Fantasy
Rodari not only wrote himself, but also called for others to do this, tried in his young readers to discover a writer's gift, to teach him to invent his own bright, instructive “toy books”. About this work "Grammar of Fantasy."
More than once the writer visits the USSR, he is attracted to the education system in the Union - he shares his thoughts about this, as well as about the development of the creative principle in this book. It is written in the same easy, laid-back language as fiction, so it’s easy to read labor for children and adults.
Part of the chapters is devoted to the theoretical foundations of writing: the structure of the work, the correct design - all of this is analyzed with examples of specific works. The author conveys a simple thought: the writer's work is not a talent that comes from nowhere, this can and should be learned.
Rodari Poet
At the very beginning of his creative career, Rodari writes poetry. The most famous in our country is “What do crafts smell like”. This is a call to gaining a truly important profession.
Rodari, faithful to the principles of communism, believed that the development of the country was in the hands of ordinary workers, people of simple, but very significant professions. This is what he is trying to convey to the little reader.