On Sunday 16 October, Il Sole 24 Ore Domenica readers found new pages in the Daily’s cultural insert devoted entirely to the younger age group. “Can anyone read?" A new feature where adults and youngsters meet to share fun and good reads, those that take today's children onto the road to becoming tomorrow's readers.
The pages dedicated to young people’s reads stem from the pressing need for parents to share the experience of reading in the family circle and to involve youngsters, not only to "educate" and encourage reading, but rather to have fun with and as children, attaching value to their extraordinary cognitive abilities, to their innate curiosity and craving to understand things, helping them learn in a healthier and more forward-looking way, through sheer fun, and by sharing and exchanging their views with adults.
The title of the insert, “Can anyone read?”, in actual fact, springs from a very sober question raised by Licia (who inspired Guido Scarabottolo in the picture featured on the three pages), a five-year old who finds herself one afternoon surrounded by adults busy with other things, and happens to see the illustrated cover of a book; at her age, she is already able to recognize the letters of the alphabet, but is unable to decode them. So she decides to turn for help to “grown-ups”, trying to understand if “There is anyone who can read?"
Lycia’s question must be taken very seriously, says Armando Massarenti, head of Sole 24 Ore Domenica and creator of the additional cultural “mini-insert". "Is there anyone who can give our children the things they need? Anyone who knows how to help them learn in the healthiest, most appropriate and forward-looking way? Who knows how to entertain them? To understand how serious children are with games?”
Starting from these new pages, the Domenica of Il Sole 24 Ore will dedicate space to fun, without sacrificing the distinctive rigour and authority of the Domenicale of Il Sole 24 Ore.
The pages will host articles appealing to both adults and youngsters, news and reading tips, illustrations and comics.
“Can anyone read?" is the answer to the new challenge taken up by Il Sole 24 Ore Domenica, which is part of its longstanding aim of offering high-level cultural information, re-affirming its identity now addressed to avid readers from 0 to 99 years of age.