CLEO E O MAPINGUARI – INGLÊS MOSTRUÁRIO

SAULO RIBAS (text & illustrations)

SAULO RIBAS (text & illustrations)

www.bamboozinho.com.br

Copyright © 2020 Saulo Ribas (texto e ilustração) Direção editorial Aloma Carvalho Assistente editorial Jessica Spilla Argumentação e criação Saulo Ribas Redação Xavier Bartaburu Designer Fernanda Ribeiro Diagramação Daniela Fujiwara Dados Internacionais de Catalogação na Publicação (CIP) Ribas, Saulo Cléo and the Mapinguari / Saulo Ribas (texto e ilustração).

- 1ª ed. São Paulo: Bamboozinho, 2020.

48 p.: il., 21 x 28 cm ISBN 978-65-50320-00-3

CDD 028.5

1. Ficção infantojuvenil brasileira. 2. Literatura infantojuvenil brasileira. I. Título. Índices para catálogo sistemático: 1. Folclore: literatura infantojuvenil - 028.5 2. Ficção: literatura infantojuvenil - 028.5

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For all the boys and girls who respect the differences.

Cleo had a secret.

A secret that nobody knows about. Neither her parents nor her friends at school. A secret that belongs only to her. Cleo had an alligator tail.

It appeared from nowhere. On a certain day, she woke up and saw that a very rough tail had grown on her back.

Without knowing what to do with it, Cleo decided to hide it. Everyday before going to school she would tie it down with a thread and would wear a long skirt, so nobody could see it.

Cleo was very ashamed of her alligator’s tail.

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Cleo became a lonely girl.

Her favorite spot now was a park not far from her home. She felt at ease in that place. She used to spend the afternoons there, studying and resting under a tree, far from peoples’ eyes.

But one day, however, Cleo found out that she wasn’t so lonely as she was supposed to.

It happened in one of these summer afternoons. Cleo was reading a book while eating a snack when she felt the tree shaking. Bread crumbs fell on the ground and she saw that someone had stolen her sandwich. Looking up at the treetop, she protested: — Hey, you grabbed my snack!

A thin voice answered from up there, whining as if it came from a little boy: — Will you forgive me? I was hungry…

Cleo approached slowly, trying to see better. And what she saw was a huge, hairy creature among the leaves. It reminded a giant sloth. And its appearance was frightening.

— My name is Pingo, he said. Are you a ‘cuca’?

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Cleo didn’t answer. She ran away, horrified, but that question didn’t get out of her mind: “Am I a ‘cuca’?”, she wondered. “But what is a ‘cuca’, anyway?!”

Arriving home, she tried to discover: — Mamy, what’s a ‘cuca’?

— Oh, it’s a witch who steals toddlers – the mother replied.

Cleo couldn’t sleep that night.

The next day, Cleo decided to go back to the park. She was afraid but also very curious. She wanted to know more about ‘cucas’ and witches, and only that strange creature could tell her.

She came over with a sandwich for Pingo. She offered him the snack, and a long hairy arm came out of the leaves, grasped her and pulled her up to a branch. There Cleo could see Pingo closely, just in front of her for the first time. He was huge, but not scary. Quite the opposite, he seemed so sad that she felt sorry for him.

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They start to talk. Cleo asked him many questions, but Pingo didn’t know much about ‘cucas’. He told her that he had met some of them, but none seemed so mean to be able to steal little kids. After some talking, the girl took courage and asked: — What about you? What are you?

— I’m a ‘mapinguari’, Pingo replied. I live in the forest with my family. Our task is to protect the forest against the hunters.

— That’s cool! – said Cleo. But if you belong to the forest, what are you doing here in the city?

— I went fishing in the river and got lost. Then I ended up in this park and I hid myself. Now I want to go back to my place, but I don’t know how…

— You just have to go back in the same way you came, you fool!

— I’m afraid of the monsters…

— What monsters?

— Those made of tin that run on the streets and burst out that black smoke.

Cleo thought that was funny and wanted to laugh, but realized he was really scared of cars. And then she said: — Then I’ll help you go back to the forest!

And for the first time, she saw Pingo smiling.

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Cleo and the ‘mapinguari’ became friends.

Every afternoon, she would see Pingo and they planned together a way to take Pingo back to the forest.

On a certain day, on the way to the park, Cleo saw a boy that she knew from school. His name was Tom, and he wore a wool cap, despite the heat. He also walked in a strange way. And he looked worried.

