Claudio has a special affinity with his adult friend, a painter, who tells him that, even though he's a child, he has the soul of an artist. Flattered by the painter's attention, Claudio tries hard to understand his abstract linkings of emotions and colors; he faces his biggest challenge when the painter commits suicide. As Claudio slowly comes to terms with the range of emotions he feels while grieving, he begins to apply his friend's philosophy as he struggles to make the intangible visual in order to comprehend his feelings. A quiet, sensuous and understated novel from one of Brazil's best known children's writers. (Ages 10-13)