This edition of the Award began at the beginning of the 2023/2024 school year and culminated with the Great Final Celebration hosted in IL T QUOTIDIANO ARENA on the morning of Monday 22 April in the presence of the authors and 4000 readers of Chooselibro; during the event the winning book was proclaimed and awarded.
Choose books is a project to support reading and writing born in 2012 on the initiative of around twenty libraries in Trentino to which, over the years, libraries and schools outside the province have also been added, first from Alto Adige and this year from IC Losapio San Filippo Neri from Gioia del Colle in the province of Bari. Well-known participants in this 6th edition 50 libraries and 20 reading points.
Supported by the Provincial Library System Office and with the collaboration of the Progetto 92 cooperative, Choose books involves the active participation of children who, through the reading of five books proposed by the librarians, a series of meetings in libraries and workshops conducted by Progetto 92 educators , are encouraged to discover and develop their skills as critics and attentive readers. The formula of the Prize is simple: as mentioned, five books by Italian authors, in their first edition, published in the two years preceding the start of the competition, are selected by a reading group made up of librarians.
One of the characteristics of the project has been, from the beginning, not to exclude anyone from the possibility of participating. This means taking on the difficulties of those who, for various reasons, have certified reading deficits (visually impaired, blind, dyslexic) or conditions of educational poverty. This happens, for example, by asking the publishing houses involved the possibility of using the book files to transform them with highly readable characters, that of creating “homemade” audiobooks, i.e. read by librarians, or that of proposing workshops including promotion of reading. At the end of the readings, the young participants are asked to comment on the website chosenlibro.it on the texts read, expressing an opinion for each one. This year too, thousands of comments and questions appeared on the project website with answers from the authors of the books in competition. In the end, it is the children themselves who, with their votes, determine the ranking and decide the winning book.
There are also ten prizes to be awarded to the best reviews written by boys and girls who are selected in the following ways: five positive criticisms identified by the authors themselves and five criticisms chosen instead by the librarians. Added to this is the special “Cristina Cont” award to remember a colleague from ChooseLibro who passed away a few years ago, which goes to the comment composed with particular sensitivity.
The selection of books for the Choose Book Award is based on the following criteria:
- only works by Italian authors in their first edition;
- non-serial books;
- works published in the two years preceding the start of the Prize.
The books and authors selected (among the approximately 150 taken into consideration) for this edition were:
“Like an apple seed” by Chiara Lorenzoni, ed. Il Castoro
“A penguin in Trieste” by Chiara Carminati, ed. Bompiani
“School exchange” by Eva Serena Pavan, ed. MIMebù
“A thousand crumbs of light” by Silvia Vecchini, ed. Il Castoro
“The test of the five petals” by Paolina Baruchello, ed. Sinnos (graphic novel).
The authors:
Chiara Lorenzoni was born in Padua in 1971, among the scent of lime trees and the green sparks of fireflies. Today she lives in Lecce, among the flights of swallows and the waves of the blue sea. She is a lawyer but she is also the author of numerous books for children and girls published with various Italian publishing houses, some translated in China and Russia. With two other partners you founded and curates the Picturebook Fest in Lecce, an art and literature festival for children.
Chiara Carminati she is the author of poems, short stories, novels, songs and theatrical performances for children and teenagers. She has published with some of the most important Italian publishing houses and her books have received numerous awards, including the 2016 Premio Strega Ragazzi e Ragazze for the novel “Fuori Fuoco”.
Specializing in poetry teaching, she holds training and refresher courses for teachers and librarians, in Italy and abroad.
He edited the translation and the Italian version of famous illustrated books, dealing in particular with texts in verse, from English, French and German.
Eva Serena Pavan she was born in Isola della Scala and lives in Verona with her cats and her daughters.
In addition to children’s novels, he has published a collection of poems for teenagers, as well as for adults who don’t feel very grown up. Her texts have been awarded in various competitions, including the Silvio d’Arzo Literary Prize, the Giana Anguissola Competition and the Battello a Vapore Prize.
He is always excited to meet his readers. He loves books, books, books. And sleepovers with friends.
Silvia Vecchini she is an author and poet. You have published novels for children and teenagers, poetry collections, illustrated books and graphic novels with some of the major Italian publishing houses. Among her latest publications are the collection of poems Acerbo Sara Tu (Topipittori) and the novel in verse Prima che sia notte (Bompiani). With Sualzo she is the author of the graphic novels Fiato suspend (Tunuè), The red zone (Attilio Micheluzzi Award 2018 “Best comic book for children”) and 21 days at the end of the world (Prix Unicef de Littérature Jeunesse 2021), Words can do everything (Laura Orvieto Award 2021, Liber Award “Best Book 2021”, Attilio Micheluzzi Award 2022 “Best Screenplay”), the latter three published by Il Castoro and all translated abroad.
Paolina Baruchello She is a historian by training and a cultural worker. She has never stopped loving children’s books since she was able to look at the illustrations and read them. Her first job was to be a reader and then a translator from French for Mondadori Ragazzi, for which she translated more than thirty titles and edited introductions and adaptations. After travels around the world, real and imaginary, and years of working for cultural institutions, she became an author, publishing with her Sinnos Pioggia di Primavera, a graphic novel illustrated by Andrea Rivola (2015). With Sinnos you also published the book Lo Sport non fa per te, illustrated by Federico Appel (2018) and again together with Andrea Rivola “La prova dei Cinque Petali” (2022).
Tags: #6th edition Choosebook Young Readers Award arrived