Cleo approached him to talk, but the boy ran away clumsily. While running, his feet would turn back and forth. The girl also saw Tom’s cap drop during his escape, showing such red hair that he didn’t seem human.

When she told Pingo what she saw, he said: — It’s a ‘curupira’! Funny, your city has creatures just like the ones in the place I come from!

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The next day, Cleo saw Tom again, but this time she didn’t let him run away. She fastened his legs with her alligator tail and took him to Pingo.

The boy, looking at her tail, realized that they had something in common.

Strange things were happening to them. Tom also wanted to know the reason for all that.

— I’ll introduce you to a friend – said Cleo.

As they reached the park, Pingo appeared all of a sudden, hanging on a branch.

— Is he your ‘curupira’ friend, Cleo? – asked the ‘mapinguari’.

Tom jumped and hid behind Cleo, trembling with fear. Pingo laughed.

— This is the most frightened ‘curupira’ I have ever seen!

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Tom didn’t like the idea of turning into a ‘curupira’ but realized that his two new friends didn’t care. Quite the opposite: the three of them felt strangely connected. They were different from the rest of the world but equal amongst themselves.

Pingo told Tom and Cleo that creatures like the ‘curupira’ and the ‘cuca’ are very common in the woods where he lives. There are other creatures too, like the ‘caipora’, the ‘saci’ and the ‘boitatá’. These creatures are called enchanted. They all have the same obligation: to protect the forest from humans who cause harm, such as cutting down the trees or killing the animals.

— People tell horrible stories about these enchanted creatures! — said Tom. — Our duty is to frighten — answered the ‘mapinguari’. — Then the humans go back to the city, scared to death, making up stories about us! The truth is that nobody has ever seen us, because we hide into the woods.

Suddenly Cleo and Tom felt important. And spent the whole afternoon playing with their new friend. They haven’t felt so happy for a long time.

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Those kids just couldn’t understand why

they

became enchanted creatures. Pingo couldn’t explain it either, but he said that they could find the answer in the woods.

The three of them looked at themselves as if they have thought the same thing. And they did: it was time to go to the forest.

Pingo smiled. He was going back home.

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— But how are we going to cross the city with a monster like that? — asked Tom. Pingo got hurt. He didn’t like to be called monster. Tom apologized and hugged him.

Cleo had an idea then: — I think my grandpa’s clothes will fit him!

Pingo felt uneasy with the idea of wearing silly human clothes, but he would do anything to go back to the forest.

The next day, Cleo brought the clothes. Pingo really looked funny, but he could disguise himself pretty well. He looked like a big man, only hairier than normal…

The kids put in the backpack a canteen, a map, a compass, a flashlight and everything else that they would need for the journey to the forest. It was the first big adventure of their lives.

On a Saturday morning, they left.

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The forest was close to the city, but not so easy to reach. First, they had to take a bus, and then they had to board on an old train, and after that, they had to walk quite a distance on a narrow land road.

Pingo hated the idea of climbing up on a bus. He was afraid of that tin creature, so big and noisy. Cleo ended up convincing him to do it, arguing that it was the only way to go back home.

In the end, he actually enjoyed it! He put his head out of the hatchway and stayed there during the whole trip, feeling the wind on his face and admiring the wonders of the city, so different from the things he knew from the woods.

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They arrived after a couple of hours. The forest was very green and beautiful, with such huge trees, even bigger than those in the park.

Pingo was happy, but he looked concerned.

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— Where are they?

— said Pingo, searching with

his eyes.

In the meanwhile, from the top of a tree, a creature jumped from a branch.

It was a ‘saci’ who had just awakened with the rumor of the visitors.

They haven’t seen him. And the ‘saci’ didn’t say anything either. He left jumping quickly through the woods as if he was in a hurry.

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Not very far from where the three adventurers were, the ‘saci’ saw another ‘mapinguari’. He was also very big and hairy but was twice the size of Pingo.

So the ‘saci’ told the big ‘mapinguari’ what he had just seen, and the creature said: — Take me there!

— Here we go! — answered the ‘saci’.

So they went. The whole forest would trembling while the ‘mapinguari’ passed through.

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After a while, the giant

came in front of the three kids.

Pingo’s eyes shined and he shouted: — Daaaaaddy!

The big ‘mapinguari’ looked even more frightening than Pingo, but he hugged his son so affectionately that one couldn’t feel afraid of him.

— I looked for you everywhere, my son.

Cleo and Tom then realized that Pingo was also a child. A ‘mapinguari’ child.

