Saci

Saci (original title: O Saci) Bonus short stories: The Periscope (original title: O Periscopio), Caterpillars and Butterflies (original title: Lagartas e Borboletas) and The Second Jackfruit (original title: A Segunda Jaca). Who are the sacis? Saci is a one-legged Brazilian folktale character known for his black skin, red tuque, pipe and pranks. Elfish, he will do your head in if he wants to annoy you, but if you are lost in the woods there is no better guide than this ally of plants and animals. It’s nearly midnight and Saci and Pete delve into Red Toucans Weald, the dense forest just beyond Yellow Woodpecker Grange, and outsmart darkness, jaguars, anacondas, rattlesnakes… and supernatural creatures: Caipora, Curupira, Headless Mule, White Pig Sow with her seven piglets, Werewolf, Iara and the implacable 3,000-year-old alligator-headed witch Cuca, who kidnaps Retroussy. The two heroes have until dawn to solve the mystery and achieve her rescue. The short stories also by Monteiro Lobato included in this book are ‘The Periscope’, ‘Caterpillars and Butterflies'and 'The Second Jackfruit’. In ‘The Periscope’, Viscount, now an inventor, creates a periscope to see the invisible, and what do they see? Sacis! In ‘Caterpillars and Butterflies’, Viscount presents his new invention: the ‘psychocaptor’, a machine that reads the thoughts of animals and trees. In ‘The Second Jackfruit’, Viscount is missing and Emily summons the ingenuity of a saci to help her find her best friend.