The Best Tailor in Pinbaue

The first book written and illustrated by Eymard Toledo shows one boy's pluck when his beautiful town is ruined by the arrival of a gray, dusty factory. Uncle Flores is the best tailor in the small river town of Pinbau in Brazil. He used to make beautiful dresses and colorful costumes for the carnival, but nowadays he only makes gray uniforms for the factory workers. The houses are covered with dust from the factory, the river water is murky, and everything is drab. Edinho, his nephew, comes by every day after school to help cut and iron the cloth and listen to his uncle's stories. The best ones begin with "Once upon a time...." But when the factory tells Uncle Flores they don't need his uniforms anymore, Edinho comes up with an ingenious idea to get his uncle back to work and make everyone in town happier and brighter. Soon Uncle Flores's house is the most popular one in town....

In The Best Tailor in Pinbau a small act of beauty in the midst of environmental degradation reminds young readers of their own agency and of the life-affirming strength of family and community.