African messages for American kids

Kilby, the middle sister, has been gathering books from our stash. Her middle-school service club is collecting books for the African Library Project (africanlibraryproject.org). Volunteers create libraries in African schools and villages using donated (often recycled) books. We thought we would send some books starring that continent but share them with you first. Reynolds High School is collecting books for the same cause. Drop off your old picture or board books or new ones by Feb. 18. How cool to think that a child across the world may fall in love with stories you have cherished!

AFRICAN ACROSTICS: A Word in Edgeways. By Avis Harley. Candlewick. Ages 5-8. $17.99.

Beautiful photographs accompany these tricky poems. The wild animals of Africa star in every acrostic. For example, in the acrostic "Kudu Kudos," "How do you do a ‘How-do-you-do' if/ Ever you meet a kudu?/ Reach out/And shake hand with a horn."

Even though this super-cute picture book is recommended for young ages, readers of any age could enjoy the awesome pictures and creative poems.

THE JUNGLE GRAPEVINE. By Alex Beard. Abrams. Ages 5-9. $16.95.

An African picture-book version of the game "telephone," The Jungle Grapevine shows how rumors get started and continue to fly. Turtle comments that the humor at the watering hole has been drying up; his off-the-cuff remark turns into a community-wide panic that a drought is coming. All the African grassland animals tell one another about the impending danger. This book provides a good glimpse not only at the savanna of Africa but also at how falsities can spread like wildfire.

THE LION & THE MOUSE. By Jerry Pinkney. Little, Brown. All ages. $16.99.

With all illustration and zero text, Jerry Pinkney (one of our favorite illustrators) creates artistic wizardry with his rendition of Aesop's fable. To jog your memory: A mighty lion captures and releases a mouse. Later the lion is ensnared in a net. The mouse chews through the ropes so that the lion is freed. The moral of the story, of course, is that no act of kindness goes unrewarded.

However, Pinkney shows rather than tells the story, allowing young readers to supply their own words. Set in the African grassland, this beautiful picture book is one to cherish.

SAHWIRA: An African Friendship. By Carolyn Marsden and Philip Matzigkeit. Candlewick. Ages 12 and up. $15.99.

Evan and Blessing are best friends on the mission in Rhodesia. They are sahwira, closer than relatives. But racial tension is building, making this friendship between an African and a white American increasingly difficult. Older African boys on the mission antagonize Blessing and Evan for their companionship. Evan's friends at his all-white school make fun of his black friend. Back at the mission, many of the boys are leaving to participate in communist activities. These Africans are gathering in the bush, preparing to fight the oppressing white government.

Evan is forced into a game of tug-of-war between his loyal friend Blessing and the racist white school that he must attend. This is a great boy book, something that's not east to find. The deep underlying meanings make Sahwira a good read for older ages as well.

CHRISTIAN THE LION. By Anthony Bourke and John Rendall. Random House. Ages 8-10. 128 pages. $14.99.

CHRISTIAN THE LION. By Anthony Bourke and John Rendall. Henry Holt. Ages 5-10. $16.99.

Both the chapter-book and the scrapbook versions of this true story will captivate any reader's heart. In the early 1970s, two young men rescued a young lion cub from Harrods Department Store in London. They bought the cub and took him to their furniture store to live in hopes of giving him a freer life. Instead, the gentle giant cat's appearance frightened customers and they banished him to the basement. Through a fortunate series of coincidences, the men (the authors) found a way to return Christian to his natural habitat in Kenya.

Their story and their eventual reunion was filmed while Christian made his transition to the wild. In 2008, a clip of their reunion became a YouTube sensation (look it up -- it's heartwarming). These books provide a greater appreciation of the YouTube video and of the work that the Born Free Foundation is accomplishing in Africa.

Monica Young and Hannah McRae young can be reached at cyoung9@triad.rr.com. View book reviews at the Journal in Education site at www.jie.journalnow.com.