Cassio's Day
From Dawn to Dusk in a Brazilian Village

Cassio spends much of his school day outside, and he especially likes learning to grow vegetables in the school garden. Cassio and his friend push each other home from school in Cassio's carrinho "barrow", stopping to buy their favourite sweets (doce-de-leite) on the way. When it comes to the evening meal, his mother always cooks extra, so that there will be enough if friends or family wish to call by.



This book is part of the series A Child's Day, photographic information books concentrating on the daily lives and experiences of children in countries around the world, published in association with Oxfam.

Author's Note

Probably the first thing that visitors to my country notice is just how mixed Brazilian culture is. It's all the different people who live here - Indian, African and European - who help make Brazil such a unique and colourful part of the world.

Cassiano, "Cássio" to his family and friends, lives in a little village called Maria de Fé in the southeast of Brazil, in the state of Minas Gerais. Most people in the village know one another or are related in some way, and they all live together as one big family.

Maria de Fé is an especially good place to be a child. Cássio and his friends are as free as birds to play outside in the fresh mountain air and waterfalls, and to discover the world around them. When I visited, and watched some of the traditional craftspeople at work, I felt as if I were stepping back in time. Brazilian life today is mostly very modern and busy, but in Cássio's village people lead much simpler, less high-tech lives, and I think that makes it extra special.