Cocorí

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Cocorí is Costa Rican author Joaquín Gutiérrez's most popular novel, perhaps only topped by La Hoja de Aire. Published in 1947, the short novel ranks among the most outstanding children's stories in Costa Rica, and is mandatory reading in all primary schools. It has been translated into ten languages, and adapted for the theater several times in Germany, Czech Republic, Mexico and seven other countries.

The story concerns a small black boy from the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica, who, trying to fulfill a blonde tourist girl's request, embarks on a series of adventures, accompanied by animals, through the jungle.

[edit] Controversy

When the book was made mandatory reading, the Proyecto Caribe Association, in charge of defending the culture of the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica, populated almost exclusively by African descendants, protested. They argued the book was "racist" and "offensive" to the local culture, and as such, should not be read in schools. "We ask the Ministry of Education, should they not want to eliminate the book from the program, to at least include works by afrodescendant authors that can show the values of our culture." These claims were dismissed, and the book continues to be read in schools nationwide. [1]