Materials from South America
This illustrated book takes readers on a journey across six continents, with entertaining folktales from eighty different storytelling traditions. An excellent introduction to foreign countries, these beautifully told stories are perfect for reading aloud and encouraging children to learn about different cultures and other parts of the world.
The part one of this anthology contains mythic tales from the native inhabitants explaining how the world came to be. There are warriors and princesses who turn into towering volcanoes, an opossum who steals fire for mankind, and a giant worm who drinks a river so people can find fish. The second part contains stories from the Europeans who came to the New World and is about people’s relationships with each other and with nature. There’s a mysterious woman magician who escapes from jail on a flying boat, horses the color of rainbows, and a jungle creature who enchants a young girl.
Having saved enough money to buy a disposable camera, Pascual goes into the Guatemalan jungle to take pictures of monkeys, but the results are not what he expected.
Bolivia is home to two distinct native cultures the Aymara and the Quechua as well as mestizos, blacks, and Europeans. Lifestyle is determined in large part by whether one dwells in one of the large cities like La Paz or Santa Cruz, or in rural areas like the forested Yungas or Amazon Basin. In this largely pictorial book that focuses on children living in the different regions, some of this information is specifically stated.
South America’s story is as varied as its geography of soaring mountains, scorching deserts, and lush rainforests. This book combines an often tragic history with the problems and triumphs of the present. The information ranges from “the Requirement” (a document read out by the conquistadors each time they came upon a new group of indigenous people to justify their actions) to drug cartels, from the hidden and secretive Elders (a civilization that retreated to the mountains to preserve its customs) to Gabriel García Márquez. Includes maps, an index, and bibliography.
Finding a seriously hurt dolphin in the Amazon near her small Colombian village and suspecting her stepfather of having wounded it, Carmenza nurses it back to health and turns to the wise old Indian Omar to appease its spirit.
A rhyming tale about a toad who travels to the outdoor market, only to discover upon his return home that he has neglected to pick up the items on his grocery list. He does manage, however, to have a spectacularly wonderful time perusing the venue and mingling with fellow customers.
The birds in the forests surrounding the Amazon River all have dark feathers until they decide to steal some colors from the Hummingbird.
In a very small town in rural Argentina there is a magical house. The house is vacant and has been for as long as anyone can remember, but once a year, at midnight, the house turns blue, and 24 hours later it turns back to white again. Twelve-year-old Cintia lives with her father, an angry man who is sometimes violent. But Cintia finds comfort at her grandmother’s home, where there is always delicious food and fascinating tales about the town and about Cintia’s own family. Cintia is drawn to the little blue house even though both her father and grandmother forbid her to go there. And the town’s mayor, who hopes to turn the house into a money-making tourist attraction, tries to prevent anyone from visiting the place without paying. As the time approaches for the annual transformation of the house, more mysteries crop up. Cintia and her grandmother must make peace with Cintia’s father. The mayor’s plans must be confronted, and an old bookseller needs to find a way to save what is most important. And what about the rumors of buried treasure?
outside, the wind is howling. it is a monster shrieking to get inside. outside, the rain is a solid wall of water. everything is dark. everything is destroyed. everything is gone…. Everything except for the desperate courage of those who survive that terrifying night. After hours of cowering in the dark with no lights, no warmth, and the terrible noises of the rain and wind pounding on the walls, José walks out his front door and steps into a nightmare. But his nightmare has only begun as he and the few who are left in his small village start to pull their lives back together. Based on Hurricane Mitch’s devastation of Honduras in 1998, Terry Trueman’s powerful story is about a young boy’s fear and courage in the face of a force of nature too huge to even imagine.