A second reading and analysis based on particular attention to the topic of gender balance of Gianni Rodari' opera.

Gianni Rodari is a very much loved author, even if some aspects of his didactic and literary approaches have been, for long time, unexplored. One of these unrealeased topics, is his attention to gender balance: a fil rouge that formed extraordinary feminine characters and a series of high-quality narrations all over his literary production. The heroines created by Rodari (Atalanta, Alice Casherina*, Sabina the tv assistant and others) are a positive model for every child. The reader can know about intelligent tv assistants, sporty girls, entrepreneur princesses and non-conformist dolls: curious, clever, intelligent, frank, sincere, courageous women and little girls are also confident with their own capacities. Through his meticulous attention even to single words but also to the representation of balanced and complementary relationships, Rodari shows a sensibility that inspires an universal ideal of social equality.

«Gianni’s model is a subversive one,
because “his” little girls, independently from their context,
are everything but remissive, always reaffirming
a disposition to independence»
(Pino Boero)

*the verb «cascare” in Italian means «fall down”. Casherina is, for this reason, a kind of surname given to this little girl because she continuously takes tumbles.