Mario eats tortillas and delicious peccary soup. He bathes in the river where his father catches fish and his mother washes clothes. Mario's parents read the Bible and pray and teach him right and wrong. At night, Mario knows that far above the thatched roof of their house, far above the twinkling stars, God in Heaven sees him in his little wooden bed. This delightful story introduces life in Belize with four-year-old Mario and his family.

• Mario
• Mario's Corn
• Washing Rocks
• Thief
• Mario's Puppy
• Hurricane
• Mario in Church
• New Brother
• Mario in the Ditch
• The Broken Bowl
• The Flood
• The WeWe Ants

Mario

This is Mario (MAH dee oh). He is a Belizean boy. He is four years old. His skin is brown and his hair is black. His dark eyes sparkle, and his bare feet run quickly across the dusty yard.

He lives in a wooden house with a steep roof of thatch. When Mario lies on his little wooden bed at night he looks up at the high woven roof over his head and thinks about God. His daddy says God lives in heaven far above the thatch roof. Heaven is higher than the moon and the stars that twinkle in the black night sky. But God can look right through the thick leaves on the roof and see Mario in his little bed.

Mario listens to the insects buzzing in the jungle outside. A night bird whistles a shrill aye-ah. The village dogs bark. A bicycle squeaks by on the road. But Mario is not afraid of the insects or the bird or the dogs or the person on the bicycle. He is safe inside his house with his daddy and mother, his big brother, Juan, and his siter, Camilla. God is up there in the big sky with the stars and the moon, watching over him. Mario closes his eyes and goes to sleep.