Books

Today the Portuguese community (but not only) celebrates children's day!
What better way than to use stories to celebrate, at the same time that we teach to care for our planet.

You can find some portuguese story telling (with italian and english introductions) here,

but we also travel back to our Water week....

A group of scientists wrote short stories addressing their field of research, aimed at a children’s audience (< 12 years old) but also at adults. Some members of the team are working at the Portuguese Institute for Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA).

Download here the first and second volumes of the series Once Upon a Time... a Scientific Fairy Tale available in several languages (e.g. Chinese, English, Filipino, French, German, Portuguese or Spanish).

Learn about our planet, the oceans, the climate crisis and how to live in a more sustainable way by reading entertaining and factual tales. The stories’ protagonists are marine and terrestrial animals along with other species that inhabit planet Earth, such as human beings.

By Sofia Pereira Sá

On World Book Day, we often celebrate the great names of Portuguese literature, such as Fernando Pessoa, Luís de Camões, or José Saramago (a Nobel Prize winner). But there are many more brilliant Portuguese storytellers.

If you want to find out more about (translated) Portuguese literature, this article is for you.

Reading is my long-time passion. As Fernando Pessoa would say – “Literature is the most agreeable way of ignoring life”. I would humbly add that books trigger our imagination by taking us to places we have never visited, by showing us things we have never experienced, or times we have never lived.

Books are undoubtedly our best friends in these strange lockdown times (certainly accompanied by Gorreana tea and pastéis de nata, if possible).

Here is a list of great Portuguese books I would recommend.

“The Accidental Biography of a Love Affair” – João Tordo
“The Land at the End of the World” – António Lobo Antunes
“The Sibyl" - Agustina Bessa-Luís

Young authors
“O Meu Irmão” – Afonso Reis Cabral (my review)
(translated to Italian – “Mio fratello”)

Classics
“The Book of Disquiet” – Fernando Pessoa
“Os Maias” – Eça de Queiroz
“Lucio's Confession” - Mário de Sá-Carneiro

Poetry
Selected Poems – Fernando Pessoa

Nobel Prize
“Blindness” – José Saramago (my review)

For children
“The Girl from the Sea and other stories” – Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen

About our history
“A People's History of the Portuguese Revolution” – Raquel Varela

If you are an Italian, Spanish or French speaker…and are brave enough to read the originals in Portuguese, please give it a try. You would be surprised to see how written Portuguese is easier to understand than the spoken language. Start with “easier” books such as the children’s books by Sophia de Mello Breyner.

If these books aren’t your cup of tea, no problem! Just read any other. The most important thing is that you keep travelling through the medium of storytelling; the important thing is that by reading, you keep on dreaming.

Enjoy your readings!