STARTING the reading:

(the following activities before reading the first chapter, are meant to raise awareness of the subject and activate what the learners already know. But if the learners can’t wait for beginning reading don’t make them wait too long! Click and go directly to chapter one)

chapter one
Covers.
This is obviously where to start! Look at it and describe it: WHO can you see? WHAT is she doing? WHAT can you see in the background? Are there the symbols of any famous city? Make predictions about the contents based on the cover and the title.

chapter one
Illustrations.
Illustrations that accompany the text are also extremely interesting. They have been drawn by the author herself.

• Look at the illustrations on page 9, 15, 51, 67, 73, 85, 125, 133. What can you see? Which places are illustrated? Can you sequence them in the order you think they will occur in the text and explain yor reason?
• Look through the book, choose your favourite picture and describe it to the other people in your group, or write a short description of it in your exercise book.
• Find the picture which shows Ursula’s family.
• Find the pictures that describe landscapes: which are American landscapes? Which are Italian? Are there other any landscapes described? How important will these landscapes be in the book?

chapter one
Chapter headings.
The book is devided in 4 chapters, each with additional subdivisions: 1. My childhood; 2. Moving east; 3. Italy; 4. Proverbs, songs and recipies.

• What predictions can you make about the contents of each chapter?
• Are you curious about the headings of the additional chapter subdivisions? For example:
  page 29 "Ice cream on a rainy day" why the author underlines the fact that it’s a rainy day? Can’t one have an ice cream on rainy days?
  Page 75 "Cooking with socks": why one should combine cooking and socks?
  Page 79 "Sugo finto": what is it going to be about, in your opinion?
  Page 119 "A thousand little hats". Who is going to eat all that pasta?
• Group the headings of the additional chapter subdivisions in three groups:
  home, places and family:
  cooking and food:
  work:
  do these groups help you predict some big themes of the book? What could they be?

chapter one
Trailer.
This is a climax scene in the story: "I was paired up with a rather nice looking guy, with dark features, who I started meeting with regularly. His name was Matteo and he wasn’t that great with English but for some reason we were able to communicate. Our first meeting was in a little Café on via Ginori and we talked about where we came from. when he said he was from Parma, I blurted out, "Then you are Parmigian!" thinking I had called him a piece of cheesem, I burst out laughing. Little did I know that the people in Parma do call themselves Parmigiani."
Can you make any predictions on what come before this and after this in the story?

chapter one
What do you know about the author?
You probably haven’t had the chance to meet her yet, even though she has already written various books for children that she personally illustrates. She is American and she lives in Pisa with her husband and her two sons. Besides illustrating books she paints oil canvas. If you want to know more about her, visit her site www.ursulamathers.com
There you can find information about her published works, her projects and also some interesting links to the Art schools and Colleges she has attended in America and in Italy. If your dream is that of becoming an artist you should find all this extremely interesting.

chapter one