coração de pássaro [The Little Girl with a Bird’s Heart] (1978) and O quadro roubado
[The Stolen Picture] (1977), one of the most reprinted books by Ilse Losa.
Agustina Bessa-Luis, another great name in Portuguese literature, has occasionally
written for children and one of her first books for them was Contos Amarantinos [Stories
from Amarante] (1990). Alice Vieira, previously a journalist, is nowadays one of the most
read authors by young people; her first book was published in 1979; Rosa, minha irmã
Rosa [Rose, my Sister Rose], dealing with the interests of urban teenagers, has been
translated into several languages.
Other books which should be mentioned are O soldadinho e a pomba [The Little
Soldier and the Pigeon] (1981), dealing with military discipline, by Leonel Neves, O virus
diabólico [The Diabolic Virus] (1991), centred on computers, by Carlos Correia and Um
segredo...dois segredos [One secret... Two secrets] (1993), the amusing story of a family
sharing their secrets, by Natércia Rocha. A biography of Olympic Champion Carlos
Lopes is the last book Carlos Pinhão wrote for children.
The younger generation is represented by José Jorge Letria who has been publishing
poetry and short stories such as Teia de um segredo [The Web of a Secret] (1993), by
Catarina Fonseca, still in her early twenties, whose first book A herança [The Heritage]
(1990) a quiet amusing story won her a prize from the Association of Writers. António
Mota also won a prize with a moving story about rural life, Pedro Alecrim (1988). Alvaro
Magalhões who has shown a remarkable sense of humour published a curious collection
of very short stories named Histórias pequenas de bichos pequenos [Little Stories of Little
Pets] (1985). Gosto de ti. R. [I Love You. R.] (1992) is a novel about love by Graça
Gonçalves. A historical novel O filho do trovão [The Son of Thunder] (1991) is one of the
most arresting stories told by Alexandre Honrado. Sérgio Godinho, best known as singer
and composer, published O pequeno livro dos medos [The Little Book of Fears] (1991) as
his second work for children. A writer with a fast growing list is Violeta Crespo de
Figeiredo who recently published a book of poetry for very small children, Fala bicho
[Talking Beast] (1991).
Several anthologies of poems have appeared, the most recent being Verso aqui ...Verso
acolá [A Verse Here...A Verse There] (1990) compiled by Natércia Rocha including poems
that were not written especially for children; another has been compiled by Sophia de
Mello Breyner Andresen, Primeiro livro de poesia [First Book of Poetry] (1991). Famous
poets have written for children as Eugénio de Andrade did in his book Uma nuvem e
outras [A Cloud and Others] (1989).
Adventure and mystery also have an important place, often being published in series,
such as Uma aventura [One Adventure] (started in 1982) by Ana Maria Magalhães and
Isabel Alçada, 1001 Detectives (started in 1987) by Carlos Correia, Maria Alberta
Menéres and Natércia Rocha and another series named Club das Chaves [Keys Club] by
Maria Teresa Maia Gonzalez and Maria do Rosário Pedreira.
The importance of illustration has been recognised and editors are paying more
attention to its quality. Several illustrators are outstanding: Manuela Bacelar,
João Machado, Maria Keil, António Modesto, Carlos Barradas, Romeu Costa, Cristina
Malaquias, Soares Rocha and Vasco Colombo.
There are very few ‘home-grown’ Portuguese comics because of the success of well-
established foreign material. Magazines about music which are very much in demand by
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