Title

The author has lived most of her life in Brazil.  She has a bachelor’s degree in modern languages.  Her main occupation is teaching English as a second language.  She has always been a very active student and teacher and has had many articles and poems published in the university’s newsletter. As a teacher, she developed techniques and games in order to reach and entertain her students in a more effective way. Now, living in California, she is continuing her education to achieve a “TESL” Certificate (Teaching English as a Second Language), and she is the mother of two beautiful children.

Jatoba is a huge canopy tree indigenous to the Amazon Rainforest; in this story Jatoba is a female tree character. Jatoba lives on a corn and wheat farm and thinks that she is the only tree of her kind. She is friends with all little creatures on the farm, like the hummingbird, the butterfly, and the dog named Doggy. However, she feels sad and lonely because she cannot talk to any other trees like herself.

Jatoba talks with all these little farm creatures who tell her how important she is to them, because of the oxygen she produces, and the fruit, leaves, and shadow that the tree brings to the environment. Finally, one summer day, she has a conversation with the sun, who tells her that she has never been alone because there are actually many trees like herself. They have always been intertwined and connected by their roots, so Jatoba tries hard to look up to find her other tree friends.

So together she will learn how to be a part of her new community. All the little farm animals and the Jatoba trees then celebrate throughout the whole summer!