In her latest adventure, Imeldina u l-uċuħ, our eponymous hero has to deal with a number of horrible looking corbels on her way to school. Some have sculptures of leaves adorning them but others are in the shape of scary mythological creatures which give Imeldina nightmares.
Ms Hili Vassallo read the story to a mesmerised Grade 4 audience. She also spoke to them about corbels, an architectural feature that is quite common in Malta. A corbel is a structural piece of stone (it can be made out of wood or metal too) that juts from a wall to support balconies. Sometimes, as in Imeldina's story, these corbels are carved or sculpted in a myriad of ways. There are those inspired by botanical shapes whereas others, the scary ones, would be in the likeness of demons or mythological beasts. The latter are supposed to discourage evil spirits from entering the building thus safeguarding the owners.
The Grade 4s loved every minute of this session and were over the moon when, after the session, Ms Hili Vassallo signed their copies of Imeldina.
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