Sara Loffredi: «Giorgia Meloni? It would be the dodo “

“Finally free from oppressive snakes, the animals come together to decide the rules for living together. Everyone has their say, and finding a meeting point seems difficult. But the spider weaves a thread that unites everyone: mutual respect. This is how democracy was born and with it the Constitution ”. The writer Sara Loffredi he has been taking his book to schools for months The Constitution of the Animals (Il Battello a Vapore), to explain to children what the Constitution is and why it is so important to defend it. The text was also presented in the Constitutional Court: last May Giuliano Amato used it as a starting point to dialogue with three primary school classes.

And now for the tiger, the wolf, the peacock, the dodo, the chimpanzee and for all the other forest animals already protagonists of that book, the time has come to elect their representatives: this is how the second volume is born. The elections of animals (Il Battello a Vapore), also illustrated by Ilaria Perversi and always designed for primary school children.

Trying to represent the mechanisms of Italian democracy as faithfully as possible, Sara Loffredi explains, with a story and simple words, how the government is constituted, who decides the laws, why people go to vote: “And so Parliament is the place in which we talk about before deciding, and the Prime Minister is the one who gives good advice: perhaps a simplification, but not far from reality ».

In the forest there is a lot to do: the bear has been appointed minister of supplies, the marmot has been appointed minister of winter and burrows, the eagle has been assigned the ministry of the sky and the centipede that of paths, the octopus, instead. , was chosen as minister of writing and the sea, the donkey is obviously the minister of the school and the spider that of the words of the Constitution. Finally, there is the Dodo, who received the highest number of votes, to whom the position of coordinator was proposed: «The dodo represents the Prime Minister, the one who has had the most consents. But he is different from the dictatorial snakes: he is not a leader, but a first among equals and this is where the whole discourse on democracy fits in ».

In short, making a parallel, the dodo would be Giorgia Meloni. And Sergio Mattarella who is in her forest?
“In the book, the President of the Republic is the old chimpanzee, the one that everyone respects and who, in the first book, accompanied the animals in the writing of the Constitution”.

In the book you also included the election campaign, how did you manage to tell it?
“All the animals were placed in the same condition to explain their program. So the centipede wrote his name on dozens of eucalyptus leaves which he handed out relentlessly, “I have as many ideas as there are legs. Test me! Vote for me!” he screamed, while the jackal tried to entice the animals to vote for him by winking and giving them bananas and royal jelly. Each one in his own way, based on his character, has advanced his visions: exactly as happens in “real” politics ».

But, wandering around the schools to explain the Constitution and democracy, didn’t you also learn something from the children you met?
“Absolutely yes. It often happens that they give me food for thought, that they amaze me with their illuminating observations. Try asking the children if we are all the same: the adults, now bound by an obligatory political correctness, would say “sure yes”, the children instead always tell me the same thing: “No, no: he is taller than me, he has glasses, curly hair… “. They well understand that equal does not mean identical and that there is no need to be equal to have equal rights: the point is that we are all human beings. They go to the core of the issues and have great common sense: a 7-year-old child surprised me the other day: “It’s the representatives who need to know what to do, I can’t, I’m still small”. Small, but wise ».