Books by Italian children’s writer Gianni Rodari published in Persian

TEHRAN –(Iranart)- Four books by Italian children’s writer Gianni Rodari have recently been published in Persian in Tehran.

“Twice Upon a Time There Was a Baron Called Lamberto”, “Many Stories to Play”, “The Blue Arrow” and “Gelsomino in the Country of Liars” have been released by Hoopa Publications. 

Hoopa, which is one of the major children’s books and board games publishers in Iran, has previously acquired the copyright to the books from Edizioni EL, the Italian publisher of Gianni Rodari’s books. 

Translated by Mahbubeh Khodai and Homa Mirzai, “The Blue Arrow” is about a poor little boy, Francesco, who sells candy in a cinema. He sees a very beautiful train in a toy store but he knows he will never have the money to buy it. Even the toys, however, have a heart, and one night they climb on board the train, so they begin an adventurous journey to reach the children who really want them.

Khodai is also the translator of “Gelsomino in the Country of Liars”, which tells the story of Gelsomino, who is born with an unusually loud voice that breaks things if he speaks above a whisper. Leaving his home he wanders into the strange Land of the Liars where it is mandated by law that no one shall ever speak the truth. 

“Twice Upon a Time There Was a Baron Called Lamberto” translated by Gholamreza Emami is about the 93-year-old millionaire Baron Lamberto, who has been diagnosed with 24 life-threatening ailments, one for each of the 24 banks he owns. But when he takes the advice of an Egyptian mystic and hires servants to chant his name over and over again, he seems to not only get better, but younger.

“Many Stories to Play” has been translated by Changiz Davarpanah. The book is a collection of 20 bizarre, surreal stories and fairy tales with open endings. 

Gianni Rodari, who is considered as Italy’s most important twentieth-century children’s book author, received the biennial Hans Christian Andersen Medal in 1970 for his lasting contribution to children’s literature.

source: Tehran Times