Fathers' travelling through space and time

Usually we say that reading makes you travel through space and time: it is true if you refer to personal reading, however we want to observe how this travel can happen also in the experience of fathers who read aloud children books to their sons and daughters. This paper is based on biographical interviews to Italian fathers about their habits of reading aloud to their 3 to 6 year old children. The daily reading practice has its own time and space restrictions: the time is short, about twenty minutes before sleeping, and the space is small, generally the children's bedroom. However, the features of this particular experience allow fathers to shift the boundaries of space and time. At first there is a spatial travel, because the evening reading leads fathers to discover libraries, bookshops, bookfairs, reading aloud events. The reading habit gives fathers a new perspective through which they can explore their town. Then there is a time travel: the fathers, as they read, remember their childhood, rediscover forgotten tales and offer their memories to their children, through their old books or their favourite stories. Sharing tales and books makes fathers travel in their past, even with the aim of transmitting their memories to future. At the end, there is a symbolic travel: the reading moment represents both a space where they can stay with their children without the mother's presence, and a time when they can create a close relationship with their sons and daughters. From interviewees' words we understand that the reading practice is a time and a space precisely dedicated to structure and establish their fatherhood (Stramaglia, 2009). In conclusion, we state that reading aloud practice makes even fathers travel through space and time; this is not a fantastic travel but a metaphorical journey to discover aspects of their identity as fathers.