Slow, faster, fastest. Training for reading

Reading out loud, creating space and time to read autonomously as part of the daily routine, facilitating access to books, learning to process their content. These are just a few of the most important ways through which, according to Alice Bigli – creator and founder of the Mare di Libri. Festival dei ragazzi che leggono (Sea of Books. A festival for reading children), expert in children's literature and avid reader – has summarised in her book. The author provides a suitable training programme for everyone, whether beginners, reluctant readers, book lovers, children or adults, people involved or bookworms. In fact, according to Alice Bigli – whose mission has been to promote children's reading for years – ensuring that young people start reading must first of all take into consideration each individual starting point: how familiar one feels around books, which stories one needs to read or particularly loves, at which pace one likes to read. Leggere piano, forte, fortissimo is a guide, a tool conceived to connect every reader's needs to the book that best can meet them. Not only heartening books, then, but also books that will prompt questions, offer answer, might confuse the reader. Reading is not, after all, a “natural” activity, so that learning to read, even if just by rote, can be very hard for children, and learning how to understand text and language can be even harder. Therefore, just as with a sport discipline, reading needs practice and training, and, just like a sport discipline, its best rewards arise from enjoyment, fun and improvement. In her usual clear and linear style, Alice Bigli wrote a book suitable for readers of all kinds, which, to reach its goal, includes practical exercises and tips for choosing books that will make reading a more pleasurable and satisfactory experience.  

Leggere piano, forte, fortissimo. Come allenare alla lettura (Slow, faster, fastest. Training for reading)
by Alice Bigli with illustrations by Elena Molinari
Mondadori, 2023