Sarah loves the magic shell her grandpa gave her. All Sarah can hear are everyday noises. It’s only when Sarah closes her eyes and really listens that the magic inside is unlocked.
Africa
Materials from Africa
Happy Birthday Jamela!
Jamela and her family go to shoe store for her birthday gift. Jamela loves what the store clerk shows, but Jamela’s mama picks the practical & comfortable shoes for her. Although Jamela gets disappointed, she decorates her new shoes with beads and sparkly bits. When Jamela shows her special shoes, her mother doesn’t show support for Jamela. Lily, Jamela’s neighbor, liked Jamela’s decorated shoes and they make decorated shoes together. Lily names them Jamela’s shoes. In the market, their shoes sold like hotcakes. Jamela got her share from Lily. On Jamela’s birthday, Jamela gets very special gift from her mother as a consequence of the ‘Jamela’s shoes’.
Ryan and Jimmy: And the Well In Africa that Brought Them Together
In Agweo, Uganda, villagers were used to walking a long way every day in search of water. It costs a lot of money to build a well in Africa. The 6-year-old, Ryan Hreljac, kept doing chores around his parents’ house, even after he learned it could take him years to earn enough money to build one. Then a friend of the family wrote an article in the local newspaper about Ryan’s wish to build a well in Africa to supply people with clean water. After Ryan’s well was built, a young orphan named Akana longed for a chance to thank Ryan in person for this gift of life-clean water.
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.
Owen & Mzee: The True Story Of a Remarkable Friendship
True story of two great friends: a baby hippo named Owen and a 130-year-old giant tortoise named Mzee. In December 2004, a young hippo separated from his family by the devastating tsunami in Southeast Asia, adopted an ancient Aldabra tortoise as his ” mother”. And the old tortoise, for years a loner, accepted the baby hippo as his own. They are now inseparable.
Drumbeat In Our Feet
The beauty of African dances is explained by introducing the history and the energy of African dances. The poetic rhythms of African dance are the instrument of the poem flow.
Illustrative medium; watercolor and colored pencil.
Home Now
A child dealing with loss while trying to find her place in a new home. An author’s note provides context for the plight of the many children orphaned by the AIDS epidemic in Africa.
The African Mask
Twelve-year-old Layo, a Yoruba girl living in the area of eleventh-century Africa which is now Nigeria, attempts to reject the man who has been chosen to be her husband.
All the Magic in the World
The children who play in the street laugh at the odd-job man Joseph for picking up string and other junk, until he shows them that magic can be found in even the simplest of things.
The Rains Are Coming
As Aimee, the daughter of a missionary in Zaire, gathers her friends for a party, the sky grows more and more threatening.
Zorah’s Magic Carpet
A Moroccan woman’s magic carpet takes her to far away places, which provide inspiration for her to create other beautiful carpets.