Then the creature turned to Pingo’s new friends and said with his thundery voice: — Thank you for bringing my son back. Is there anything I can do for you?

— Well… do you know what, Mr. ‘Mapinguari’? We would like to know why we became enchanted… — said Cleo, kind of ashamed.

‘Saci’ burst into laughter and didn’t even wait for the giant to speak: — It’s because you are a lucky girl, you fool!

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The big ‘mapinguari’ then explained that in the old days, some creatures used to abandon the forest and move to the city. There, they would marry humans and became humans.

— But the forest blood still runs in their descendants – added the ‘saci’ — and sometimes it happens that someone is born half-human and half-enchanted.

Cleo and Tom felt special. And from that day on, they assumed a mission: to spread among the humans the importance of protecting the forest and everything that’s in there.

Finally, the big ‘mapinguari’ said:

— Now it’s time to go back home.

It will be dark

soon and your parents will be worried.

The giant offered to take them. He put the kids on his shoulders and left, escorted by Pingo and ‘saci’, heading to the city and protected by dusk.

On the way, ‘saci’ gave Cleo a book of witchcrafts. He said that she would learn to do many cool things with it, and one of them was to hide her alligator tail anytime she wanted to. To Tom, he recommended that he should practice a lot, because a real ‘curupira’ can do anything he wants with his feet.

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It was already evening

when they reached Tom’s

place. Pingo held the boy with his arms and took him to his bedroom through the window. He said goodbye to him and said: — ‘Curupiras’ are very funny creatures. I’m sure you will enjoy being a ‘curupira’!

All of them were moved with the farewell.

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Then they took Cleo home.

— I want to be your friend forever! — said the ‘mapinguari’.

— And you will! — answered Cleo. One of these days I will visit you in the forest, ok?

Pingo smiled, rather sad. He would miss his new friend, but he knew her place was in the city, and his place was in the forest.

Cleo tried to cheer him up: — I’ll be a good and special ‘cuca’, you’ll see!

Pingo was proud of his new friend. He hugged her one last time and said: — Do you know something? For me, you are even cutter with your alligator tail!

The next day, Cleo wasn’t ashamed of her tail anymore, neither Tom was ashamed of his red hair and his clumsy feet.

Waking up, the two kids felt courageous enough to tell their parents what had happened. The parents were a little angry about the escape to the forest, but then got very proud of their children. For them, this subject of enchanted creatures wasn’t any breaking news. Tom’s mother even remembered of a great grandfather of hers, half-human ‘half-curupira’, who was famous in town about a hundred years ago.

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Cleo and Tom got the message:

some

people are born different, and there’s nothing wrong about it. Quite the opposite.

On Monday, they went to school without any disguise for the first time.

And you know what? The school kids got euphoric!

— Cool! I always wanted to have a ‘cuca’ as a friend! — said one girl.

— Hey, Tom, show us what you can do with your feet! — asked a boy.

Then, when the music invaded the speakers in the yard, Tom began to dance in a strange and funny way, twisting his body and turning around his feet.

The children soon joined around him. They laughed, clapped their hands and danced too. Some even tried to imitate the steps of the ‘curupira’ boy.

Hidden behind a tree, the ‘saci’ was watching everything and was happy.

— These ‘curupiras’ are indeed very funny… — he thought.

And jumping he left on the way to the forest.

The end CLEO AND THE MAPINGUARI

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W H O A R E T H E E N C H A N T E D C R E AT U R E S ? creature, or has proven that had seen it, many people say that they don’t exist.

In Brazil, however, many people believe in enchanted creatures. If someone gets lost in the forest or gets hurt, they say it’s their fault. But stay calm: the legend says that the enchanted creatures only harm to those who disrespect nature.

For many people, they protect the woods against the hunters and those who cut down our trees. That’s why the enchanted creatures are so frightening: it’s to scare those who don’t respect nature!

The ‘mapinguari’, the ‘cuca’, the ‘curupira’ and the ‘saci’ are mythological creatures from Brazilian folklore, as well as ‘boitatá’, the ‘headless-mule’, the ‘werewolf’ and many others. In the countryside of Brazil they are “enchanted”: neither human, nor animal, but creatures that exist through an enchanting art or magic. They are the result of our people’s imagination. It was a way that the Brazilians found in the past to explain the mysterious noises that sometimes we hear in the woods and we don’t know what it is.

