Children’s literature beyond borders: Jella Lepman’s collaboration with Italy

This chapter focuses for the first time on Jella Lepman’s relationship with Italy and highlights the new critical dynamic that has emerged among scholars, librarians, and educators in the field of children’s literature. This was also stimulated by the founding of the first Italian IBBY section. The analysis of national journals such as Schedario, Il Minuzzolo, Specchio del libro per ragazzi, and Il grillo parlante, as well as correspondence from the archives of the International Youth Library (IJB), proved fundamental to deepening the critical-interpretative debate on children’s literature between Italy and Europe from the post-war period to the 1980s. The following article takes a look at this European network, in which many men and women, who are hardly known today, often worked behind the scenes with unwavering commitment in the interests of children. This network aimed to promote committed children’s and youth literature as a contribution to building a democratic society and was based on Jella Lepman’s vision: to use children’s books to build bridges between people and cultures from all over the world and thus contribute to international understanding.