Bro un ponte di storie dalla Svezia alla Puglia - Bro, a stories bridge from Sweden to Apulian

From SalentoinLinea, culture's section

by Paola Bisconti

Bro, a stories bridge from Sweden to Apulian

From the top of  sky to the sea bottom. It could be a philosopher principle who contains human beings' deeper meanings , but the sentence more than to provoke suggestions is the title of a children's book created by the collaboration between Martin Widmark and Milena Galeoto. She is born  in Taranto but Lecce is her adoptive town, he is a popular Swedish writer.  Her first contact with Sweden starts with her thesis entitled "Democracy in the Swedish school," a long work translating and analyzing the Sweden educational system’s scholastic curricula, from  swedish school’s beginnings to the present day , finding  how in Sweden, the democracy sense has remote origins and how today is the basic element  on which the entire country works.

From their meeting is born an alchemy, a fusion of two so distant worlds, the nordic Sweden and the sunny Apulian’s coast. The book “Dall’alto del cielo al fondo del mare” (From the top of  sky to the sea bottom )is illustrated by Milena’s brother, Pietro Galeoto and edited by Lupo editore, a story where the protagonist is the friendship between three characters: a fisherman, a blackbird and a dolphin, united to free the fairies of the world, captured from the wicked witch Tramontana, receiving a prize, to can express three wishes, one of which will make them friends forever. From this book, Milena continued to grows in editorial field, becoming coordinator of children’s books thanks to her pedagogical education.. Her sensitivity is matured through direct listening of children during reading and creative workshops she leads in schools, where the material is recycled. On Barrueca there are her creations (http://barrueca.blogspot.com/). The creative "PuPezze del Cuore" laboratory together with the poet and artist Irene Esther Leo is very popular. In her contacts with Sweden, she continues her educational research, through the reports on the Swedish education system’s innovations, where education and respect are the welfare’s fundamental  principles cause they allow the dialogue, coexistence, cooperation: the country’s force. Her admiration for Sweden educational system was reciprocated recognizing her as Swedish promoter in Italy, for other swedish authors: Pija Lindenbaum, Stina Wirsèn and Pernilla Stalfelt who together with Martin Widmark they are most loved Swedish children’s authors. Maintaining the humility which belongs only to the wise people, Milena continues laboriously her work, translating their works to create informative articles through her blog Bro (http://broedizioni.blogspot.com/), which in Swedish language it means bridge, both in Italian and English language to give the possibility to foreign publishers to get more informations on their books. But not only. Importing excellent foreign books is to create a imagery “bro" in the minds of all those who wants as Milena to improve everything around us ... from the top of the sky to the sea bottom.