Feature: Emotion, history, art take central stage in children's books: Italian experts

Children's books have seen a surge in production and variety of themes, but more needs to be done to encourage children to read, Italian experts said.

Elena Pasoli, group product manager at the upcoming Bologna children's book fair, said this year has been marked by a "strong comeback of narrative for the younger children, which used to be a less widespread genre compared to novels for adolescents."

With around 1,200 exhibitors from more than 70 countries and regions, the annual children's book fair on April 4-7 in Bologna, a city in northern Italy, is considered an important international event for professional operators in the world of children's publishing.

Pasoli said the main trend of narrative for younger children was emotions. "These books help kids understand emotions. From the first time they suffered, the first time they were kissed, the first time they entered their classroom or made friends with someone," she elaborated.

"For older kids, instead, we have seen very interesting books inspired by historical events, and also books about topical issues such as politics (what democracy and equality mean), family (traditional families and new families), migration, integration and multiculturalism," she went on saying.

The theme of disability was also present in many Italian and foreign books, Pasoli noted, while another key topic was art. A number of books explore the world of art in a simple and understandable way, thus educating younger children about the fundamental value of art heritage.

Pasoli also highlighted the importance of new technology.

"We have seen an extraordinary development year after year, especially because the graphics quality level has increased a lot," she said, noting that this year the fair would dedicate a new pavilion to digital publishing and apps.

She also told Xihua, "We already have nearly 500 square meters of Chinese books, whose quality level has significantly grown in recent times."

The first book a child reads is fundamental for a good start, a sort of imprint that can accompany children's entire life, Luigi Paladin, a renowned expert on childhood literature and reading pedagogy in Italy and a social psychology professor at the University of Brescia, explained to Xinhua.

Children, he said, are able to recognize a book starting from around 9 months old. "But love and interest for books do not start from handling a book, they start from the voice, rhymes and tales of their mother," Paladin, who is also an author and librarian, went on saying.

He told Xinhua that a child's very first book is his or her mother's face, "it is there that children begin to decipher feelings and read emotions." For this reason, it is important to offer small kids illustrated books and gradually bring them close to the world of books.

Paladin noted that fingers, which in traditional books play the key role of a sort of "magic wand" used by children to point at figures and words, can be used even more effectively with new technologies.

"Apps have a more recreational function and books a more methodical one, so that the ideal is to combine them since childhood, but with great attention to quality and balance," he said.

To this extent, libraries are fundamental, although "unfortunately in Italy there is not enough attention to libraries, and in particular to libraries in schools," Paladin said, calling for Italian institutions to contribute more actively to educate children and enable them to grow up with a "natural love for books." Endit