Brazil, Amazon River & Rainforest

Today we read some library books on Brazil, the Amazon River, and the Amazon Rainforest. That was the topic the girls picked when we went to the library last, and we are just now getting to the books!

We learned about a lot of wild animals found in this region. We also read some Brazilian folktales. The girls enjoyed the book How Day Came From Night featuring Iemanja's daughter, written by Mary-Joan Gerson. They also loved The Great Kapok Tree, by Lynne Cherry. This book, and the beautiful artwork, inspired the girls to paint their own picture of the rainforest.

Today we used watercolors.

Here's Georgia's painting...

And Olivia's...

We also talked about the Brazilian culture, and of its African American heritage. From Gerson's book, we learned that of all the African slaves shipped to the new world, Brazil received the most. Brazil has the highest number of people of African decent in the Americas today. We talked about how cultures merge from many influences.

We also read a book on the Yanomamo people.

We have plans to try some of the crafts and recipes in the books. And we are also planning on making an Amazon Rainforest lapbook, which we started today.