Book

Telephone tales / Gianni Rodari ; illustrated by Valerio Vidali ; translated from the Italian by Antony Shugaar.

Rodari, Gianni, (author.). Rodari, Gianni. Translation of: Favole al telefono. English. (Added Author). Vidali, Valerio, 1983- (illustrator.). Shugaar, Antony, (translator.).

Summary:

A collection of nearly seventy short and surreal stories told by Signor Bianchi, a traveling salesman, to his daughter over the telephone nightly.

Every night, at nine o'clock, wherever he is, Mr. Bianchi, an accountant who often travels for work, calls his daughter and tells her a bedtime story. Set in the 20th century era of pay phones, each story has to be told in the time that a single coin will buy. One night, it's the story of a carousel so beloved by children that an old man finally sneaks on to understand why, and as he sails above the world, he does. The next night, it's a land filled with butter men, roads paved with chocolate, or a young shrimp who has the courage to defy expectations and do things differently. Reminiscent of Scheherazade and One Thousand and One Nights, Gianni Rodari's Telephone Tales is composed of many stories within a story. Each is set in a different place and time, with unconventional characters and a wonderful mix of reality and fantasy. Awarded the Hans Christian Andersen Award in 1970, Gianni Rodari is widely considered to be Italy's most important children's author of the 20th century. Gorgeously illustrated by Italian artist Valerio Vidali, these stories entertain with wit, surprise, and imagination.-- Provided by publisher.

Record details

ISBN: 9781592702848
ISBN: 1592702848
Physical Description: 202 pages : color illustrations ; 25 cm
Edition: First US edition.
Publisher: New York : Enchanted Lion Books, 2020.
Copyright: ©2020

Content descriptions

General Note:	Includes fold-out pages. Originally published in Italian: Turin, Italy : Einaudi, 1962 under the title, Favole al telefono.
Formatted Contents Note:	The unlucky hunter -- The ice cream palace -- A distractible child goes for a walk -- A building for breaking -- The little old lady who counted sneezes -- The country without sharp edges -- The country with an Un in front -- The butter man -- Alice Tumbledown -- The road of chocolate -- Inventing numbers -- Brif, Braf, Bruf -- Buying the city of Stockholm -- Touching the king's nose -- The famous rainstorm of Piombino -- The merry-go-round of Cesenatico -- On the beach at Ostia -- The comic strip mouse -- History of the kingdom of Pieholia -- Alice falls into the sea -- The war of the Bells -- The young crayfish -- The giant's hair -- The nose that ran away -- The road to nowhere -- The scarecrow -- Playing with a cane -- Old proverbs -- Apollonia the jam maker -- Old Aunt Ada -- The sun and cloud -- The king who was going to die -- The comet sorcerer -- The fisherman of Cefalù -- King Midas -- The blue spotlight -- The mouse that ate cats -- Bring down the nine -- Tonino the invisible boy -- So many questions -- Gilberto the good boy -- The words 'to cry' -- Gobbledy fever -- Sunday morning -- Sleeping, waking up -- Giacomo of Crystal -- Monkeys on holiday -- Signor Fallaninna -- One and seven -- The man who stole the Colosseum -- Elevator to the stars -- Bus number 75 -- Dog town -- Pulcinella's escape -- The bricklayer from Valtellina -- The soldier's blanket -- The well at Cascina Piana -- Houses and apartment buildings -- Maestro Garrone -- The planet of truth -- The conveyor sidewalk -- Space cooking -- Educational candy -- The cosmic chick -- Telling stories wrong -- Upgraded plus two -- The nothing man -- Universal history.
Language Note:	Translated from Italian.
Awards Note:	"Winner of the 2021 Mildred A. Batchelder Award" Hans Christian Anderson Award, 1970