Brazil

I can't hear the name without hearing the music from the movie Brazil in my head.  (Note: the movie is totally not for kids.)  Turns out lots of people in Brazil love the song too.  It's included in my exhaustive playlist, which is here.  The playlist includes geography, animals, the rainforest biome, deforestation, Portuguese, Brazilian fruit and veggies and food, samba, Carnival, the artist Tarsila, soccer, capoeira, swimming, skateboarding, a kid-appropriate introduction to child labor, Brazilian education, the rich and poor divide, and the indigenous people of Brazil.  There is a Reading Rainbow episode, Magic School Bus, and several Wild Kratts episodes that are relevant, and I have included YouTube videos for all of them at the end of the playlist.  If you have Netflix or Amazon, most of them are available in higher quality there. The Torchlight curriculum blends the studying of Brazil with Argentina and Columbia, but we found our Brazil studies to have more than enough info to keep us occupied, so we will have to study Argentina another time.

We went to the Sweet Spot Cafe for some authentic food.  It was amazing.  I had no idea cashew fruit could yield a juice, and not just a delicious nut.  I ordered some of almost everything - farofa (yucca flour), picanha (steak), rice, beans, sausages, coxinha (fried dumplings full of something tasty - shredded chicken, cream cheese, or shrimp), empadas, pao de queijo (cheese bread), pastels, passionfruit and cashew juices, and brigadeiros for dessert.  They serve the traditional feijoda spread on the weekend (I think on Saturdays).  We had a delicious meal and a ton of leftovers, and there are still a lot of things we'd like to go back and try.  That pan de mel sounds pretty amazing...

Books we used include:

• Amazon Diary: the Jungle Adventures of Alex Winters by Hudson Talbott - This was my oldest's favorite, hands down.  The illustrations take up the entire page and are exciting on their own.  Once Alex's adventures with the Yamomoto tribe are added, it's captivating.
• Brazil ABCs by David Seidman - My 5th grader and 2nd grader both loved this book.  Interesting information, great illustrations, not too wordy for the younger guy and not too simple for the oldest.  It had a nice overview of things in the country in general.
• The Greak Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry - We all enjoyed this exploration of the rainforest, including a visit from a child of the Yanomamo tribe, and why it shouldn't all be chopped down.  It goes with the "when you know better, do better" thought, which I try to share with my kids. 
• The Great Snake: Stories from the Amazon by Sean Taylor - My oldest says this was one of his favorites.  Some of the stories were a little much for my six-year-old in that they handled some more adult themes, but they were completely fine for my ten-year-old.
• If You Were Me and Lived in...Brazil by Carole P. Roman - Similar to Journey Through Brazil, but aimed at a younger crowd.  We liked this one quite a bit.  It's easy to compare and contrast with your child's everyday life.
• Frankie's World Cup Carnival by Frank Lampard - My second grader really liked this one.  He has a quirk (which I completely understand) that he won't read books in a series out of order, and this is book five, so his free reading was pretty set for awhile.  Frankie and his friends travel through space and time to play soccer in various places.  In this one, they play in Brazil.  It's lighthearted but not offensive.  I'd recommend it for your kiddo who is getting tired of sensitive, thoughtful books that introduce him to a new world and who is hoping for something fun.
• Jaguar by Roland Smith - Definitely for older kids.  My 5th grader says, "his dad takes off on a plane going to Brazil.  The kid has to go find him.  They find three jaguars and then go home again.  That's about it."  He says he liked it and would recommend it.  The Amazon page has a lot of more exciting things to say about this novel, so I would suggest giving it a try.  It is a sequel, if that matters to your kid.  (My middle guy absolutely will not read books in a series out of order.)  I should note that my older kid was reading an "I survived" book while I was quizzing him, which might have to do with the lackluster review.  While he was reading it, he liked it quite a bit.
• Journey to the River Sea by Eva Ibbotson - My older kid read the first four chapters and abandoned this book.  The description sounds awesome, so I'm not sure what the issue was.  He says he didn't like the author's style.  He doesn't tend to love lush language, so perhaps that was the problem.  
• Journey Through: Brazil by Liz Gogerly - This one is aimed at an older kid audience, but it was one of my favorites.  The reader takes a trip around Brazil, using roads, trains, cars, boats, and more as they explore many different cities.  It gives a nice scope of how big and diverse the Brazilian landscape is - it isn't all jungle!
• Living in Brazil by Chloe Perkins - This sweet story talks about the life of a little boy named Marco who lives in an apartment with his older sister and his mom.  There's a nice overview of school, geography, soccer, and social life.  The cartoons definitely make it seem like it's for the younger set, but it's too wordy for a first grader to manage on their own (IMO).  
• The Rainforest Grew All Around by Susan K. Mitchell - This one was a hit with my younger kids.  The information is interesting for older ages too, but the book uses the "green grass grew all around, all around" song as a template, and the little guys loved that.
• Throw Your Tooth on the Roof by Selby Beeler - The stories of how kids around the world handle losing their baby teeth are fascinating, and include two different stories for Brazil.
• Victoria Goes to Brazil by Maria de Fatima Campos - I liked this one, but the boys got a little bored with it.  Victoria is excited to go meet her mom's family in Brazil.  The pictures are great, and Victoria (who has Down syndrome) is adorable, but it does eventually feel like "my family's vacation."  Seeing pictures of your friend's vacation is usually interesting because you care for your friend, but watching someone else's trip to see a stream of relatives can get a little old.  We still liked it and I would still recommend it.
• Welcome to the Green House by Jane Yolan - I don't know that Jane Yolan has written a book that I haven't loved, and this one is no exception.  Her view of the rainforest is beautiful and nuanced.  This one transcends grade level, and all of us enjoyed it.

