Latin America
Brazil
You Can't be Too Careful!
By Roger Mello, Daniel Hahn (Translator)
You Can’t Be Too Careful! Roger Mello. Translated by Daniel Hahn. Elsewhere Editions, 2017. Originally published as Todo cuidado é pouco! in Portuguese by Companhia das Letras, Sao Paulo, Brazil, in 1999. ISBN 9780914671640. 36 p. (Ages 5-8). Picture book.
Serious questions are explored even as the reader learns how tiny actions can cause big change. A 2018 Batchelder Honor Book. Roger Mello has illustrated over 100 children's books and written more than twenty. More of his notable books can be found listed here [jm]
My Sweet Orange Tree
By José Mauro de Vasconcelos, Alison Entrekin (Translator)
My Sweet Orange Tree. José Mauro de Vasconcelos. Translated by Alison Entrekin. Candlewick, 2019. Originally published as O Meu Pé de Laranja Lima in Portuguese by Editora Melhoramentos, in Brazil, in 1968. ISBN 9781536203288. 272 p. (Ages 12 and up). Fiction.
A Brazilian classic that has never been out of print, My Sweet Orange Tree features a precocious but naughty five year old whose hard-scrabble family beats him severely when he gets into trouble. Through his mischief-making he finally meets someone who shows him what it means to truly care for somebody. Though this book is commonly taught at the elementary school level in Brazil, it has been categorized as young adult in the United States because of its dark themes including poverty, violence, and death. A 2012 film adaptation won the 2014 Cinema Brazil Grand Prize in the children’s film category. [dj]