Africa

Materials from Africa

This for That

Rabbit tricks the other animals of the African plain into giving her food and other treats.

Wangari’s Trees of Peace: A True Story from Africa

As a young girl growing up in Kenya, Wangari was surrounded by trees. But years later when she returns home, she is shocked to see whole forests being cut down, and she knows that soon all the trees will be destroyed. So Wangari decides to do something – and starts by planting nine seedlings in her own backyard. And as they grow, so do her plans. This true story of Wangari Maathai, environmentalist and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, is a shining example of how one woman’s passion, vision, and determination inspired great change.

Caring for Cheetahs

Author Rosanna Hansen travels to Namibia, Africa, to help cheetahs, one of the worlds endangered species. She helps save a cheetah cub from a life-threatening injury. She pets a thoroughly tame cheetah. She sets up a cheetah race. (Cheetahs love to run.) And she meets many cheetahs that are not so tame. Humans are taking over cheetah habitat, so the world’s fastest runners are running out of space and hanging on in low numbers. People are working to save them one by one through organizations like the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF), which runs the reserve the author visits. Young readers will revel in this up-close perspective on the magnificent cheetah.

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.

The Royal Drum: An Ashanti Tale

A read-aloud rebus treasure from the Ashanti in Ghana. Who is the laziest animal of all? All the animals gather together to help make a drum for the king of the jungle, but Anansi makes certain that Monkey ends up with the hardest job of all.

Koi and the Kola Nuts

An African folktale follows the son of a chief who must make his way in the world with only a sackful of kola nuts and the help of some creatures that he has treated with kindness.

Ananse’s Feast: An Ashanti Tale

Unwilling to share his feast, Ananse the spider tricks Akye the turtle so that he can eat all the food himself, but Akye finds a way to get even.