This story sets the traditional Christmas carol in Africa, using a combination of text and rebuses. This book includes author’s note about some of the African traditions depicted.
The 12 Days of Christmas
Primary (ages 6-9)
Material appropriate for primary age groups
What the Animals Were Waiting For
Cowbells tinkle. And over there, a family of elephants munches on dry grass, flaps huge ears like slow fans, and waits. It is a time of waiting. The gazelles, the wildebeest and the zebras are all waiting. The lions, too, and the crocodiles are waiting. Little Tepi watches the animals and wonders what is coming. Soon there will be rain, and food for everyone! In simple, stirring verse, this stunningly illustrated picture book tells the story of the dramatic cycles of life on the Masai Mara range in Africa — one of the last great, wild places on Earth.
Shadow Dance
When the crocodile she has rescued tricks her, little Salome must use some cunning of her own to escape becoming his next meal.
Rhinos for Lunch and Elephants for Supper!
A variety of animals try to help a hare get rid of the mysterious intruder who has taken over her house.
Mary Malloy and the Baby Who Wouldn’t Sleep
The sly seductive moon makes off with a crying baby but is eventually outwitted by the clever Mr. Fez.
This for That
Rabbit tricks the other animals of the African plain into giving her food and other treats.
The Village That Vanished
In southeastern Africa, a young Yao girl and her mother find a way for their fellow villagers to escape approaching slave traders.
Jane Addams Honor Book (Awards)
Zoom Upstream
Zoom the cat follows a mysterious trail through a bookshelf to Egypt, where he joins his friend Maria in a search for his Uncle Roy.
The Ancestor Tree: 9
Saddened by the death of their special friend, the very old man who told them stories and jokes, the village children decide to go against custom and plant a tree for him in the Forest of the Ancestors.
The Lonely Lioness and the Ostrich Chicks
In this retelling of a Masai tale, a mongoose helps an ostrich get her chicks back from the lonely lioness who has stolen them.
Peering down from her treetop perch, a lonely lioness admires the noisily cheeping clan of Mother Ostrich and thinks, “I would be happy to have just one child.” So she leaps down, gurum! and steals all four ostrich chicks. Accepting the lioness as their mother, the chicks follow right behind he. Mother Ostrich is frantic! As she chases after the lioness, she enlists the help of gazelle, hyena, jackal, and mongoose.