momto2Cs Posted September 27, 2012 Share Posted September 27, 2012 All I can think of are the Tarzan books by Edward Rice Burroughs. I know there are a ton of books ON Africa out there, but am looking specifically for good literature set in Africa. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted September 27, 2012 Share Posted September 27, 2012 We did an Africa unit with lots of books before we traveled there last year. There's a ton of good picture books out there. I posted some of the ones we used here, but there are others. Some would probably be too young for your two, but some wouldn't - Tololwa Mollel, for example, writes very short but moving little books. I also posted a few chapter books here. Your kids would be too old technically for Anna Hibiscus, but they're sweet little early chapter books (think Magic Treehouse level, but better writing). But they'd be the perfect age for Journey to Jo'berg. And we LOVED Bulu, which was nonfiction, but long like a chapter book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taz007 Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 :bigear: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harriet Vane Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 Two for high school: The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency Cry The Beloved Country Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paige Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 My DDs liked Kai- A Mission for her Village. It's very similar to American Girl books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 Two for high school: The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency Cry The Beloved Country Ah, yes, high school didn't even occur to me, but there are many great reads for high school - Chinua Achebe, for example. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZooRho Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 A Girl Named Disaster by Nancy Farmer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ocelotmom Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay (probably around middle school reading level, but high school content). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serendipitous journey Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 Isak Dinesen comes to mind -- she is a marvelous writer. Here's a link to her Out of Africa (which, unlike the movie, is not about her marriage and her syphilitic husband. It is about Africa, experienced by a European writer who had a farm there.) Then there's Invictus. okay, okay, it's a movie too -- but I tell you, I heard about the book first in this review @ the Economist. These aren't really elementary, though. But they're what I know so thought I'd add to the thread... ETA: you're going to read Burroughs, too, yes? Those books are just too much fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanikit Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 Fiela's Child and Circles in the Forest (Dalene Matthee) are worth reading - she wrote a number of other books too - Mulberry Forest and Dream Forest are best known. They are possibly early high school level. A younger book (age 6-8 perhaps) At the Crossroads by Rachel Isadora is also worth reading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serendipitous journey Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 okay: I pulled out my copy of Valerie and Walter's. Here's some African literature for children: Books aimed at children reading better than early elementary; best bet for your ages, I think: Safari Journal Misoso Talking Walls: "Talking Walls introduces young readers to different cultures by exploring the stories of walls around the world and how they can separate or hold communities together. American Bookseller "Pick of the Lists;" Boston GLobe Top 25 Non-Fiction Children's Books, 1992; ALA Booklist, Starred Review; Horn Book, Noteworthy Book, 1993." Facing the Lion: Growing up Masai on the African Savanna (not from V&W, one I found) Books for middle and up (more mature content): Girl Named Disaster (content warning: for 11 and up, girl evades child marriage) Glory Field Storyteller's Beads (a Christian and a Jewish girl befriend each other, despite traditions of religious animosity, fleeing drought-devastated Ethiopia into the Sudan) Suits early elementary, middle elementary might enjoy too: A is for Africa Ashanti to Zulu: African Traditions Boundless Grace (about a child who travels to visit family in Africa; sequel to Amazing Grace) Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain Galimoto Head, Body, Legs: a Story from Liberia Imani's Music Masai and I Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters (we've read this, it is excellent early lit.) Rain (this is an animal story for K&up) Ring of Tricksters (African tales from the diaspora) When Africa was Home Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanikit Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 On Foot through Africa by Ffyona Campbell is not African but discusses walking through Africa from South Africa to Morocco. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hannah Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 Bookchat is a site for South African books. Here are some more books set in Africa listed by Ibby (International Board on Books for Young People). There are tabs on the left for different categories. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momto2Cs Posted September 29, 2012 Author Share Posted September 29, 2012 WOW! Thank you all so much! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
estelleblue Posted September 29, 2012 Share Posted September 29, 2012 I have considered making up my own literature-based study for Africa. Some of the books I have found that have not yet been mentioned are: the Akimbo series http://www.amazon.com/Akimbo-Lions-Alexander-McCall-Smith/dp/1582346879/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1348879926&sr=8-1&keywords=akimbo and Growing Up in Africa http://www.amazon.com/Growing-Up-Africa-Genny-Nuckolls/dp/1599550474/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1348880035&sr=1-1&keywords=growing+up+in+africa. I haven't read these, but they looked good, and I still plan to read them to my kids. Some great picture books that I have read are: Galimoto Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain Mama Panya's Pancakes Beatrice's Goat One Hen (highly recommend!) Wangari's Trees of Peace For You are a Kenyan Child Africa is Not a Country Masai and I Jambo Means Hello Moja Means One Planting the Trees of Kenya:The Story of Wangari Maathai Mama Miti: Wangari Maathai and the trees of Kenya Seeds of Change: Wagari's Gift to the World We All Went on Safari Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
estelleblue Posted September 29, 2012 Share Posted September 29, 2012 Some other really great books about Africa, but may (probably) have subjects that are too mature for your children (your call, obviously) are: There is No Me Without You (Ethiopia) Long Way Gone:Memoir of a Boy Soldier (Sierra Leone) Running for My Life:One Lost Boy's Journey from the Killing Fields of Sudan to the Olympic Games (Sudan/Kenya) Left to Tell (Rwanda) The Price of Stones: Building a School for My Village (Uganda) Hospital By the River (Ethiopia) Long Way Gone, Running for My Life, and especially Left to Tell have very explicit details about genocide and war. It was nearly traumatic for me to read. However, it might be useful information for you to have when teaching your kids. Our family is adopting from Ethiopia or Uganda, and I have long had a passion for Africa. So this is a topic near and dear to my heart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted September 29, 2012 Share Posted September 29, 2012 Here are a few; even though you have late elementary/early middle school ages, picture books are fabulous for the myth/culture AND the artwork of the area! NORTH AFRICA (fiction) grades 1+ - The Storytellers -- (Morroco); picture book; folktale - Bachelor & The Bean -- (Morocco) picture book; folktale - Leila: A Tuareg Child -- (N. Africa) picture book; Saharan culture - One Night in the Desert -- (N. Africa) picture book;Tuareg/Sahara culture - Ali, Child of the Desert -- (N. Africa) picture book grades 5-8 readers - Royal Diaries: Nzingha: Warrior Queen of Matamba -- (Angola) historical fiction - Mzungu Boy -- historical fiction - African Mask -- historical fiction AFRICA: EAST and "the horn" (fiction) gr. 1+ - The Perfect Orange -- (Ethiopia) folktale - My Great Grandmother's Gourd -- (Sudan) picture book - E is for Ethiopia -- non-fiction gr. 5-8 readers - The Storyteller's Beads -- (Ethopia) refugees flee gr. 6+ readers - Living in a Refugee Camp: Carbino's Story (Sudan) - Year of No Rain AFRICA: WEST/CENTRAL gr. 1+ - Tales from African Plains -- folktales gr. 4-6 reader - Rat Catcher's Son -- folktales AFRICA: SOUTH and MADAGASCAR gr. 1+ - Beat the Story Drum Pum-Pum -- folktales gr. 4-6 reader - Journey to Jo'burg -- historical fiction gr. 9+ reader - books from No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency (by Alexander McCall Smith) -- (Botswana) - classic Literature: Cry the Beloved Country (Paton) - classic Literature: Things Fall Apart (Achebe) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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