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Children's Fiction Caribbean & Latin America

When My Dad Went to the Jungle

by (author) Gusti

illustrated by Anne Decis

translated by Elisa Amado

Publisher
Greystone Books Ltd
Initial publish date
Jun 2020
Category
Caribbean & Latin America, Travel, Diversity & Multicultural, Parents, Jungle Animals
Recommended Age
5 to 9
Recommended Grade
k to 4
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9781771646703
    Publish Date
    Jun 2020
    List Price
    $22.95

Classroom Resources

Download Teacher’s Guide

Where to buy it

Description

“An admiring portrait of a father's example and an introduction to the rainforest.”
Wall Street Journal

A young boy shares exciting facts and stories about the peoples, plants, and animals who inhabit the Amazon rainforest.

In this original, uplifting book from one of Argentina’s most acclaimed children’s writers, a young boy records his dad’s stories of the Amazonian jungle in his journal. As he does, he can’t help but compare his own life. When you visit the rainforest, you should ask the Sápara peoples for permission and be respectful, just like when you visit your neighbor in the city. Smoked fish is delicious in the rainforest—but hard to make in your bedroom. The rainforest is like a great big house for plants, animals, and spirits, but it’s disappearing, little by little. Filling his journal with imaginative drawings and words, the boy decides what he would do if he visited the rainforest: Invite the spirits for donuts and hot cocoa!

Inspired by the author’s volunteer efforts to assist the Sápara peoples in protecting an endangered bird, When My Dad Went to the Jungle portrays a young boy exploring big ideas about the natural world. As he journals, the young boy realizes that, even though life for the Sápara peoples is very different from his own, a little bit of the rainforest lives inside of all of us. If we let it grow, then we will always respect the lands we walk, gather, and play on.

An Aldana Libros Book, Greystone Kids

About the authors

Contributor Notes

Gusti (the pseudonym for Gustavo Rosemffet) is a musician, ornithologist, illustrator and author. He is one of the most important illustrators in the Spanish speaking world and has won several awards. His book about his life with his son, who has Down Syndrome—Mallko y Papá—won the Bologna Ragazzi Prize for the best book on a child with a disability. His works have been translated into Japanese, English, French, German, Greek Korean, Portuguese, Hebrew and Catalan. He was born in Argentina and lives in Barcelona, Spain, with his wife, Anne Decis, and two sons.

Anne Decis is a French author and illustrator who lives in Barcelona with her husband, Gusti, and their two children.

Editorial Reviews

“An admiring portrait of a father's example and an introduction to the rainforest.”
Wall Street Journal

“Gusti’s presentation of the Indigenous people he stayed with on a volunteer trip to the jungle is tender and respectful and rendered with humor through Theo, whose childlike fascination invites young readers to vicariously share his learning.”
Booklist

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