As nobody has ever seen an enchanted

AND NOW, WHAT ABOUT GETTING TO KNOW THE ENCHANTED CREATURES THAT INSPIRED THE CHARACTERS OF THIS BOOK?

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THE MAP I NGU ARI This is the most famous monster of the Amazon. The rainforest natives who live in the north of the country describe the ‘mapinguari’ as a very hairy giant, with a bulletproof body.

As some versions of the tale say, its mouth is in its belly, and that’s how it eats the hunters.

THE CU CA There are many kinds of ‘cucas’ in Brazil: it can be an alligator, an old woman or a bogey man.

The shape changes, but they are all the same thing: a spirit that comes to fetch children who disobey their parents. If a baby doesn’t want to sleep, the ‘cuca’ comes to fetch it and put it in a bag and takes it to the forest.

THE CURUPIRA The legend tells us that the ‘curupira’ is a red hair dwarf who walks with its feet backwards. It does that to mislead the hunters who try to follow in its footsteps. On the other hand, hunters don’t have a chance with the ‘curupira’: expert in many tricks, this enchanted character loves to make men feel lost in the woods.

THE SACI This mischievous character loves to make tricks.

If the food burns, the fire goes off or things disappear, they say it’s saci’s fault. In mythology, he is a boy with one leg who wears a red cap and smokes a pipe. He is also the guardian of the healing herbs of the forest.

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ABOUT THIS WORK The ‘cuca’, the ‘mapinguari’ and the ‘curupira’ are now nearer to the children. Cleo’s adventures bring themes that have everything to do with today’s boys and girls. School, friendship, loneliness, prejudice and body changing are some of the subjects in this book.

All these subjects are interposed by the fantastic beings of Brazilian folklore. More than simple monsters or haunted spirits, they are now part of our everyday life and face challenges similar to ours. This way, culture and environment are now nearer to the young people.

For more than fifty years our fantastic creatures have been explored in literary and informative works addressed to children and youth. The adventures of Cleo and her friends represent a small but important contribution to disseminate the Brazilian culture.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR SAULO RIBAS likes to make up stories since he was a boy. Nowadays, he tells his stories to his beloved daughter, Maria Luiza. He has already worked as a designer, but discovered his true passion producing games, stories and illustrations for children. He managed the site “Mundo do Sítio” for two years, a children’s virtual world with games and activities. Recently, he created with his friend Marco Rossi the Farofa Studios – where they gathered a very special team to create cartoons, games and even books like this! Saulo is looking forward to telling more Cleo’s adventures, this girl with a cuca’s tail and a giant heart.

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A B O U T T H E I L L U S T R AT I O N S Colorful but soft, strong but delicate. So are the illustrations of this book, showing the young reader that there are many possibilities to represent the enchanted creatures of the Brazilian folklore.

Three colors predominate in the illustrations: green, orange and brown. This composition helps to emphasize details at the same time subtle and important to characterize the environment and the characters of the story. In Cleo’s clothes, in the vegetation and even in the sky there is a green hue, as delicate as the girl. In Tom’s fire hair and the dusk, a strong orange, almost red tone. Pingo, the big and affectionate ‘mapinguari’ child, has brown hair like the trees which he loves so much.

Besides that, the illustrations were made to express the characters’ emotions and the story’s tension. The forest is dark and dense when the kids go in there for the first time.

Further, when Pingo sees his father, it shines in orange and yellow hues…

The illustrations of Cleo’s adventures were made to move, to touch and to broaden our references and our imagination, for they create a universe where the fantastic element of the narrative is made possible.

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HINTS FOR READING AND TO EXPLORE THIS WORK iscuss with readers what they already know about the ‘cuca’, the ‘mapinguari’ and D the ‘curupira’.

Comment about other creatures of Brazilian folklore that they also know. ompare the characteristics of the creatures explored in this book with the C characteristics shown in other works and even on TV programs and movies. ake a research in books and on the internet about these creatures and their M importance in the national folklore. rganize at home or in school, a gallery of mythological creatures, similar to that O presented at the end of this book.

Put on a drama about the story with your classmates in school.

M ost important: reflect about differences and the importance of friendship.

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A secret that no one knew. Not her parents,

not even her friends from school. A secret that was all hers.

Cleo had an alligator tail.

It appeared out of nowhere. One day, she woke up and noticed that a rough tail had somehow grown on her backside.

Not knowing what to do, Cleo decided to hide her tail.

Everyday, before she left for school, she would tie it with a string and wear a long skirt, so that no one could see it.

Cleo felt very ashamed of her alligator tail.

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