I know, those who consider themselves serious students of Italian might scoff at the idea of reading fairy tales. But they have two important features: the plot is already familiar to you, making comprehension relatively effortless, and the story serves as a good introduction to the the passato remoto, which is used profusely in fables because they are always set in a distant past. Thus they can be used as a springboard to more serious reading.
Here is a site that includes the classic fairy tales, with the addition of audio at the beginning of each story.
