Ramona’s Reviews > Along the Tapajós > Status Update

The Tapajos River is one of the biggest in the Amazon rainforest, at 1200 miles, connecting to the Amazon River. There are 130-foot tall trees and giant water lilies. The River can rise more than 16 feet, between December and May - Winter.

An amazingly colorful anaconda is on the roof getting ready to devour Tito and maybe Caua'! The end of the story comes quickly - the anaconda is tied in knots, and sinks, the kids are safely in the boat, headed back to their winter home. I wanted to know more about their winter home, their life there, and their culture!

Inae' realizes that they don't have Tito the tortoise. Because Tito cannot swim, he would not survive the winter rains and flooding, so Caua and Inae' know he could starve. Rowing all day, they arrive back at their village. The beautiful woodblock prints show the village submerged, with just rooftops showing. Where is Tito? Bright red and yellow trees are used in contrast to the green and black structures.

The Rainforest school, a religious building, and homes are all built on stilts and make up the village of Para'. There are only two seasons, a very dry sunny Summer and rainy-everyday-nonstop winter. You can walk across the dry riverbed in the summer. On one page, showing four scenarios, you see the village buttoning up for the onslaught of wind, rain, and lightning. Oxen are loaded onto a multi-tiered flatboat.

Primitive woodcut illustrations, drawings, and collages are used for the book jacket and pages of the story. Pink porpoises, lush green forests, and detailed people and homes are used. The homes are built on structures above the flowing river. They are a society of fishermen. The children go to school via a boat, which is steered by another person. A young boy and his sister have a giant pet tortoise, Titi.