All that jazz - a great new picture book for Rio - "Steve Goes to Carnival"

With the Olympics coming up, it is great to discover a new picture book that is set in Rio. This would be a terrific companion text for Herman and Rosie.  

You can read my previous post about other books that set the context for Rio and jazz here and preview my resource for Herman and Rosie here or by clicking on the image on the right.  Free teaching notes for Herman and Rosie are available here.

Steve Goes to Carnival is a vibrant story set in Rio de Janeiro.  Steve is a gorilla who lives at a zoo in Rio. In the evenings, he listens to jazz on the radio with his friend, Antonio the zookeeper. One night, Steve is feeling a little lonely and so he lifts the latch of his cage door and goes off to search for Antonio. At the tram stop outside the zoo, he finds a hat — the perfect disguise. Steve climbs aboard a tram and rides down the hillside, past the favelas and into the city. 

It is carnival time in Rio! Fireworks explode in the sky and sequinned dancers shimmy along the avenue. ‘Feliz Carnaval’ cry the sambistas. Steve follows the sounds of a saxophone and discovers his friend Antonio playing in a quartet at the Blue Jaguar Jazz Club. When a beautiful dancer steps on to the dance floor, Steve takes her by the hand. They twirl and
twist to the music until suddenly, Steve’s hat falls off to reveal he is a gorilla!
Calmly, the dancer puts Steve’s hat back on his head and they spin this way and that way, this way and that way, all the way to dawn.

Steve goes to Carnival is a collaboration between Joshua Button, a young Indigenous artist from Broome and his mentor, Robyn Wells. Joshua is descended from the Walmajarri people of the East Kimberley in Western Australia. Robyn has a degree in Fine Arts and has lived in the Kimberley for many years. She is passionate about enabling young people to express themselves through language and art.

View images from the picture book here and on the publisher, Magabala Books' home page here.  

Teaching Ideas

• Research the animals in the zoo that are named in the story (e.g. jaguars, elephants, howler monkeys, sloths, anteaters, lions)
• Explore the actions (verbs/processes) of the animals in the story (e.g. pace, stretch, hoot, chatter, whoop, holler, lick, wend, trumpet..)
• Match the 'action words' (verbs/processes) to each of the animals
• Sequence the events in the story
• Discuss fiction and non-fiction texts
• Explore personification (e.g. "the old yellow tram shudders")
• Investigate noun groups and adjectives (e.g. the anteater's "long, sticky tongue" a "wide-brimmed hat")
• Discuss alliteration (e.g. "sloths sway slowly", "twist and twirl")
• Match the actions/sounds of the instruments to the nouns (e.g. the "piano tinkles", the "double bass pounds", the "saxophone wails", the "singer hums and trills")
• Explore the language specific to the setting of Brazil (e.g. sambistas, 'Feliz Carnaval', Entra Senhor, saxofonista, Rio de Janeiro, favelas, fireworks, sequins, feather headresses...)
• Locate Brazil and Rio de Janeiro on a world map
• Investigate the subject specific vocabulary relevant to a jazz band (e.g. saxophone, bass drum, tambourine, trombone, double bass, piano, trumpet, samba whistles...).

If you are lucky to live in the north of the Western Australia, you may be able to attend the Book Launch of Steve Goes to Carnival in Broome on Friday 24 June.  Find out more here.

To celebrate the launch of the new picture book Steve Goes to Carnival, I have created a freebie that includes bookmarks and a compare and contrast activity for both Steve Goes to Carnival and Herman and Rosie.  

You can download your free copy at my TPT store here, or by clicking on the image below. Please leave feedback if you do download this freebie.  Please also share this post with your networks - sharing is caring!

Have a terrific week everyone!