What are Rainforests?

I also found some short poems and rhymes which you might enjoy.

Have fun!!!

One day, an Indian went out to hunt for baby parrots with one of the youths of his tribe named Botoque. After a long walk, the Indian noticed a macaw nest on top of a tall and narrow cliff. When the Indian saw two red-billed macaw parents fly off to find food for their nestlings, he convinced Botoque that he should attempt to capture the young birds left behind in the nest. The Indian leaned a long pole against a rock so the youth could climb up to the nest. Once Botoque reached the nest, he saw not only several baby birds but two eggs as well.

Botoque tossed the first egg to the Indian, but as it fell through the air, it changed into a stone. Neither noticed that the egg had become a stone until it reached the ground. The Indian stared at the stone at his feet and looked up at the startled youth.

" Throw the other egg down," the Indian ordered.

This time, Botoque carefully tossed the second egg, but again it transformed into a white stone in front of his eyes. This stone wounded the hand of the surprised Indian below and he angrily blamed Botoque for his injury.

Furious because he believed he had been fooled, the Indian broke the pole and left Botoque atop the rocky cliff. Botoque screamed after him in fear and held up the baby birds from the nest.

He called out, " Here are the little ones! Come back! This must be an enchanted nest! Those stones were eggs."

The Indian did not turn back to see what happened next, but if he had, he would have seen the pair of adult red-billed macaws return. When the parents discovered what Botoque had done to their nest, they screamed fiercely. With this, the nestlings suddenly turned into mature birds. They flew up to meet their parents, and all four birds disappeared into the flaming sunset.

Botoque remained abandoned on top of the huge rock for several days. He saw no one and spoke not at all. Botoque became so hungry and thirsty that he ate what was left of the nest. Finally, a spotted jaguar passed by, carrying a bow and arrow and all sorts of fresh raw game. The Jaguar wore finely woven vines colored with red dye from annatto seeds, and he stood upright. His bearing and manners were more civilized than any creature Botoque had ever met. Botoque almost cried out, but he stopped himself in fear of the unfamiliar creature. The Jaguar, walking underneath the boulder, saw the boy's shadow on the ground. He wanted to catch the shadow, but it kept moving as Botoque tried to stay out of sight. The Jaguar looked up suddenly and caught a glimpse of the creature to whom the shadow belonged. In a pleasant tone, the Jaguar asked Botoque his name.

" I am Botoque. My tribesman talked me into capturing some birds for him, but then he left me stranded."

The Jaguar laughed, accustomed to the macaws' enchanted ways. He felt pity for the hapless boy and helpfully offered to cut footholds in the stone so the boy could climb down.

The Jaguar was older and grandfatherly, so when he encouraged Botoque to come down, the youth started to do so. However, as Botoque drew closer to the Jaguar, he saw how big the creature was, and he became afraid. The Jaguar understood Botoque's hesitation, and he coaxed the youth in a friendly way, promising him assistance.

"Come down and climb onto my back. I will take you to my dwelling where there will be lots of grilled meats."

The youth asked what grilled meat was, since in his tribe he had only eaten meat raw or dried from the sun.

"You have a delicacy awaiting you at my home. An entire boar roasted by the fire from a burning jatobá tree," explained the Jaguar.

Eagerly the boy completed his descent and when he entered the Jaguar's cave, he saw fire for the first time. An enormous tree trunk was aflame and smoking and everywhere small gatherings of rocks the size of coconuts bordered pieces of tree trunk bursting with flames.

Botoque asked the Jaguar, "What are the plumes of orange dancing light near your cave?"

The Jaguar smiled and dangled a morsel of roast boar in front of Botoque, answering coyly, "Taste this, my young son. It has a tenderness you're not acquainted with and a smokiness from the fire that cooks it."

How good it tasted to the boy! Being as hungry as he was, Botoque gorged himself on the tender delicacy he had never before tasted.

Off to the side of the dancing flames stood an Indian woman whom the Jaguar introduced as his wife. Botoque knew that she took an immediate dislike to him because of the suspicious look in her eyes. She referred to him as "Me-on-bra-tum," or "abandoned one" and indicated to the Jaguar that the boy should not be trusted. But, despite his wife's protests, the Jaguar wanted to adopt Botoque because he liked the boy very much and the boy had already grown fond of the elderly Jaguar.

The Jaguar told his wife, "I have no children of my own, and, especially because he is abandoned, I want to share my home with Botoque."

After Botoque had eaten, he drank until he became sick. The Jaguar's wife tended to him during the night, but when she was alone with him she tried to scare the boy. She picked lice out of his hair and told him the lice would crawl all over his body if he stayed in the cave. She opened her mouth wide and bared her teeth, telling him stories of wild animals in the Jaguar's cave. The youth screamed out in terror, and the Jaguar was aroused from his sleep. He told his wife to stop tormenting the boy.

Every morning, the Jaguar went hunting, leaving his stepson with his wife. Her hatred for Botoque grew daily. When the boy asked for something to eat, the old woman gave him tough, bad-tasting meat. She scratched his face and eyebrows, pretending she was searching for lice. Things became so unpleasant for Botoque that every day he would leave the cave and free into the woods until the Jaguar returned home.

The good Jaguar scolded his wife but since she still continued to mistreat Botoque, the Jaguar made a new bow and arrow and gave them to his stepson. The Jaguar taught Botoque how to use the weapon because he feared that his wife might harm the boy. The boy had never seen a bow and arrow before the day the old Jaguar rescued him because the Indians hunted only with spears. And, although he did not want his stepmother to continue tormenting him, Botoque was uncomfortable with the new weapon.

Finally, Botoque became so homesick for his village that he went to his stepfather and asked to return home. The old Jaguar felt saddened, but he understood. The Jaguar collected a feast of grilled meats and put them in a basket the boy could wear astride his back. He warned Botoque not to tell any of the Indians about the existence of fire, and then the Jaguar sent Botoque on his way.

Three talking toucons sitting in  a tree

The first one turned and squawked at me!

Three little toucons sitting in  a row

The second one said "I flap my wings, watch me go!"

Three little toucons sitting side by side

The third one said "my bright beak, I open wide!"

Baby Frogs

"Ribbit Ribbit", said Mama frog

Sitting on a great big log

"Where are my babies, where can they be?"

Then out of the pond jumped one, two and three.

She was happy as could be

But where were the others?

She coudn't see.

So, "ribbit ribbit", she called again.

Then out they jumped- 4,5,6,7,8,9 and 10!

Three morpho butterflies gliding through the trees

The first one swooped to take a look at me!

Three morpho butterfiles sitting on a leaf

The second one was trying to eat something sweet!

Three morpho buttrflies flitting all about

The third one landed on my snout!

Five Freckled Frogs

Five little speckled frogs, sat on a speckled log,

Eating the most delicious bugs, yum, yum,

One jumped into the pool, where it was nice and cool,

Then there were four freckled frogs, glug, glug,

(Continue with four frogs, then three, and so on)

Then there were no speckled frogs, glug, glug!