Fuq il-Muntanja ż-Żgħira, a new book in the reading aid series by Merlin Publishers, is now available. The book is an original work by author Charles Casha.
Fuq il-Muntanja ż-Żgħira is the story of a boy named Elbio who lived in a village near the mountains. Elbio, a Celtic name meaning ‘he who comes from the mountains’, is a simple boy who believed everything he heard. School is not going well for him and he barely manages to read and write. But Elbio loves listening to his grandmother’s stories, and once she tells him a story about the Small Mountain, about how an adventurous man with a lantern and rope found a treasure of gold and silver coins in one of the caves. The man could not manage to carry all the treasure back, so Elbio keeps dreaming about how he is going to acquire it himself.
He keeps dreaming until he climbed the mountain. He does not find the treasure he wanted, but he finds another treasure… And this discovery changes his life. Because a treasure is not always found in what you want, but in what you need.
Fuq il-Muntanja ż-Żgħira is fabulous story with an atmosphere of adventure and mystery, which is further embellished with illustrations by the incredibly talented young artist Vincianne Scerri.
The aim of this reading aids book series is to create accessible books for children who struggle somewhat with reading in Maltese as well as, but not exclusively, for children with dyslexia and other realities that affect reading ease.
Each book has one story, in short chapters, with a limited amount of text aimed at children aged seven and over who are beginning to build their reading confidence. In addition to this, this new series is printed on matte and saffron paper, and uses a specially closed font that also helps children with dyslexia to read.
The project was co-funded by the National Literacy Agency.
