celebrate in April 18th, the National Children's Book Day. The existence of this date is a recognition of the importance of literature aimed at children., a source of stimulation to the creativity and imagination of its readers, which contributes to intellectual development and training of a readership of fables, short stories, novels, theatrical texts, poems, that is, for the consolidation of a readership of literature. Besides, being on April 18, in addition to the children's book, the most important Brazilian writer of this genre is extolled: Monteiro Lobato.
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Why is National Children's Book Day April 18?
Why, among so many days that make up a year, was April 18th chosen to commemorate the National Children's Book Day? This date was chosen because it was on that day and month, in the year 1882, that Brazilian writer Monteiro Lobato was born. After all, what better date to celebrate the children's book than the birthday of this pioneer writer, that is, the first, in Brazil, to dedicate himself to literary production aimed at children?
Anyone who hasn't read it or hasn't watched its television adaptation has certainly heard of it.O ssite of Pis-Pwow THEyellow. This work, published in 1920, gave life to unforgettable characters, such as Emilia, Dona Benta, Tia Nastácia, Tio Barnabé, Narizinho, Pedrinho, Visconde de Sabugosa, Rabicó, among others from national folklore and mythology Greek.
Therefore, when being created, in January 8, 2002, through the approval of the Law nº 10.402, the National Children's Book Day, celebrated in 1April 8, honors not only the children's book, but also the writer Monteiro Lobato, considered the father of children's literaturejuvenile.
What is celebrated on National Children's Book Day?
On this date, the importance of literary production aimed at childrenjuvenile. Structured in thes forms in fable, short story, poem, theater and romance, exalts, in 1April 8, the literature that constitutes the basis of formation of new readers. After all, we will hardly find voracious readers, that is, those who devour one book after another, who have not started a taste for literary reading in childhood, based on reading or nolistening to fun, mysterious stories, full of adventures and adventures that populate countless children's books, such as The Yellow Woodpecker Site, by Monteiro Lobato.
Thus, on the National Children's Book Day, a whole universe of creative and imaginative possibilities that introduce themselves to young readers in formation, who venture into the fictional pages of a book that, often, will instigate your imagination and, consequently, will expand your perception of the world.
Monteiro Lobato
Monteiro Lobato was born in April 18, 1882, in São Paulo, in the city of Taubate. He graduated in Law and served as a public prosecutor until he becameif farmer, after receiving a rural property as an inheritance from his grandfather. Interested in the countryside that surrounded him, wrote Tales in newspapers and magazines portraying the country man, their habits and customs, and mainly the misery à which was submitted. Gathered many of these narrative texts in the book Urupese, published in 1918, bringing to the public, in one of the tales of this work, the famous character Jeca Tatu.
However, it was in the production of works aimed at children that Monteiro Lobato stood out, entering the history of Brazilian literature as the father of literature infantjuvenile. In a historical context, early 20th century, in which Brazilian books were published in Europe, in cities like Paris or Lisbon, Lobato also became editor, that is, responsible for editing and publishing, on Brazilian soil, several books.
In the exercise of this function, he acquired, in 1918, the Magazine of Brazil, which he later turned into a publisher. In 1924, he founded the Companhia Graphic-Editora Monteiro Lobato, responsible for publishing a series of textbooks and children's books. Thus, his activity as an editor made it possible toyou The publication of a significant set of works aimed at a neglected public in the country, the of the children, which only consumedm literary works produced in Europe, such as the fairy tale.
Your first work destined to them went to The girl with the upturned little nose, published in 1920. The protagonist of this narrative, the girl Narizinho, granddaughter of Dona Benta, participates in the entire set of later works that, together, constitute the universe of The Yellow Woodpecker Site. These are the other 23 works that make up this classic of children's literature:
Reigns of Little Nose (1921);
Pedrinho's Hunts (1922);
Youhere (1927);
Emilia's Memories (1930);
Emilia in the Country of Grammar (1931);
Emilia's arithmetic (1932);
fables (1933);
Stories ofseveral (1933);
Aunt Nastasya's Stories (1934);
Peter Pan (1935);
trip to cme (1935);
the pViscount's steel (1935);
The Pis-Pwow THEyellow (1936);
Hans Staden's Adventures (1936);
Don Quixote from cchildren (1937);
Dona Benta Geography (1937);
To chave do ttomorrow (1937);
The rshape of nonature (1939);
the Minotaur (1939);
The Deleven tworks of Hercules (1941);
Stories of theundo Pplow çchildren (1942);
Dona Benta's evenings (1944);
- history of iinventions (1947).
Monteiro Lobato, after an agitated intellectual, business, political and literary life, died in 1948, leaving a vast work, not only aimed at children, but immortalized in the Brazilian imagination, mainly due to the stories he made for this audience, before marginalized, which opened the doors for other writers to also venture along the paths of this type of literature, as is the case of authors who we will present below.
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Five unmissable works of Brazilian children's literature
The literary works that make up the collection of Brazilian children's literature are numerous, varying in style, language, genre and theme. So, selecting the best of them is quite difficult, but let's highlight five that we think are not to be missed!
