Monica's Gang: Friends of the Forest

Monica and Chico Bento's Gang, by renowned comic book artist Mauricio de Sousa, embark on an adventure with Professor Tupã through Vila Abobrinha. Written by agroforestry specialist Sérgio Olaya, they'll learn a lot about nature and its more-than-magical powers.

“These incredible characters who experience the adventures of this visit to Dona Cotinha and Seu Tonico's farm, where they meet Professor Tupã and begin their journey of knowledge full of curiosity, discover that in the forest we do not domesticate all the animals, that the milk served to children does not come from the cow, that we do not need to use scarecrows to prevent the many and varied birds in the forest, dispensing with raising chickens.

The new teacher they meet swims with the class at the stream—except for Cascão, who runs away from the water like a cat! And Tupã tells the children around the campfire about his Forest School and the trees that produce water! Everything is new, in the practice of agroforestry, a way of producing abundantly and abundantly everything we need to live, with a diversity of plants and animals, in consortium and collaboration of species. Professor Tupã talks about ecosystems and biomes, and teaches that we all live in places defined by rivers—watersheds.

A fantastic adventure of knowledge, with the whole class discovering a new technology (!) with the forest producing rain, and Tupã's surprise invitation for everyone to spend some time planting forests, creating rain in his Forest School.

Oh, and I almost forgot! I need to mention the author of this short story that became a story with Monica's Gang and Chico Bento's Gang . He's a teacher to me too. Sérgio Olaya came to the Krenak village, where I live, and brought various seeds and seedlings of native Brazilian trees, along with some friends who are rain growers. Of course, I reciprocated this gift they gave us with an invitation to the Fire Dance. But that's another story.