Since January 20 is National Penguin Day, I think this is a good time to share that I have finally found the answer to the question, “Whatever happened to Dindim and João Pereira de Souza?” In case you don’t know, these are the real-life characters from my picture book AN OLD MAN AND HIS PENGUIN: HOW DINDIM MADE JOÃO PEREIRA DE SOUZA AN HONORARY PENGUIN (illustrated by Milanka Reardon).
In February 2021, I was contacted by a television production company asking about the rights to my book. They questioned (as many people have) whatever happened to Dindim? From the time I started writing the story back in 2016, I had tried to answer that question. I never had any luck. But this time, the stars were aligned and I found some answers. Once again, I reached out to João Paulo Krajewski, PhD (I never heard back from him the first time.) He is a nature and wildlife documentarian at Natural History Brazil and the person who became friends with João Pereira de Souza and his family. His interviews with Pereira de Souza and documentary about him and Dindim are how I, and the rest of the world, first learned about this unusual father-son relationship between an old man and his penguin. This time, February 2021, I got a response.
He assured me that João Pereira de Souza was fine. And then he wrote, “I contacted Mr João Pereira last year about this story. Unfortunately, Dindim has not returned to Ilha Grande since one year I’ve filmed this story (I think this was 5 years ago). Since no tracking devices have been attached to him, it’s hard to know what happened to him.”
Again, the stars aligned, and I was able to find two videos from 2020 about João still waiting on the beach for Dindim’s return. I suspect he will faithfully and lovingly continue to wait for the rest of his days. Unfortunately, João is speaking in Portuguese with no subtitles. Fortunately, I have a friend who translated the key points for me. Sofia Flores also translated the documentary for me as part of my research for the book, and she is acknowledged in the book.
Following is what Sofia shared with me. Warning: It is quite sad.
Alayne, the first video is only him saying he has been waiting for Dindim. He is talking to Dindim and asking him to come, so Joao can be happy again and play with him. He shows his 3 friends and says they are always at the sea, so Joao asks them to keep on the lookout for Dindim. In the second one, he says how much he misses him and how he wishes Dindim would come back. He is calling him and he says that he is always thinking about him. He offers him sardines and that he can come play with his dog and he can pinch his dog as usual. He says, “I am waiting for you here day and night.”
I much more prefer the ending in my book. And as I wrote in my author’s note in the book, “Like João, I dream about Dindim. I imagine that he goes to the sea to be with other penguins and one day, he will return with his children to meet their human grandfather.
Following are the videos mentioned above.
Alayne Kay Christian 