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Students hear inspiring story during Right to Read Week
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Neighbors | Tim Cleveland.Lora Finello spoke to West Boulevard Elementary School students Feb. 6 for Right to Read week.
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Neighbors | Tim Cleveland.Carmen Leone (front) and Lora Finelli spoke to students at West Boulevard Elementary Feb. 6 for Right to Read week.
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Neighbors | Tim Cleveland.Students at West Boulevard Elementary School gathered in the school's auditorium for Right to Read Week.
By TIM CLEVELAND
During Right to Read Week, students at Boardman’s elementary schools got not only encouragement in reading, but also a lesson in struggle in courage.
On Feb. 6, students in grades kindergarten through fourth at West Boulevard Elementary were given a presentation from local author Carmen Leone and his great-niece Lora Finelli. The students were told the backstory of the book and were able to purchase copies as well.
Leone wrote the book “My Italy, A Little Story of a Big Journey”, a tale of his father’s journey to the United States from Italy, and Finelli provided the illustrations.
“I have always wanted to write about my family, and I did write a book called ‘Rose Street’, a family story about my parents coming over from the old country when they were both very young,” Leone said. “My father was 14 and my mother was just a little baby. They met each other, they got married, they had children and grandchildren of their own. This kind of tells their story.
“Then I thought, this focused so much on my mother, that I was leaving my father (Carmen Leone Sr.) out too much. I wanted to also write a book mainly concerned with him. I thought a children’s picture book would be appropriate. He was very fond of children and he loved sitting with them and telling stories.”
The book is written from the perspective of the elder Leone, his journey to America, the difficulties in leaving people he knew and loved behind, and ending up making a new life for himself in America.
A unique aspect of the book is there are no illustrations of people. Finelli said she wanted to use symbolism to recreate emotions of the journey in the book.
“When he asked me if I wanted to do the drawings for this children’s book, it took me a while to think of how I would do them,” she said. “Taking my time with the words, of how it’s a memory, and it’s a story that’s told in a poetic kind of way. Everything is a symbol of something, so rather than drawing the people, I drew symbols, specifically a heart on every page. The heart represents the child in the story. Sometimes, just using the colors and the shapes, to bring out the emotions involved in the story.”
Lisa Rucci is a reading teacher at West Boulevard Elememtary and was mainly responsible for the presentation at the school.
“Every year, we look for an author to come and present to the kids during Right to Read Week, and we were looking for someone local this year,” she said. “I stumbled upon Carmen’s book, and we thought it was perfect for our kids. It was about family, it was about making decisions. We did this whole theme around family and reading with your family, so his book was a perfect tie-along for us.
“It was easy for the kids to read. They can sit down and read it on their own, which is nice.”