Telling a mountain story. Ideas for an anthology of children’s mountain novels

This paper presents a study on how the Mountain is represented in children’s literature. The aim is to showthat, by including literary representations in geography education, students may not only acquire mountainskills and knowledge but also develop the ability to relate to and appreciate the rich assortment of naturaland cultural values found in mountainous areas. By reading the stories told in books for children and youngadults, students have the opportunity, informally, to fill a gap left by formal education and acquire relevantknowledge and geographical skills about mountains. The paper presents a critical analysis of the evolution of the representation of the Mountain in Italian literature,looking in specific at how some children’s novels, by virtue of their success with the public, are contributingto create a rich imagery within which we may find specific research themes that offer great opportunitiesto reflect, also at school, on relevant contemporary issues about the high lands.