Il contributo di Anna Maria Bernardinis (1932-2017) alla pedagogia della letteratura per l’infanzia

This paper reconstructs the research path of Anna Maria Bernardinis (1932- 2017) in the field of children’s literature. Since the 1960s, and for the following 50 years, she developed an original position on the basis of the personalistic theory on education. She also was a real pioneer in many fields: she created a research group on children’s literature at the University of Padova, as well as innovative reader-centred libraries which foster children’s engagement with reading and literature. Among her many achievements, she promoted the «European Award of Youth’s Literature», she staged important exhibitions devoted to the history of children’s literature and she was deeply committed to education of teachers and librarians to promote new partnerships in literacy education.