Southern America

Turtle loves to dance and play the flute. But her exuberance puts her at risk when her music attracts the attention of a hunter who brings her home for turtle stew. After she is caught, her only hope for escape is the hunter's children ... and her own wit. This folktale, first told by the indigenous people of Brazil, is now told throughout Latin America. The versions are as different as the cultures that contain them, but all of them celebrate Turtle, who carries the world and its wisdom on her back. Like the people of Latin America, Turtle always seems to survive through courage and wit. In watercolors radiant with foliage and wildlife, David Boston guides the reader through the dense and fertile Amazon rain forest.

Brazilian boy Felipe wants to play soccer, but he doesn't have a soccer ball. So, when it’s his turn to take one to school, he uses a little bit of creativity… and a few socks. Felipe is the sock thief, but finding socks is not that easy and the neighborhood pets make it even harder. "Au, au, au!" a dog barks in Portuguese. Felipe wonders if he’ll play soccer with his friends today or if he will be caught by a tattle-tale parrot? Along the way, Felipe leaves delicious mangoes in exchange for the socks he steals. After he swipes each pair, he twists and turns them into an ever-growing soccer ball. At the end of the day, he returns each pair of socks with a note to say thank you.

A man starts to chop down a great kapok tree in the rainforest. Exhausted from his labours, he puts down his axe and rests, but as he sleeps the animals who live in the tree come and plead with him not to destroy their world. Illustrated in full colour.