WILMINGTON, Del., Jan. 23, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- "Giada is five years old.  She lives in Utica, New York.  Her mom was born there, but her dad was born in Italy."

So begins the new, illustrated book that, according to award-winning author Michael Sedge, will put young children on the path to learning Italian.

"I have lived in Italy many years and have grandkids both there and the United States," explained Sedge.  "Trying to get them to communicate and learn each other's language has always a challenge.  That triggered the Giada language book series starting with Italian."

A former director-at-large for the American Society of Journalists and authors, Sedge has lived and worked from the Mediterranean peninsula for the past four decades.  His book, The Lost Ships of Pisa, received the best book of the year award from the President of the Italian Republic, and his novel, The Oracle, which is based in Southern Italy, was selected as the best fiction of the year at the 2014 Paris Book Festival.

"We were fortunate to get I. Cenizal, who illustrated the Princess Ruby children's book series, to bring the story to life with her artistic talents," Sedge added.

In Giada Learns Italian, children follow the ventures of Giada (Sedge's grand-daughter in real life) as she learns Italian words like cat, dog, pig, tiger and lion.  But when she gets a mini-iPad for Christmas, it opens the virtual doorway for her to Skype-link to her Italian cousins, Luca and Matteo (also grandsons of the author).  Through their various conversations, all three learn the other's language.

"If there is one thing that I have learned with my own, dual-nationality children and, now, my grandkids, is that the younger one begins a foreign language, the easier it is to comprehend and maintain," Sedge said. "This is why we have targeted children from 4 to 6 years in the Giada series."

Michael Sedge plans to issue another two books in the Italian series, and then expand the line to Spanish, German and French.

Contact:
Amanda Cerbone
315-941-8514
marketing@thesedgegroup.com

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150121/170570

SOURCE The Sedge Group