Ricardo Azevedo: The big game and the little ball

Ricardo Azevedo is one of the most popular and famous authors and illustrators of children’s books in Brazil. His books are about the daily lives of young people. However, he rejects the notion of a pure children’s universe. His books reflect universal questions and day-to-day problems, dreams and fears, passions and hopes, which move young and old alike.

Ricardo Azevedo had his debut in 1980 with the illustrated work O peixe que podia cantar (The Fish that could sing). Since then he has published over 100 picture books, children’s books and books for young people, as well as volumes of poetry. His works have appeared in many different countries. He began collecting stories and fairy tales as a young man and frequently turns to the Brazilian tradition of oral storytelling. In his Contos de Espanto e Alumbramento (Tales of amazement and enlightenment), for instance, he retells popular stories in a manner that is both modern and poetic. In addition to writing and illustrating books, he is an avid football fan. And football is the subject of his book Pobre Corinthiano Careca (1995), which gained him the critics’ prize of the city of São Paulo. Inspired by an encounter with street kids, Azevedo von Pedro tells stories and drifts off into daydreams about his favourite club, Corinthians de São Paulo. Pedro lives with his mother in impoverished circumstances, is unhappily in love, has problems at school...

As the author of the book series Fura-Bolo (Forefinger) – an initiative launched by the Cargill Foundation – Ricardo Azevedo is actively committed to giving children free access to books, stories and poetry.

An event held by the international literature festival berlin as part of the project "Copa da Cultura – Brazil and Germany 2006" in co-operation with the House of World Cultures and the Ministério da Cultura do Brasil.