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May 12, 2020 An initiative in Rome in memory of Gianni Rodari on May 15. 100 years have passed since the birth of the great fabulist, as well as the only Italian writer winner of the prestigious Hans Christian Andersen Prize - the Nobel Prize for children's literature -, and now 40 years since his death. Great master of speech and fantasy, Gianni Rodari has helped to excite adults and children, stimulating creativity with simple and immediate stories. 

The Colosseum Archaeological Park - participating in the official celebrations for the centenary of the birth ( www.100giannirodari.it) - pays homage to the writer who, in the collection "Favole al Telefono", has included, among many values, the universal value of cultural heritage. This is the moral of the story "The man who stole the Colosseum", dedicated to the iconic monument par excellence, "World Heritage Site". 

Who the Colosseum is taught by Rodari's fable which, for the occasion, the PArCo has decided to give to the little ones, invited in these days to know and explore its monuments from home through social accounts and the website. To deliver the gift in their hands will ideally be the actor Vinicio Marchioni, who has accepted the invitation to lend his voice to read the text of the story, freely illustrated by Silvio Costa's pencil.

The protagonist of the story is a man who did not admit that he had to share the beauty of the Colosseum with others; after a life spent in an attempt to steal it, it will be a child who will rediscover the universal meaning of the word "ours".

"It is above all at this time when cultural heritage is behind high gates, necessary to face the dangers of a health emergency that has imposed social distancing, that the value of the word 'ours' becomes stronger and more powerful" - affirms Alfonsina Russo, Director of the Archaeological Park of the Colosseum with conviction. “The fable of Gianni Rodari teaches the meaning of sharing, restores the role of cultural heritage as a patrimony of all and for all, starting from children. They are the protagonists of the future, our legacy, and it is to them, even more in these days, that we must transmit their universal value ". 

And the comic book is dedicated to the children that the PArCo will publish on Friday 15 May on its website and on the social channels @parcocolosseo in two appointments: at 17.00 the link https://parcocolosseo.it/education/ will be available on the website from which download the comic, both in the black and white version and in the color version; at 9.00 pm on the social profiles of the coliseum park it will be possible to watch the video and listen to the reading of the fairy tale with the voice of Vinicio Marchioni.

The color version of the comic is a gift from the Colosseum for every child; the black and white one is a gift that every child will make to his own age. All children are in fact invited to rewrite some missing passages of the fairy tale, integrating the text according to their imagination, coloring the black and white version. By 30 June, the black and white, colored and integrated copies, each accompanied by the name of each child and the e-mail address of the parents, and appropriately scanned, can be sent to the mailbox pa-colosseo.didattica@beniculturali. en. 

When the health emergency permits, whoever prefers it, can send the original copy of the colored cartoon by each child in a sealed envelope to the Archaeological Park of the Colosseum, or, alternatively, deliver it directly to the offices of the Colosseum. 

All children who have sent their papers, accompanied by a parent, will be invited to see their "reinterpreted" comics displayed in the exhibition, as soon as the Colosseum has reopened the doors again and the security conditions will allow it; with the resumption of educational activities, finally, on the occasion of the next school year, copies of the cartoon colored by the children will be distributed as a tribute to all those children who will take part in the educational activities of the PArCo.