By Lucía Fernández Cívico
“The Animal Seller” and “Never Happy”, by Bruno Munari, are books that can be found in the Children’s Literature section. Published by Niño Editor, they are part of the 1945 children’s series (although they are still extremely current).
Who was Bruno Munari? We could summarize by saying that he was an Italian artist and designer with a great sense of humor (who was born in Milan in 1907 and died in the same city in 1998), but he can also be considered a “polymath”, since he had knowledge of various fields. of science, art and the humanities (a clear example of a “polymath” is Leonardo Da Vinci).
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His vast literary work began in 1929 (activity that continued until 1998, the year he died). In Argentina, sebastian king, teacher, musician and music therapist gives various workshops and laboratories on the work of Munari, and this is how he referred to his figure: “I got to know him more in his pedagogical facet. As an old man, he worked a lot with childhood, inventing laboratories for tactile research, for research with paper. And well, from there, I began to trace his work and I came across the famous series from the year 45, published in Argentina by Niño Editor: there are 9 spectacular books and they have a very nice story. In the year 44, when his son was 4 or 5 years old, his birthday was coming up and he wanted to give her a book. He went to a bookstore and they all seemed crap, that they were made to please parents and not thought of the interests and desires of children, so he decides to make his own books for his son and try them, to see if they work, if They were funny. From that, he begins to investigate and makes ten books, of which we know 9. The guy invents those wonderful books that are very large, made of cardboard, with colors, with little windows that children love to open to see what is there. ”. They are simple books with great power and the playful question very present.
Ivana Acevedo She is a primary level teacher, has a background in children’s literature at UNR and also in Reading, Writing and Education at FLACSO. We talked to her about the concept of “children’s literature” and our role as adults when it comes to sharing readings with children.
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“Children’s literature and literature in general, I think it is a great space for possibilities. That is why it seems fundamental to me to read and share from day one with children. I believe in literature without age, age is a variable among the thousands that exist. And I believe more in reading: reading to children seems to me an important right that adults have to offer and give away. It’s like welcoming them into this world, like an initiation ritual, what would we give away, what would we tell them, what would we tell them. Children are readers by ear, María Emilia López would say, so adults have that duty to share, to give them small pieces of reading so that they can build their poetic nest, ”she said.
“never happy” y “the animal seller” are part of the 1945 Children’s Series. Niño Editor Ediciones.