For more details about the many indigenous tribes in Brazil, I found this website to be incredibly fascinating.  It's written for adults, so preread (different rites of adulthood, etc. are detailed), but it is an amazing resource to explore.

The artist we studied was Tarsila do Amaral.  The kids were enraptured.  Their art, inspired by hers:

Extensions:

• Family movie night: We watched the movie Rio several times.  I can't speak to its authenticity, but the kids loved it.  We tried to watch the American Girl movie Lea to the Rescue, but I wouldn't recommend it.  We liked Boy and the World.  The artwork is very different, and there are very few words.  It's a bit bleak, and the boys' interest came and went, but it was definitely worth watching.  There isn't a classically American happy ending - the dad does not come home, but also doesn't suffer some awful end, and the boy does make peace with everything.  I ended up using the Wikipedia page linked above during the movie to help the kids understand what was going on, and that helped a lot.  Pele: Birth of a Legend was the hands-down favorite and didn't find it too formulaic at all.  My kids aren't used to sports triumph movies, and watching Pele grow up and become triumphant was edge of their seat exciting.  However, VERY IMPORTANT, there is an on-screen death of one of Pele's playmates.  He is suffocated in a mudslide while the boys are hiding.  One moment, he is telling Pele how much he likes him, and the next, men are hauling Pele and his lifeless friend out of the mud.  I didn't realize how on-screen the death is, and my 6yo was (understandably) very upset.  He talked about it for days.  Perhaps have your younger kids go fetch more popcorn or something during the chase scene.  Other than that, the movie was very exciting (in a good way).  There is also a Fishtronaut movie on Netflix.  We haven't watched it, honestly, but I can't imagine it being inappropriate.  My kids love the Fishtronaut series.
• Tea: yerba mate
• Bread: cheese bread
• Cookie: brigadeiros 
• Sandwich: churrasco from the Sweet Spot
• Fruit: anything from the rainforest.  Bananas, papaya, pineapple, cashew, passionfruit, acai, mango, oranges
• Veggies: pumpkin, potato, eggplant, beets, onions, corn, okra, cucumber, tomato, cabbage, mushrooms, chayote
• Kid TV show: Fishtronaut and Earth to Luna, both of which are on Netflix
• Minecraft: the boys worked together to create a rainforest
• Constellations: I find it fascinating to learn about the constellations and related stories from the point of view of the people indigenous to the region we are studying.  Brazil has many different tribes, and they will all likely have their own take on the heavens, but I found this article to be mesmerizing.  I particularly love the armadillo constellation.
• Lullabies/songs/games: As always, Mama Lisa's site is outstanding.