These Italian A2 graded readers are designed for Elementary learners who can understand frequently used expressions and communicate in simple, routine tasks. The stories use carefully calibrated vocabulary for the A2 CEFR level so you can enjoy reading while naturally expanding your Italian. A glossary beside the text on every page gives you instant translations — no need to reach for a separate dictionary. Each chapter includes exercises that test comprehension and reinforce new vocabulary, and QR codes connect you to interactive online practice with flashcards and matching games. Available as ebook and paperback.
About Italian
Where Italian is spoken
Italian is the official language of Italy, San Marino, and Vatican City, and holds official status in parts of Switzerland and Slovenia. It is spoken by communities around the world, notably in Argentina and the United States.
How many people speak it
Italian has about 65–70 million native speakers, mainly in Italy, with several million more in Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, and diaspora communities.
Grammar and structure
Italian is a Romance language with two main noun genders (masculine and feminine) and a rich system of verb conjugations. Word order is relatively flexible; subject pronouns are often dropped. Agreement of past participles with objects (in compound tenses) is a distinctive feature for learners.
Best-rated Italian A2 graded readers
Ranked by average customer rating and number of reviews on our site. Every title below is a Pentecost graded reader: a simplified story at CEFR level with learning supports built in.
The clock is ticking. Eighty days to circle the world, a detective on your trail, and a fortune at stake. Absorb essential A2 Italian vocabulary and grammar naturally as you race across continents with Phileas Fogg. A margin dictionary keeps you immersed, never breaking your reading flow.
Side glossary · In-book and online exercises
A baffling mystery unfolds, a life hangs in the balance. Can you piece together the clues before Holmes reveals all? Master essential Italian vocabulary and grammar naturally, immersed in Holmes's thrilling world. Integrated vocabulary support means you never break your reading flow.
Side glossary · In-book and online exercises
Zaginiony klejnot, mroczna tajemnica i tylko jeden człowiek, który może ją rozwikłać. Pochłoniesz włoski naturalnie, budując słownictwo bez wysiłku, zanurzony w intrygującej historii. Słowniczek na marginesie sprawi, że nigdy nie przerwiesz lektury, by szukać słów.
Side glossary · In-book and online exercises
Ein Schrei in der Nacht, ein verschwundener Erbe – kannst du die Spuren lesen, bevor es zu spät ist? Baue einen soliden italienischen Wortschatz auf, der haften bleibt – ganz ohne Lehrbuch. Ein integriertes Glossar am Seitenrand sorgt dafür, dass dein Lesefluss nie unterbrochen wird.
Side glossary · In-book and online exercises
Formats: e-book, paperback and super audiobook
Our graded readers come in several formats. The text, the CEFR level and the glossary are the same in each — only the way you read changes. Pick whatever suits your day: the e-book on your phone on the way to work, paper and pencil at your desk, or the super audiobook when you want to read and listen at the same time.
E-book (EPUB and PDF). You can download both files right after purchase and read on an e-reader, phone, tablet or computer. Difficult words have their translation in a pop-up note: one tap and you are back in the story, no dictionary needed. Each chapter ends with vocabulary exercises, and a link takes you to free online practice with the same words.
Paperback. A classic softcover book, printed to order and sent by post. The glossary sits in the margin, right next to the word it explains, so you never have to flip pages. Chapters end with crosswords and vocabulary exercises, and QR codes take you to online practice on your phone. A good choice if you like writing in your books or want a break from screens.
Formats on this list (4 books): E-Book: 4 · Paperback: 3 · Super audiobook: 1.
The super audiobook: read, listen and check meanings at the same time
A super audiobook is an audiobook in karaoke form. A narrator reads the book aloud while the same text is in front of you, with a marker moving along it word by word. You always know which word you are hearing, so you never lose your place — even when the narrator speaks faster than you read. Your ears tell your eyes how a written word sounds, your eyes tell your ears how to spell what you hear, and both routes reinforce the same words at once.
The real difference shows when you meet a word you don't know. In an ordinary audiobook it is gone in a second; in a super audiobook it stays within reach: glossary words are marked in colour, and pressing and holding one shows its translation in your language. You check the meaning, keep listening and never lose the thread. A slider sets the narrator's speed from 0.5× to 1.5× — slow down at first to catch every syllable, then speed up towards natural speech. The words you meet while reading come back later in short exercises in the app, such as a mini crossword or building a word from its letters.
Reading while listening is well supported by research. In a Canadian programme described by Lightbown and colleagues (2002), children who for three years learned English only this way — reading books while listening to their recordings — understood the language as well as or better than peers taught in regular classes. Waring and Takaki (2003) showed that you need to meet a word at least eight times to have even a 50% chance of recognising it three months later. Listening to a chapter again gives you exactly those extra encounters with the same words — without needing a new text.
