My Sweet Orange Tree

Meet Zezé - Brazil's naughtiest and most loveable boy, his talent for mischief matched only by his great kindness. When he grows up he wants to be a poet with a bow-tie, but for now, he entertains himself playing pranks on the residents of his family's poor Rio de Janeiro neighborhood and inventing friends to play with. Zezé's pranks can be a little too mischievous - at least, so say his parents, who punish him harshly when he misbehaves. His father is out of work and the family unhappiness falls hardest on Zezé, the second-youngest of seven siblings. That is, until he meets a real friend, and his life begins to change. With the help of Pinkie, the talking orange tree, Manuel, who gives Zezé rides in his car, and with his own endless supply of resourcefulness and imagination, Zezé will triumph over any adversity. This worldwide classic of children's literature has never been out of print in Brazil since it was first published in 1968. Translated into an astonishing number of languages, it has won the hearts of millions of young readers from Korea to Turkey, Poland to Thailand, and many other countries too, with its inimitable blend of the heart-rending and the whimsical.