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A review by emilybryk
Italian Folktales by Italo Calvino
5.0
As a tiny child, I read this an enormous number of times -- I remember bringing it in to my kindergarten class to show to my teacher (who, certainly, had doubts that I'd actually read it. Psh. (Yes. I am hugely pretentious.))
Regardless. I've read bits and pieces of it again and again over the years, and it remains one of the most delightful books I know. There is no reason for this not to be a favorite book for kids -- it's exciting, full of an enormous number (200!) of vivid stories perfect in size for a child's attention span (just a few pages each). There's also, though, no reason for this not to be a favorite book for adults. Each story is a perfect little gem, sometimes dark but never grim (or, for that matter, Grimm), sometimes wry and funny but never mean-spirited, and on and on and on.
I've started reading these to my days-old son, ostensibly for his benefit but really for my own. With 200 stories, I figure this should last us until he's 7 months plus, and then I intend to start over again. Seriously. I can't get enough of these.
Regardless. I've read bits and pieces of it again and again over the years, and it remains one of the most delightful books I know. There is no reason for this not to be a favorite book for kids -- it's exciting, full of an enormous number (200!) of vivid stories perfect in size for a child's attention span (just a few pages each). There's also, though, no reason for this not to be a favorite book for adults. Each story is a perfect little gem, sometimes dark but never grim (or, for that matter, Grimm), sometimes wry and funny but never mean-spirited, and on and on and on.
I've started reading these to my days-old son, ostensibly for his benefit but really for my own. With 200 stories, I figure this should last us until he's 7 months plus, and then I intend to start over again. Seriously. I can't get enough of these.