OU ISTO OU AQUILO

First published in 1964, the book is a classic of Brazilian children's literature. And since its launch, it has been winning over generations of readers.
 
The author invites children to get closer to poetry, plays with words, explores sound, rhythm, rhymes and musicality.
 
Cecília Meireles rescues the children's universe permeated by unpredictable questions, monologues, unusual comparisons, fantasy and imagination. She creates an enchanting universe, based on the resources that gender and language provide her.
 
Or if there is rain and there is no sun,
or if there is sun and there is no rain!
Or you put on the glove and don't put on the ring,
or you put on the ring and don't put on the glove!
Whoever goes up in the air doesn't stay on the ground,
whoever stays on the ground doesn't go up in the air.
It's a great shame that you can't
be in both places at the same time!
[…]
(excerpt from the poem Either this or that)
 
Author: Cecília Meireles
Illustrations: Odilon Moraes