The December 2021 issue of ‘The Maltese Presence in North America’ introduces its readers to Charles Buttigieg’s popular children’s book, ‘Karamellu tar-Raħal t’Isfel’, a collection of 10 stories in Maltese, accompanied by specifically designed colourful visuals, about childhood in a Maltese village decades ago.
‘The Maltese Presence in North America’ is a widely diffused and appreciated monthly eNewsletter, edited by Dan Brock, that connects Maltese emigrants living in Canada and the United States, while providing them with useful information, community news, history and the latest on Maltese Canadian and Maltese American personalities.
In his editorial note the Editor of ‘The Maltese Presence in North America’ eNewsletter had this to say about “Karamellu tar-Raħal t’Isfel”: “This children’s book has been included in this issue, particularly with those of Maltese blood as well as those of Maltese birth living in North America in mind, as it should offer new generations easy to read and pleasing anecdotes that would help them get to know and understand better the kind of village culture and environment children of years gone by were brought up in. At the same time, the stories also offer some nostalgic reading to elders, especially those who like to read and recount stories to children about the time when they themselves were still very young.”
Karamellu represents a boy born and brought up in a worker’s family which used to live in the part of the village of Żejtun which is known as Ir-Raħal t’Isfel. The author of the stories is this boy: the writer Charles Buttigieg who in the book signs as In-Nannu Karm. Since its launch on October 26, 2021, at the Żejtun Primary School, the book is rapidly becoming a favourite with both children and adults alike
The idea to start compiling the Karamellu stories in books is rooted in the impressive support the stories received when they started to be posted on Facebook at the time of the Covid-19 lockdown, with many readers soliciting the publication of the stories in book form. Facebook has seen 68 Karamellu stories to date.
Running through the heart of the stories one discovers natural examples of how children can live happily with what they have, while also looking forward to a better life, the joy of understanding, respecting, and helping others especially those within one’s own community, the abundant benefits of personal communication, and how wonderful it is to remain open-minded in the face of progress.
The designers and setters of the book are CN Creative Designs.
More information may be obtained from the Karamellu tar-Raħal t’Isfel website: https://nannukarm.org/