Along the Tapajós by Fernando Vilela: book review

Along the Tapajós (2015, English version 2019) is a children’s book set along the Tapajós River in the Amazon rainforest of Brazil.

Brother and sister Cauã and Inaê live in a house on stilts in a village where they go to school by boat. During the annual rains, the riverside population relocates to higher ground.

But this year, when Cauã and Inaê leave the village, they forget to take their pet giant tortoise Titi. Their parents tell them to wait until summer to see Titi again.

They are so worried about their tortoise that they sneak out at night to take the treacherous river journey to rescue Titi.

This is a short, delightful, beautifully-illustrated book with many of the Amazon river basin’s wonderful creatures: dolphins, alligators, hawks, anacondas, and all sorts of birds.

MARTINA NICOLLS

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MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of: The Paris Residences of James Joyce (2020), Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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