This book is part of the Storie Nelle Storie (Stories Within Stories) series. It’s a chapter book aimed at young readers of Italian ages seven and up, but it’s also a nice choice for Italian learners looking to practice their reading skills. I picked it up originally because I loved the cover illustration - The wolf looks so delighted to see those babies! – but ended up loving the stories even more than the illustrations. 

As the title promises, this is a retelling of the legends surrounding the foundation of the city of Rome. It’s impressively close to Livy’s versions of the same stories from book one of his ancient history, Ab Urbe Condita. However, author Valeria Conte adds some welcome twists. The Sabine women are well developed characters in this version of the story. The legend of their kidnapping is told from their point of view, and they are Not Impressed with the Romans’ arguments that they had no choice but to kidnap the girls. It takes quite a while to win these ladies over. The story of Rhea Silvia is also told well, in a way that is accurate to the legend and still age appropriate. She has a romantic encounter with the god Mars in what she thinks is a dream and is very surprised to discover that it was real. Conti adds a new character, a daughter of Amulius, who intervenes to save her cousin’s life, thus filling in one of Livy’s plot holes and ensuring that Rhea Silvia isn’t as totally isolated. Conti also does Livy proud by going on the occasional digression to explain Roman religious practices. Altogether, this book is a great read and an excellent example of how to adapt ancient stories for young 21st century audiences. – Krishni Burns