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.
Croco’nile
Set sail for adventure with Hamut and his sister Nekatu as they stow away on a sailboat, paint a pyramid, win the favor of a pharaoh, and escape their kidnappers on the back of a crocodile.
The First Bear in Africa!
When a little girl leaves her little stuffed bear behind, young Meto must race against time to give it back to her and enlists the help of his friends, Hippopotamus, Lion, Elephant, and Giraffe.
Why the Sun and the Moon Live in the Sky
An African folktale tells how the sun and water once lived on earth as friends, but because the sun failed to build his house large enough, he and his wife, the moon, were driven into the sky when the water came to visit them.
Beatrice’s Goat
More than anything, Beatrice longs to be a schoolgirl. But in her small African village, only children who can afford uniforms and books can go to school. Beatrice knows that with six children to care for, her family is much too poor. But then Beatrice receives a wonderful gift from some people far away — a goat! Fat and sleek as a ripe mango, Mugisa (which means “luck”) gives milk that Beatrice can sell. With Mugisa’s help, it looks as if Beatrice’s dream may come true after all. Based on a true story about the work of Project Heifer.