About Us

Giovanna, Monica & Mara (reading with Artemisia and Rino)

Chi Semina Racconta (“sow a seed to tell a story”), a non-profit cultural association, was created with the desire to bring together our community through educational and creative projects for children of all ages! We strive to promote a love of reading and an ecoliterate and sustainable community.

Our first endeavor is the founding of the Biblioteca dei Bimbi, or the Children’s Library. The nearest library for children is over an hour away and the local schools barely have picture books available for children. We seek to create a space that respects the fantastical time of childhood, and through which children and families can discover the pleasure of reading aloud together and sharing stories. We have partnered with the national web Nati per Leggere (“Born to read”) to realize our communal goal: love of literature through the loving gesture of an adult reading a story aloud to a child.

We intend to organize storytimes, events with authors and illustrators, get-togethers and workshops in order to both support parents in the lifelong journey of becoming parents and to bring to life children’s imaginations, supporting their development holistically. Yet another objective is to bring literature and storytelling outside of the library, in local squares and in nature, bringing together generations to weave the story of Carpineto Sinello and its surroundings.

Chi Semina Racconta also organizes:

• educational workshops and internships for youth and adults;
• events and get-togethers for families to educate towards conscious parenting, support sacred birth practices, attachment parenting and early childhood practices based on learning by doing together, indoors and out in the natural world;
• markets and festivals that promote a sense of community, an awareness and attachment to our natural surroundings and knowledge of sustainable lifestyles, including ecobuilding, agricultural methods, energy and domestic practices.

Giovanna Aloè: After living in London, working as a nurse and studying herbalism, I decided to return to my roots to cultivate my greatest passion: naturopathy. Books have always been true companions for me, the vital juice that has expanded my horizons. My dedication to Chi Semina Racconta stems from the desire to create a channel that unites children and literature, a relationship that both enriches and completes our growth as persons.

Monica Della Croce: Full-time mother of two incredible daughters, I moved to Guilmi four years ago with my husband in search of peaceful rhythms, community, and a piece of land to care for and grow with. Raised bicultural, I grew up amidst the suburbs of New York City and the countryside of Southern Italy. Prior to living in Abruzzo, I acquired a Masters degree in Early Childhood Education from Bank Street College and had the privilege of teaching at Beginnings Preschool in NYC. It was through teaching that I was so well-nourished to have the strength to realize my childhood dream of living in Italy, and it is through my work as fellow founder of the nonprofit Chi Semina Racconta that I feel myself blossoming and able to give of myself to the community of Carpineto Sinello that I now call home.

Mara Pelanconi: With a degree in Linguistic and Cultural Mediation and Afro-Asiatic Studies, I left my hometown of Varese in search of a sustainable, human-scale lifestyle. Travelling, reading and a desire to learn have shown me infinite possibilities and have sustained me in my path. I have been passionately teaching gymnastics for the past ten years to children aged three and older, accompanying them in the discovery of movement, their rhythms and selves. The nonprofit Chi Semina Racconta was founded on a personal desire to become an integrative part of an aware community and share each of our individual capacities for the benefit of the whole.