The peaceful mangrove forest is thrown into a panic when Ramiro the pelican comes crashing down from the sky, squawking about something huge and green lurking in the trees. Could it be a dragon? A giant bird? Or something far more slithery?
The animals are frightened, but quite curious, and agree to investigate together… all except Tito. He'd rather handle it himself, because he is, after all, the bravest animal around. But Tito is about to learn the hard way that some things are simply too big to face alone.
The peaceful mangrove forest is thrown into a panic when Ramiro the pelican comes crashing down from the sky, squawking about something huge and green lurking in the trees. Could it be a dragon? A giant bird? Or something far more slithery?
The animals are frightened, but quite curious, and agree to investigate together… all except Tito. He'd rather handle it himself, because he is, after all, the bravest animal around. But Tito is about to learn the hard way that some things are simply too big to face alone.
The peaceful mangrove forest is all an uproar; Ramiro the pelican has made a dramatic entrance, alerting the others that they have spotted something huge and green in an old tree. Without missing a beat, Tito the capybara volunteers to check it out and declares he doesn't need anyone else's help. He quickly learns the error of his ways when the visitor (no spoilers) makes a surprise appearance.
When we face tough or scary obstacles, it takes bravery to ask for and accept help. Tito couldn't handle the forest visitor alone, yet he wasn't quick to admit it. He was still stuck in the mindset that he could do it solo. Beto the heron voiced their concerns and said this problem needed to be tackled with cleverness and teamwork. Tito still wanted to fly solo. He made the wrong choice again. People, like the capybara, are not always quick to admit "defeat" and often find it difficult to admit they were wrong. Tito's stubbornness almost came with dire consequences. Don't worry, the story had a happily ever after. It also came with fun facts about two animals featured in the book, but before we get to that, we have to reach the HEA and discover the lessons learned through the scary situation. One, there is no shame in asking for help. We can't solve all our problems on our own. Two, be open to others' ideas. Three, tread carefully around wild animals. They may not all be friendly. And fourth, read the story to discover what lesson Tito admitted to learning.
The Cheeky Capybara and the Emerald Boa is a fun children's book that taught great lessons and delivered a few tense and funny moments. The "I thought that was a coconut" scene had me chuckling. I'll keep the tense scenes to myself to avoid spoilers, but I'm sure young readers would be skedaddling from the forest newbie, just like characters in the book. This statement would make a great discussion question; ask readers how they would handle meeting the "huge and green" something in the tree and name something that frightens them.
The Cheeky Capybara and the Emerald Boa is a cute story with equally adorable illustrations; the text gave me pause in presentation and placement. Moving it slightly here and there would make it more readable. Plus, every letter was capitalized except "e." Odd. I had other text presentation issues, but despite those, I still recommend sharing it with your little ones, 3-7 years of age.