This book presentation is tonight's venue at the Teatro Valle. Unfortunately I will not be able to attend. Elena Balsamo will be presenting her newest book: the Montessori Alphabet, which has just come out and is written in Italian (Alfabeto Montessori. Le parole che possono cambiare il mondo, Leone Verde).

​Elena Balsamo is a "holistic" pediatrician, specialist in the care of the person in the first months of life, expert in perinatal issues and three times a mother. Her life is dedicated to supporting the mother-child relationship, especially in the period of pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding, and to understanding the experiences of the newborn, which she seeks to interpret. For many years she has been working with intercultural mothering and Montessori pedagogy. On all these issues she carries out courses for parents and professionals in the health and educational fields (bio translated from the publisher's website).

"A two-part dialogue, in which the author's poetic style alternates and mixes with Montessori's more technical-pedagogical style. Reflections, practically "daily meditations", to understand the most important, innovative and lesser known aspects of Maria Montessori's thought and vision, aspires to establish, above all else, that spiritual contact with Montessori that Maria used to make with the child and with her audience." (from the program MM150 Maria Montessori, Ritorno a Casa).
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Some of her other books (in Italian, I've translated the title here) are:

• Cara mamma. Spunti per una maternita' consapevole (Dear mamma. Hints for a conscious maternity)
• Compagni di viaggio, Come adulti e bambini insieme possono aiutarsi a guarire (Traveling companions, How adults and children can help each other heal)
• L'alfabeto del bambino naturale (The Alphabet of the Natural Child)
• Sono qui con te. L'arte del maternage (I'm here with you. The art of maternity)
• Nato prima del tempo. Sacralità della nascita e accoglienza amorevole al neonato prematuro (Born before your time. The sacred nature of birth and a loving welcome for the newborn)
• Girotondo intorno al mondo (Circle around the World) rhymes about baby wearing in the different cultures of the world
• Il latte della mamma sa di fragola (Momma's milk smells like strawberries) a story book to read with your child to remember the sweet time during which he or she was breastfed

​A new biography by Cristina De Stefano will be presented during the 150 year birthday celebrations in Chiaravalle. All of of the events will be held in the Teatro Valle, the town's historic theatre, inaugurated in 1858. The full program can be downloaded below. The author/journalist collected testimonials and researched unpublished correspondence, and in her book describes a "less well known, and somewhat surprising Maria Montessori." An excerpt from the book: 

​"At the beginning there is a child. She is trapped in a large classroom with high ceilings. It's 1876 and the public school on San Nicola Tolentino street in Rome is, like all elementary schools in the Italian state, a children's prison. One has to sit still at the desks and listen to the teacher for hours, and then the lesson is repeated back in unison. If you misbehave you are punished. The child is six years old and hates absolutely everything from the very first day."