La questione del lavoro nella letteratura per l’infanzia contemporanea. Immagini, metafore e prime riflessioni pedagogiche

Starting from some reflections on the representation of the present in contemporary children's literature and on the pedagogical meaning of narration, the essay intends to investigate how the theme of work is now interpreted in children's books. From the ones that present the exploitation to which many children are still forced today, up to a reassessment of “doing” in an educational key as an experience based on its centrality for integral human development. The article then deepens the representation of the work in the Harry Potter saga, analyzing the educational itinerary that the wizard accomplishes through a training apprenticeship path. Finally, it ends with a discussion of some picturebooks which, in an heterogeneous way and with different sensibilities and perspectives, also introduce the little ones to the complex constellation of works, implicitly also conveying new possibilities of reading that world.