LETRAS DE CARVÃO

Author: Irene Vasco
Illustrator: Juan Palomino
Translation: Márcia Leite
ISBN: 978-85-64974-90-6
Pages: 36
Format: 26 x 26 cm
Colors: 4 x 4
what the book is about: coexistence, Afro-descendant culture, quilombola community, reading and writing, family, human rights. 
genre: illustrated narrative.
Recommendation: read with me; I already read almost everything.
In the small town of Palenque, almost no one knew how to read. In order to help her sister decipher the letters she received, and with the help of the grocer, the girl begins to discover what the letters and words mean, and it doesn't take long for a new world of possibilities to open up for her and for all the inhabitants of her village. This is the story that the mother tells her son when remembering her own childhood and how she learned to read and write.
By telling a story within another story, this narrative also tells how the inhabitants of small villages and quilombola communities were able to have access to the written language without having to lose the link with their most genuine traditions. Juan Palomino's drawings reinforce the importance of valuing local culture, where children and adults play, work and have fun amid exuberant nature, celebrating and sharing life and knowledge. The book was based on reports from community mothers during reading workshops taught by the author.