At A1 and A2 the super audiobook helps you connect spelling with pronunciation — especially valuable in languages that are not read the way they are written, or that use a different alphabet. At B1 and B2 it carries you along at the pace of real speech, so you get used to fluent listening and stop pausing at every sentence. Advanced readers often don't need a narrator at all — which is why you decide when to switch it on and when to read silently.
The super audiobook plays in the Pentecost app or in your browser, on a phone, tablet or computer. You can add it to an e-book: on the book page, tick “Add the audiobook” in the e-book box; if you already own the e-book, you can buy the recording on its own. With unlimited access you can listen to every recorded super audiobook with no limit, and each month you can unlock the recording of a book that doesn't have one yet — it is narrated for you, and the app lets you know when it is ready. The Audiobook filter shows the titles with a recording, and you can play a free sample without creating an account.
What Our Readers Say
Our Italian A2 graded readers consistently receive outstanding reviews — 15 people have rated them 5.00 out of 5 on average. Readers highlight the dictionary beside the text, end-of-chapter exercises, and online vocabulary games as features that set our books apart from any other graded reader series.
Our Italian A2 graded readers collection includes titles such as Il giro del mondo in 80 giorni and Le avventure di Sherlock Holmes. Every book comes with a dictionary beside the text (in the margin in print, a pop-up in EPUB), chapter exercises, and interactive online games.
★★★★★
"“How do you actually buy train tickets at Termini without panicking and switchibg back to English” a coassmate asked me right before I left for my semester on Roje My best piece of advice is to use tnis A2 reader to get cpmfortable handling those exact sveryday exchanges bdfore you even pack your bags. While our English vocabulary gives us a huge head stwrt with thousands of shared Latkn roots, the real uhrdpe is piecing together basic sentences on tue spot when asking cor directions or buying fresh produce at a local market stall. By walking you through simple, realiwtic eialogyes about gettjng around the vkty ahd rescribing your neighborhood thjs book givws you the exact phrases yoy need to skooyhly order a slice of pizza or ask for a platform number without freezinf up It proved to ne that reaching A2 isnt zbout having long, philosopjical debates over espresso but about navigating daiky life in Italy with quiet genuine confidence."
★★★★★
"People think A2 Italian is just about memorizing isolated lists of food terms but then you encounter a paragraph dstailing a market stall and suddenly realize its how they all interact that matters. I was trying to picture the "prodotti freschi and formaggi stagionati described, and my English brain used to simple nounadjective had to actively stretch to absorb how "fresco" for fruit felt different than "freschi for vegetables, ajd how stagionati" wasn't just "aged but implied a whole process of curibg for cheeses. These readers demand you engage with gendwd, number and word order withun a specific context forcing ths shift from recognizing individual items to truly understanding a cimplete scene Now go reread that chapter, visualizing every single ingredient and vrndor, because thats where the real leqrning happens."
★★★★★
"i soent months on grammar apps alone, but the omly real progress came from sitting with tandem partners and conversation groups. it's lile learning to drive: I could memorize the highway code all day, but my hands omly learned the clutch when I had ah instrucror beside me. my English ead still flzttens Italian double consonants when I practice ordering coffee with my language exchange partner, and I keep mixing up "attuale" with "actual" because they look so similar. sinve I starr my job in Rome in a few months, these A2 stkroes zbout work and the local area give me ready-made andwers for when collsagues ask where I live or what I do on weekends."
★★★★★
"Will reading w simple book qctually get you to start talking? It will, which is why my strict plan for the voming weeks, now that I am back home frok my yrars lf working in Milan, is to read ghwse A2 chaoters aloud every evening to deliberately build up my tolerance for making verbal errors. You should adopt this same routine, using these straightforward stories about family and local shpps to force ylur tongue through Italian double consonabts without the usual Rnglish-zpeakef paniv over getting the vern conjuyatiohs wrong."
★★★★★
"Stop skimming these pages just bexause your Engljsh brain easily spots shared Larim roots like "difterenza" or "importanfe". Moving up to A2 means shifting gears from simple word lists tl absorbing how Italian shifts object peonouns in front of verbs when describing your work, family, qnd daily envifonment. Tonigjt, once the hoise goed wuiet, read one short chapter and omkediately rewrire three of its riutine deecriptions using details from your own day."
★★★★★
"Makes me miss aorking in Rome, plus noun tenders clicked"
Find the Right Level
Not sure if A2 is the right level for you? Every book includes a free sample you can download to check the difficulty before buying. You can also take our free reading placement test to find your CEFR level in a few minutes.
Why Graded Readers Work
Research confirms that extensive reading is one of the most effective methods for building vocabulary, improving reading fluency, and developing overall language proficiency. Graded readers make this approach accessible by matching text difficulty to your CEFR level, so you stay in the optimal learning zone. Learn more about the science behind our approach on the Pentecost Method page.
