Informant:

Ricardo is from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and currently lives there “for 75 percent of the year.”

His description:

Ricardo: “Saci Pereré is, like, an African American guy who only has one foot. He smokes on a pipe a lot and makes a lot of jokes that, as a kid, thought were so funny. And he has a red hat that allows him to go invisible whenever he wants so that he can cause mischief, but if you catch him he can grant you a wish, but it’s really hard to catch him because he can go invisible.”

Context:

This story is often told to children as entertainment.

My Thoughts:

To me, this character is similar to what Americans perceive as leprechauns. Growing up, I loved St. Patrick’s Day because I loved the idea of sneaky little leprechauns, and I always made traps to try to catch them. I think that kids find these types of fictional characters intriguing because they themselves are often mischievous little people that try to get away with tricks and pranks too.