An adaptation of a folktale from southern Africa, in which a magical bird helps a kind young girl get back her people’s stolen cattle from Makucha the monster.
Song Bird
Africa
Materials from Africa
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.
Baby Baboon
When lazy Leopard cannot catch Hare for his dinner, he goes after Baby Baboon instead.
This for That
Rabbit tricks the other animals of the African plain into giving her food and other treats.
The 12 Days of Christmas
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.
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.
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)
Halala Means Welcome: A Book Of Zulu Words (Jump At The Sun)
Introduces words in Zulu, a “musical language with unusual clicking sounds” while following the activities of a boy at home in South Africa.
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 Camel That Had No Hump
All the camels are worried when a baby camel is born among them without a hump. The adult camels try unsuccessfully to fix this problem. Surprising events lead to a happy ending to this gentle story where children expand perceptions of the differently gifted among all of us.