Posted
April 18, 2014
Just
as the English-language world enjoys the tales of Christopher
Robbin's stuffed bear and other toys, those who speak and read
Portuguese have been able to enjoy the tales of the Yellow Woodpecker
Farm.
The
characters in these stories include Lucia (called Little Nose) and
Little Pete, their grandmother and the family cook, and also all
kinds of imaginative characters like a talking rag doll and corncob
puppet, a talking pig and rhinoceros, and characters of common
folktales such as Saci Perere and Cuca.
The
author of the Yellow Woodpecker Farm books, Monteiro Lobato, was born
on this date in 1882. He lived in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and he wrote
fiction for adults as well as for kids. He wrote nonfiction for
newspapers and magazines, he was an art critic, and he founded
publishing houses.
Like many other kids' stories, this combination of realistic and fantastic universes is sometimes created with magic. For example, I read that the kids used magic powder to visit places like Neverland, mythological Ancient Greece, Fable World, and Grammar World.
Lobato's
stories have been the basis of some very popular TV shows. Five
different TV series arose out of the Yellow Woodpecker Farm shows
alone! Check out this You Tube teaser. There are many episodes
of the show, but unfortunately I could only find one with English subtitles.
The
Yellow Woodpecker Farm stories are very important in Brazilian
culture. I found one website that has some interesting quotes
from the rag doll character:
“The
secret, my friend, is only one: freedom. Here
we have no leashes. The greatest misfortune of all is to be in a
leash. And how these leashes have spread throughout the
world!”
“They
say I don’t have a heart, but that’s not true. I do
have a heart and it’s beautiful. Except that it’s not
made of bananas. It is not impressed by petty little
things; but it hurts every time it sees an injustice being
done. It hurts so much that I’m sure the ‘evilest’
thing in the world is injustice.”
And
I found another that had a bunch of photos of Yellow
Woodpecker Farm products.
Also
on this date:
|
|
Birthday
of lawyer Clarence Darrow (famous
because of the “Monkey Trial” about teaching evolution)
Plan
ahead:
Check
out my Pinterest boards for:
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here are my Pinterest boards for:
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