Introduces the desert fox, or fennec, by following a mother and her young at rest and at play, hunting and eating, in their harsh yet beautiful desert world.
The Desert Fox Family Book
Africa
Materials from Africa
The Everlasting Embrace
Each morning as the sun brightens the West African sky, mother and child prepare to start their day. They spend it bound together, the child riding on the mother’s back watching their world go past. Pounding millet, drawing water from the well, visiting friends, shopping at the outdoor market. They share the days in perfect step with one another. And even when the child grows big enough to go off and explore their world, the everlasting embrace endures.
Taking Flight: From War Orphan To Star Ballerina
Michaela DePrince was known as girl Number 27 at the orphanage, where she is abandoned at a young age and tormented as a “devil child” for a skin condition that makes her skin appear spotted. But it is at the orphanage that Michaela finds a picture of a beautiful ballerina en pointe that would helps change the course of her life. At the age of four, Michaela is adopted by an American family, who encourage her love of dancing and enroll her in classes. She goes on to study at the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School at the American Ballet Theatre and is now the youngest principal dancer with the Dance Theatre of Harlem. In this engaging, moving, and unforgettable memoir, Michaela shares her dramatic journey from an orphan in West Africa to becoming one of ballet’s most exciting rising stars.
Walking Home
Set in both the wilds and slums of Kenya, a powerful story about a brother and sister’s brave journey to find a place to call home. 13-year-old Muchoki and his younger sister, Jata, can barely recognize what’s become of their lives. Only weeks ago they lived in a bustling Kenyan village, going to school, playing soccer with friends, and helping at their parents’ store. But sudden political violence has killed their father and destroyed their home. Now, Muchoki, Jata, and their ailing mother live in a tent in an overcrowded refugee camp. By day, they try to fend off hunger and boredom. By night, their fears about the future are harder to keep at bay. Driven by both hope and desperation, Muchoki and Jata set off on what seems like an impossible journey: to walk hundreds of kilometers to find their last remaining family.
Taken
Rio Cruz and a crew of young disabled veterans are teamed up to sail around the world for charity–but when they are kidnapped by an psychotic African warlord and his band of child soldiers the trip of a lifetime turns into a nightmare journey into the African jungle.
Cartwheeling In Thunderstorms
Living half-wild on an African farm with her horse, her monkey, and her best friend, every day is beautiful. But when her home is sold and Will is sent away to boarding school in England, the world becomes impossibly difficult. Lions and hyenas are nothing compared to packs of vicious schoolgirls. Where can a girl run to in London? And will she have the courage to survive?
See the review at WOW Review, Volume VII, Issue 3
My Bibi Always Remembers
Tembo, a little African elephant, wants to be just like her grandmother, Bibi, but is often distracted when she is supposed to be following Bibi to a watering hole. Includes a note about elephants.
Moses
Meet Moses, an orphaned elephant baby from Malawi, Africa, who is curious, loving, and full of mischief! This nonfiction picture book bursts with fun facts and adorable photographs.
Hope Springs
A drought has settled in the area around the orphanage where Boniface lives. There are long line-ups at the tiny spring where all the local people get their water, and suddenly the orphans are pushed to the back of the line, unwelcome. Boniface’s houseparent, Henry, tells him that the people were mean out of fear–they feared there would not be enough water for their families. When the building of the orphanage’s well is completed, Boniface has an idea to help the villagers.
This book has been included in WOW’s Kids Taking Action Booklist. For our current list, visit our Boolist page under Resources in the green navigation bar.
Old Mikamba Had a Farm
The inhabitants of Old Makimba’s farm in Africa, including a baboon, an elephant, and a lion, are described, verse by verse. Includes facts about African animals.