My Pit's from thereorange theremagnet
Written by José Mauro de Vasconcelos, a writer born in Rio de Janeiro, in 1920, and who died in 1984, in São Paulo, this work, published in 1968, is one of the most important in children's literature.uvenile.
Translated into over 52 languages and published in 19 countries, My Pit's from thereorange theremagnet was adaptedThe to the cinema, for the first time, in 1970 by the director Aurélio Teixeira. Later, in 2012, a new film production was made, directed by Marcos Bernstein. In addition to the movie screens, the José Mauro de Vasconcelos classic was transposed to TV, in the form of a soap opera, in 1970, on the extinct TV Tupi, and in 1980 and 1998, on TV Bandeirantes.
The book's plot revolves around the narration of the story of Zeze, a boy from a very rotten and large family. Very creative and mischievous, he finds a lime orange tree in a tree in the backyard of his house, a chance to escape from everyday suffering. Above or below this tree, Zezé rests to write her stories. Even with the sufferings of his routine, the protagonist does not stop dreaming and diving into the fantasy world.
Great Bia, Great Bel
Written by Ana Maria Machado, member writer of the Brazilian Academy of Letters (ABL), born in Rio de Janeiro, in 1941, this work, published in 1981, won several literary awards since its publication. In 1982, he received the award for best youth book from the National Foundation for Children's Books and Youth (FNLIJ) and, in 1983, the Jabuti Award, among other awards.
Bisa Bia, bIsabel tells the story of a girl, Bel, who finds a photo of his great-grandmother and starts to imagine that he is talking to her, The which describes, for example, what daily life was like in the past. Bel, however, doesn't just interact with her great-grandmother in the world of imagination. She also starts to imagine her future great-granddaughter, with whom she starts talking, so the title of the book is Bisa Bia, BIsabel.
There is, therefore, in this narrative, the imaginary dialogue between three times: the narrator's great-grandmother's time (past), the narrator's own time (present) and her great-granddaughter's time (future). The fact is that readers who venture into this story will meet three strong women, eachThe representative of a generation: Bisa Bia (the narrator's great-grandmother), Bel (the narrator) and her imaginary granddaughter (Beta).
the bossy little king
Ruth Rocha, winner of eight Jabuti awards for her children's workjuvenile, was born in São Paulo, in 1931. published the bossy little king in 1973, in the midst of the Brazilian Military Dictatorship.
In this fictional work, a bossy kinghad the bad habit of telling everyone in the kingdom to shut up your mouths. Afraid of such arrogance, people obeyed and shut up.if. Ironically, these subjects were silent.if so much that if forgot in how to speak.
The impolite little king felt guilty and sad, after all, as no one said anything, boredom set in in the kingdom. Dissatisfied with this situation, he went to a sage who lived in the neighboring kingdom to see if he had any advice on what to do to get people talking again. The sage told him what he would have to do.
This work, despite the playful tone, can be read as a veiled criticism of the authoritarianism that prevailed in the country in the 1970s, when the book was published. After the Military Dictatorship, however, today we canIs it over there like a big criticism of any form of authoritarianism.
the boy in the mirror
Written by Fernando Sabino, born in Belo Horizonte, in 1923, and died in 2004, in Rio de Janeiro, the novel the boy in the mirror, published in 1982, is an unmissable work of literature childrenuvenile. In 2014 it was adapted for the cinema by director Guilherme Fiúza Zenha.
In this narrative, in the first person, the Fernando character tells-noOs the mischief he lived in his childhood. The truth is that author Fernando Sabino, through this narrator-character, narrates his memories interspersing events real and imaginary, which results in a work full of fun.they are, emotion and fantasyThe. In addition, the reader encountersif with a typical context of the 1920s, period in which the plot is set. It is certainly a book that deserves to be read by everyone!
the yellow bag
LygiaBojunga, a writer born in Rio Grande do Sul, in 1932, has published numerous books aimed at childrenjuvenile, thes which won him many awards, such as the Hans Christian Andersen Award in 1982. The romance the yellow bag, published in 1976, during the Military Dictatorship, is current due to the problems it addresses.
Repressed by the family, repression that can symbolize thethe time of the Military Dictatorship, Rachel hides her desires— the desire to grow up, to be a boy and to becomeif writer — in a yellow bag, and, with her, discovers secret friends, like a rooster, who helps herm to find a new way of being and being in the world around her. In a society in which, even today, there are struggles for female emancipation, this book is extremely relevant.
poetic classifieds
the poet Roseana Murray, winner, among others, of three Best Poetry Book Awards for Çchildren and Jyoung people, from the National Foundation for Children's and Youth Books (FNLIJ), was born in 1950, in Rio de Janeiro.
poetic classifieds, published in 1984, as its title suggests, brings together a series of constituted poems based onthe structure of newspaper classifieds. The genius of this work is precisely in this appropriation of a journalistic genre, extremely objective, to cover it with subjective tones, that is, poetic. So, we poetic classifieds for example, "the smell of cement is replaced by the smell of dew, the smell of gasoline by the smell of rain."
Image credit
[1] Leonidas Santana / Shutterstock
