40 devils and one green fly

For a ten-year-old boy, every day is wonderful! On Monday, you observed the swallows fluttering in the sky and wondered if they eat chocolate – it's terribly mysterious. On Tuesday, you caught a huge cicada and listened to its chirping... – it's wildly interesting. On Wednesday... it must have been a lovely day! If anything spoiled it, it was school. Although, perhaps you were lucky and school is a joy for you every weekday. You simply had excellent teachers – like Giovanni Mosca, the author of this book. The Italian writer and journalist recalls both his childhood and his experience teaching in grades 4-5. His notes are both a literary text and diary entries. He is not always consistent in narrating events, but he is extremely precise and truthful. “KompasGid” is reissuing the book in the “Selected Works” series. Despite the fact that the author was a student in the 1910s, a teacher in the 1930s, and now we are in the 21st century, his school sketches are modern and captivating. And the story about the green fly can easily be seen in the newsreel “Yeralash.” In the instructive and touching tales, middle school readers will recognize themselves, while adults will notice various pedagogical tricks. And everyone will undoubtedly appreciate the charming illustrations by artist Viktor Mineev.