s fascination with cartoons began on his father's l

Joao Montanaro is a tall, thin, 14-year-old boy with a mop of black hair. He loves video games, Brazil's great passion — soccer — and roughhousing with his two brothers.

But in the family's small, two-bedroom house, Joao has his own studio. There he draws political cartoons for Brazil's largest newspaper, Folha.

In his studio you'll find books with works from the world's best-known cartoonists — from Charles Schulz's Peanuts to a complete collection of Calvin and Hobbes. He says they all provide him with the inspiration that got him drawing when he was only 7 or 8.

"I make comics, cartoons, comic strips, too, and I like the political because you can joke about somebody bigger than you," he says.

Joao's fascination with cartoons began on his father's lap. Mario Barbosa had some anthologies featuring the best in Brazilian cartooning. Joao was too young to
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