The Divine Comedy for Children

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Links: Dante's Divine Comedy As Told for Young People and Paper Dolls

Dante Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy has been translated into many languages so that people throughout the world can enjoy it and learn from Dante’s journey through Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven.  However, The Divine Comedy is not only translated into other languages, it is also abridged and written in a language that children can understand.  I have always enjoyed children’s books and I still like to read them.  So, I thought it would be interesting to see how The Divine Comedy has been made child friendly. 

Starting my search, I assumed that there would be many versions of The Divine Comedy for children.  However, I was wrong.  The only children’s version I found is Dante’s Divine Comedy As Told for Young People, by Joseph Tusiani.  Tusiani’s Comedy is accurate with the original work and clearly explains what is happening in the story.  Unlike the original, which was written in first person with Dante as the narrator, Tusiani’s abridged Comedy is told in third person with Dante as the main character.  Tusiani makes Dante’s journey and struggle relatable to the reader.  He begins by asking the reader: “How would you feel if, awakening in the deep of night, you found yourself no more in your room but in a thick, dark forest called the Wilderness of Death” (Tusiani, Joseph. Dante’s Divine Comedy As Told for Young People. Canada: Legas, 2001. Page 11.).  Tusiani wants to the reader to take Dante’s place for a moment and consider what Dante was feeling at the start of his journey.  Throughout Dante’s Divine Comedy As Told for Young People, Tusiani does not describe all of the symbolism and imagery that Dantes used, but instead focuses on the historical background so that the reader is able to understand what is going on.  Tusiani defines what the sins are and why the sins are condemned.  This book can be used by students studying The Divine Comedy in college because it gives them background about the cantos.  This background provides the student with a good starting point for a more in-depth study of The Divine Comedy.

Another way that The Divine Comedy is made child friendly is through paper dolls.  I have always loved paper dolls, so I thought that it would be interesting to see if there were any paper dolls based on The Divine Comedy.  I found this set of three printable paper dolls, which includes Dante, Virgil, and the three beasts from Canto 1, designed by David Claudon.  Next to each doll, there is a description, which explains why the characters are portrayed this way and contains a little bit of information about the characters.  They are fun for all ages and a good study break!