When My Dad Went to the Jungle

Age range 5 to 9

A young boy shares exciting facts and stories about the peoples, plants, and animals who inhabit the Amazon rainforest.

In this original, uplifting book from one of Argentina’s most acclaimed children’s writers, a young boy records his dad’s stories of the Amazonian jungle in his journal. As he does, he can’t help but compare his own life. When you visit the rainforest, you should ask the Sapara peoples for permission and be respectful, just like when you visit your neighbour in the city. Smoked fish is delicious in the rainforest - but hard to make in your bedroom. The rainforest is like a great big house for plants, animals, and spirits, but it’s disappearing, little by little. Filling his journal with imaginative drawings and words, the boy decides what he would do if he visited the rainforest: Invite the spirits for donuts and hot cocoa! Inspired by the author’s volunteer efforts to assist the Sapara peoples in protecting an endangered bird, When My Dad Went to the Jungle portrays a young boy exploring big ideas about the natural world. As he journals, the young boy realises that, even though life for the Sapara peoples is very different from his own, a little bit of the rainforest lives inside of all of us. If we let it grow, then we will always respect the lands we walk, gather, and play on.