Yesterday we not only celebrated Autism Awareness Day, because many also remembered another ephemeris: the birth of the Danish poet and storyteller Hans Christian Andersen, born in 1805.
De Andersen was the compilation of stories that a childhood friend gave me when I turned nine (it is a very nice memory because at that time we did not receive a barrage of presents as it happens today, and because really that child continued to be a companion and confident many years later). And of Andersen are many of the stories collected in a volume that my children have had for years, and by force of opening and turning pages they must undergo constant repairs.
There is not much to say that you do not know already, probably many of you attended events organized in libraries, because with great success on April 2, International Children's and Youth Book Day was chosen, to promote reading in children.
Surely you have read to your children 'The ugly duckling', 'The little mermaid', 'The snow queen', 'The little match', 'The little soldier of lead', etc.
These are stories that I am timeless today because even today we can learn lessons and values for our children. They are popular stories that Andersen collected or devised: a man who came from a very humble family and received many honors in life, and many more after his death (proof of this is the biannual Prize for children's literature and illustration in Denmark).
Andersen was a creative author capable of moving at a stroke to the atmosphere and emotions of stories. His children's stories are pure stories full of feelings, I think that in every family library there should be at least one of them.
This is our little recognition to one of the most important figures in children's literature.
