Widely considered the father of modern Italian
children’s literature, Gianni Rodari (1920–1980) 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 children’s creative and critical thinking abilities. The
recipient of the prestigious Andersen Prize in recognition of his contribution
to children’s literature, he was also an educator of paramount importance in
Italy and an activist who understood the liberating power of the imagination.
Jack Zipes is a renowned children’s historian and folklorist who has written,
translated, and edited dozens of books on fairytales. He is a professor at the
University of Minnesota.
Matthew Forsythe lives in Montreal where he draws and paints for picture books, comics, and
animations. His picture book Pokko
and the Drum was a Publishers
Weekly and NPR Book of the Year and won a Boston Globe / Horn Book Honor and Charlotte Zolotow Honor.
