Professor and researcher Noemia Kazue Ishikawa, a graduate of the Graduate Program in Agricultural Microbiology, is launching a new edition of the book “Embaúba – a tree and many lives” on Thursday, December 21. Originally published in 2016 in Portuguese, English and Japanese, the book mixes a true story with scientific knowledge by telling children about the experience of a teacher and a group of students researching mushrooms native to the tropics.

Now, the narrative told by Noemia, a researcher at the National Institute for Amazonian Research (INPA), Takakazu Yumoto and William E. Magnusson will also reach indigenous children in Brazil, through the translation by Cristina Quirino Mariano (Cris Tikuna) into the indigenous Tikuna language (Magütarawa). The new edition therefore features the story told in four languages and illustrated by Manaus artist Hadna Abreu.

The translation of the work into the indigenous language is one of the actions of the project “Aldevan Baniwa: sowing indigenous stories of the Amazon”, which aims to publish more books in indigenous languages. The funds to pay for the translation came from another project, “Networks of indigenous women translators and scientists: connections for transformative science education in Amazonas”, approved by the Amazônidas Program – Women and Girls in Science, of the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisas da Amazônia – FAPEAM.

As part of the process, the authors faced the challenge of graphically representing sounds and combinations that occur in indigenous languages and that were absent from computer keyboards. Two young people from Manaus, Samuel Minev Benzecry and Juliano Portela, then developed Linklado, a digital keyboard for indigenous languages. Today, the instrument is also used for other activities by indigenous peoples. The projects “Aldevan Baniwa sowing indigenous stories of the Amazon” and “Linklado: digital keyboard for indigenous languages” were finalists for the Jabuti prize in the Innovation – Encouraging Reading category, in 2020 and 2023, respectively.

The edition will be launched at 6 p.m. at the Samuel Benchimol Memorial – Centro Cultural dos Povos da Amazônia, in Manaus. Present will be authors Noemia Ishikawa and William Magnuson, translator Cris Tikuna, illustrator Hadna Abreu and Linklado creators Samuel Benzecry and Juliano Portela.