Alexis Díaz Pimienta presents Chamaquili and La Isla del Coco III at the International Book Fair

April 23, 2022

So many children were filling the Dora Alonso hall of the Fortaleza de San Carlos de la Cabaña, a space that during this 30th edition of the International Book Fair of Havana hosted the presentation of El Gran libro de Chamaquili, a reprint of that title that first saw the light in 2015 and which is —"with Mapá's permission"—, a selection of the first nine volumes that have as protagonist the restless Chamaquili, by Alexis Díaz Pimienta, narrator, poet, researcher and improviser

This book from Casa Editora Abril no longer belongs to the author, as he himself said, but to his children, who inspired him in the first place, to Lucas Bolaños, who has given face and voice to Chamaquili on national television, and to all the children who feel like that character.

The "chambeluna" and the charm of the countryside, the restless protagonist's first forays into theater, airplanes, snow…, his claims for "his Sunday rights", nightmares, baby teeth that say goodbye one after another, the railroad, cats, the childish logic that leaves adults bewildered, are some of the stories narrated in the anthology.

During the presentation, Díaz Pimienta not only referred to this title, but also to all the Chamaquili books, which already number 25. The last two are dedicated to the pandemic, and from them La Colmenita has taken some poems to television.

From the illustrator of the Cuban chamaquilada books, Jorge Oliver, the third edition of La Isla del Coco was also presented. Once again Captain Plin and his troops face Rui la Pestex in pitched battle, accompanied in these adventures by The cat Fénix, the Toad Lope and the other islanders.

This new title of La Isla del Coco was born because, to continue making paths, we must know where we come from; because all the islanders, the old and the new, have the right to know what happened before in order to do well what they have to do, as declared by Coco Consejo.

Casa Editora Abril united these two authors, Alexis Díaz Pimienta and Jorge Oliver, and also brought together the Chamaquilis and the islanders in the Dora Alonso hall of La Cabaña. Thus, each child left there with a copy of each title.