Our publishing house Rizzoli won the ninth edition of the Premio Strega Ragazze e Ragazzi 2024 in the 8+ category with the book “Rim and the Liberated Words” by Maddalena Vaglio Tanet.

With a story that makes us dream and reflect, the author reminds us that words are the key to freedom and awareness. “Rim and the Liberated Words” is among the top-rated books by very young readers representing the 318 schools that make up the jury.

The awards were presented this afternoon as part of “Più Libri Più Liberi,” the Fair of Small and Medium Publishers, in the Auditorium of La Nuvola, in the presence of about 1,000 primary and secondary school students from all over Italy and abroad.

The jury’s motivation: “Young Rim loves to collect words but lives in a country where words are captive and not available to everyone. There are not even schools. Words are therefore a privilege of the few and therefore not everyone can say what they think. Without words, in fact, there is no freedom of thought. Old Witzold will help Rim, through magical, fantastical and fairy-tale-like events, to recover ancient truths and, above all, to free the caged words. A compelling metaphor, as relevant as ever, for power and its abuse, the importance of language, and the utmost attention we must all pay to the free use of words and their knowledge, beginning in childhood years.”