The book opens with Hue getting a postcard from his grandmother who is traveling in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He magically appears in Brazil a few pages later and begins looking for her. Along the way he learns some key phrases in Portuguese (including bom dia/good morning, sim/yes, and obrigado/thank you) and visits several special sites in and around the city such as the beach, the statue of Christ the Redeemer, and the rainforest. The child and his grandma reunite at Carnaval, of course.
After the story, there is a two-page spread with postcards encouraging the reader to take a closer look and notice details about the pictures in the story and another two-page spread with more Portuguese phrases to learn.
This book would be a great addition to a classroom or personal library for those who are interested in geography, travel, and language. It focuses more on the aspects of Rio which are salient to tourists rather than how everyday life is lived, so it might give a culturally responsive classroom's students a chance to show pride in the city their family is from and the language they speak, but doesn't really give a window into everyday life in the metropolis.
The book's creators plan to put extension activities on the website. I hope they include audio versions of the Portuguese phrases, to help with pronunciation, and perhaps photos of things that children from outside of Rio might relate to as similar to their lives, such as pictures of children's bedrooms, schools, and playgrounds.
No comments:
Post a Comment