Amazonia: Indigenous Tales from Brazil

Gr 4 Up—Munduruku, who grew up in the Amazon rain forest, retells a dozen myths and tales from eight groups indigenous to the Amazon region of Brazil. Written in plain narrative style, the myths tell of the creation of the heavens and the people and animals of the forest; the origin of turtles and tortoises; how people learned to cook and use certain plants; and how the seasons came to be. The stories are filled with gruesome details and are populated by magical creatures. A woman is made pregnant by a fish. Another marries a jaguar and is killed when a giant caterpillar makes her laugh, and a man's three wives are romanced by an alligator. The curious full-page illustrations, originally created for Myths, Fairytales and Legends of Brazil, compiled by E. Ogneva (Artistic Belleslettres, 1987; o.p.), are painted in gouache and finely detailed with pen and India ink. They show Native Indians-some with feathered headdresses and striped limbs; a dodo-like bird with owl ears; flying hatchet-carrying people with bat faces and bat wings; a parrot with a boy's head. A glossary gives information about various species mentioned in the tales. This is a collection for libraries with large folktale collections.—Susan Scheps, formerly at Shaker Public Library, OH