Monteiro Lobato,
modern discoverer
Monteiro Lobato, modern discoverer
Monteiro Lobato is the inventive creator of O Sítio do Pica-Pau Amarelo, which captured the imaginations of generations of Brazilian children. He is the enterprising editor, the author who transposed into text the Idéias de Jeca Tatu and who attributed the same pedagogic value to knowing the popular, one-legged, Brazilian hero O Saci as to knowing the Greek O Minotauro. He is the enthusiastic militant of the future, always with a critical eye on A América and O Presidente Negro. Himself a modern discoverer of Brazil, Lobato sought to form a generation of readers themselves capable of becoming discoverers, guided by the hands of the mischievous Emília, the speaking doll he created, by the erudite Visconde de Sabugosa, and by the wisdom of D. Benta and of Tia Anastácia. Because for millions of Brazilian children, to discover the Sítio do Pica-Pau Amarelo is to discover Brazil and the whole world.
