150 children from Artés, between the ages of 10 and 12, have created a book about the Burots revolution, one of the most important historical chapters in the municipality. The students have participated in the entire project: documenting themselves, doing history and writing workshops and imagining everything about their characters, from character to physique.
As a result, the Lalè publishing house has published the book prepared by the children and it can now be found in all bookstores in the Bages region.
The Burots revolt is one of the most important historical episodes of Artés. The people rebelled against the caciques, an insurrection against a consumption tax, inflation and very precarious working conditions. According to the councilor for Historical Memory of the Artés City Council, Àngel Camacho, it has many "parallel" points with current history: now we are also experiencing this increase in food, energy and gasoline prices. And it is important to convey the message that the united people can try to break with injustice”.
The person in charge of the Lalè publishing house, specialized in educational issues and cultural heritage, thinks in the same way. The book proposal was born from the hand of its manager, Clara Fons Duocastella, who explains why she considered it interesting to move the project forward: "We believed it was important to work on this historical chapter not only to remember what happened, but to demonstrate the ability that the people have, when they are united, to transform”.
The 150 children, all 5th and 6th grade students from the two town schools, have gone through the entire process of creating the book. To make it possible, they have documented with historians about the town, they have visited the most emblematic places, they have done writing workshops and they have put themselves in the place of the protagonists of the time to understand how they felt and why they acted that way. .
“To the point that they have decided if they had beards, if they were bald, if they had children, if they were arrogant or nice. All with the desire that they come to understand why the people got to where they did”, explains Fons.
Ivet Girabal is 11 years old and, like the rest of her classmates, she can already say that she is the author of a book. She is very satisfied, she explains, but not only for the results but for the entire process. She has learned that writing a book is not easy: "First you have to document yourself, capture the ideas and you cannot just start writing," she emphasizes.
This week, the Lalè publishing house has made the book arrive at the Artés school and the reaction of the children when they see it has said it all: “It is spectacular. What happened”, says one of them. When they opened it, seeing their name they felt “very proud. Like the artisans of the beginning of the century, they have achieved their objective and they have done it by working together”, say the promoters.
The book 'La revolta dels Burots', illustrated by Xavi Reñé, is now available in bookstores in the region and online. The publication will be presented on Sunday, April 23 at 12 noon, in an act in Artés that will be attended by some of the children who have participated.
