Aria – Në dorën time

“Aria – In My Hand” (or Aria 3, as children may call it) continues the adventures and the escapades of Aria, that sharp-witted little rascal.

Aria, like so many other children, loves the sea dearly but has never seen it. Bika, a volunteer at the care home where Aria lives with her brother Raini, has given her word that once school finishes she will make the dream come true: a seaside holiday with Bika and her family.

But nothing can go to the plan Aria has woven in her head, because of Bika's husband Pineo, forgetful and thoroughly married to his work. He is an archaeologist with a great love of history, ruins and castles, and he has forgotten the promise he made to Bika and to their son Milo. Hunting for the paper he is to deliver at the archaeologists' congress, he discovers it is gone and must go looking for it around the historic sites he visited a week earlier.

Caught between work and family, and unwilling to break his word to his son, Pineo hatches a plan that lets him work and entertain the children at the same time. He proposes that they visit every archaeological site, castle and historic place in Albania.

And so the seaside holiday turns, all at once, into a wonderful journey across the whole country. The three children, Aria, Raini and Milo, together with the adults, visit ancient cities and historic places such as Apollonia, Byllis, Gjirokastra, Berat, Lezha, Kruja and Shkodra, without ever setting aside Aria's love for the enchanting coast, from the south all the way north.

Among situations full of humour and quick retorts, plunges into the blue sea and the discovery of our country's beauty, this book is a love letter to our beloved homeland.

Discovering the country's history through Aria's humour, and through the way she bends names and legends so as to remember them better, makes for real learning by way of enjoyment, something teachers and parents alike can use. Children meet the ancient cities, the castles and the heroes of this country in an entertaining way, uncovering Albanian traditions, customs and legends through the eyes of a curious child.

The book is for parents too, the ones who, weighed down by work and worry, often forget that children need their attention, need things done together, need time that counts, and above all need memories that last. Reading it alongside your children can become a family experience of its own.