A cama

by Lygia Bojunga Nunes

Portugese

170 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Lygia Bojunga (often known with the addition of Nunes, her pen name) (born August 26, 1932 in Pelotas) is a Brazilian author of children's books. She worked of TV and radio until her first book was published in 1972. A major element of her books is the usage of the child's point of view.

Lygia Bojunga is part of the tradition of magical realism and fantasy-filled storytelling of South America, a tradition she has developed and perfected. In her word of mouth-style narratives, characterised by a strongly dramatic presence, anything can happen. In a deeply original way she fuses playfulness, poetic beauty and absurd humour with social critique, a love of freedom and a strong empathy with the vulnerable child. Fantasy often functions as a way of dealing with distressing personal experiences, or as an escape from harsh reality. Bojunga enables the reader to enter directly into the dreams of her principal characters and to share in their experiences.

Having begun her career as an actress (she has also written a number of plays), she published her first children's book, Os Colegas, in 1972 (The Companions, 1989). Here, as in Angélica (1975), the main characters are animals endowed with human characteristics, a device that highlights the comic elements in the narrative. These early works already reveal a psychological focus: Angélica is about a pig that wants to be a swallow, but gradually learns to accept its own identity. A Bolsa Amarela (1976), highlights a similar theme, this time with a young girl in the leading role, whereas A Casa da Madrinha (1978) presents the utopian dreams and fantasies of an abandoned street child. Two of her books deal with mourning and grief: her masterpiece, Corda Bamba (1979), is about a young girl who manages to come to terms with the death of her parents through her fantasies, and in O Meu Amigo Pintor, 1987 (My Friend the Painter, 1991), a young boy reflects on the inexplicable suicide of an adult friend.

In books such as Seis Vezez Lucas (1995), Bojunga writes in an altogether more realistic style. In her latest work, Retratos de Carolina (2002), her continual experimentation as a writer has led her in a new direction: she allows us to follow the main character from childhood through to adulthood in a narrative partly written in the form of a meta-novel. Bojunga uses this device to extend the boundaries of literature for children and young people in an attempt, as she herself puts it, to make room both for herself and the characters she has created in one single house, "a house of my own invention".

Bojunga's work has been translated into a number of languages including English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Norwegian, Swedish, Icelandic, Bulgarian, Czech and Hebrew. She has won a number of awards, including the Jabuti Award (1973), the prestigious Hans Christian Andersen Award for Writing (1982), and the Rattenfänger Literaturpreis (1986). Winner of The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award 2004.




Works in Portuguese

Os Colegas – Rio de Janeiro: José Olympio, 1972 Angélica – Ilustrações de Vilma Pasqualini. Rio de Janeiro: Livraria AGIR Editora, l975 A Bolsa Amarela – Ilustrações de Marie Louise Nery. Rio de Janeiro: Livraria AGIR Editora, 1976 A Casa da Madrinha – Ilustrações de Regina Yolanda. Rio de Janeiro: AGIR, 1978 Corda Bamba – Ilustrações de Regina Yolanda. Rio de Janeiro, RJ: Civilização Brasileira, l979 O Sofá Estampado – Ilustrações e diagramação de Elvira Vigna. Rio de Janeiro, RJ: Civilização Brasileira, 1980 Tchau – São Paulo, SP: Livraria AGIR Editora, 1984 O Meu Amigo Pintor – Rio de Janeiro: José Olympio, 1987 Nós Três – 1987 Livro, um encontro com Lygia Bojunga – Rio de Janeiro, RJ: Livraria Agir Editora, 1988 Fazendo Ana Paz – Rio de Janeiro, RJ: AGIR, 1991 Paisagem – Rio de Janeiro, RJ: AGIR, 1992 Seis Vezes Lucas – Ilustração da capa, Roger Mello. Ilustrações do miolo, Regina Yolanda. RJ: AGIR, 1995 O Abraco –

Reviews

[Rita · Rating 3 out of 5]

A historia e' boa mas o final deixa muito muuuito a desejar.
Eh a aventura da cama que passeou pela vida de varias familias.
As historias das pessoas podiam ser melhores.
Eh tipo um episodio d'A grande familia.

Eu to feliz com esse livro so porque eu comecei a ler ele pra minha mae e ela leu ele pra mim basicamente.

[Nicole Meneses · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tão impactante e ambicioso, a história se desenvolve em planos tão simples mas de forma tão sofisticada que não nos resta nada a não ser ler e ler sem parar. Um marco na literatura infanto-juvenil mundial, certamente.

[ana · Rating 4 out of 5]

MTO BOM

[Maysa · Rating 5 out of 5]

escrita e historia como sempre impecaveis sempre serei suspeita para falar da maioral da literatura brasileira Lygiaaaa

[Jonathan Fonseca · Rating 1 out of 5]

Uma história bem interessante onde a trama e os personagens são envolvidos por u só tema, que é o principal,uma cama.

[Maria del Rosario Castillo · Rating 3 out of 5]

juvenil y divertida