A celebration of food and culture that reminds youngsters to look back as they move forward.
In this picture book from Top Chef finalist Adjepong, a Ghanaian American boy frets about a school potluck.
The students have been asked to bring in dishes from their families’ cultures, but Kofi worries his classmates won’t enjoy the food he brings in. So he keeps quiet about the potluck until the last minute. Kofi’s parents don’t have time to help, so Kofi’s Nanabarima (grandfather) takes him to the market. There, Kofi hears shoppers speaking in Twi, and Nanabarima tells him that the various foods from their culture have stories all their own, like Carolina Gold rice, brought to America by enslaved Africans who secretly braided it into their hair. Though Kofi, born in the United States, has never been to Ghana, he feels immersed in his culture. He confides that he felt ashamed of being different, but Nanabarima emboldens him to take pride in his heritage. At home, Nanabarima shows Kofi a cookbook titled Sankofa, a reference to the Twi saying “Sankofa w’onkyir” (“we must look back into the past for traditions and stories that have been left behind”), and the two set about preparing for the potluck. Adjepong has crafted a delectable story that blends food history and Ghanaian culture. Watkins’ graphic-style illustrations are full of subtle details that complement the narrative, adding texture and warmth.
A celebration of food and culture that reminds youngsters to look back as they move forward. (recipe for jollof rice) (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2023
ISBN: 9780593385944
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...
Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.
The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 21, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
While the blend of folklore, fantasy and realism is certainly far-fetched, Imani, with her winning personality, is a child...
Imani endures the insults heaped upon her by the other village children, but she never gives up her dreams.
The Masai girl is tiny compared to the other children, but she is full of imagination and perseverance. Luckily, she has a mother who believes in her and tells her stories that will fuel that imagination. Mama tells her about the moon goddess, Olapa, who wins over the sun god. She tells Imani about Anansi, the trickster spider who vanquishes a larger snake. (Troublingly, the fact that Anansi is a West African figure, not of the Masai, goes unaddressed in both text and author’s note.) Inspired, the tiny girl tries to find new ways to achieve her dream: to touch the moon. One day, after crashing to the ground yet again when her leafy wings fail, she is ready to forget her hopes. That night, she witnesses the adumu, the special warriors’ jumping dance. Imani wakes the next morning, determined to jump to the moon. After jumping all day, she reaches the moon, meets Olapa and receives a special present from the goddess, a small moon rock. Now she becomes the storyteller when she relates her adventure to Mama. The watercolor-and-graphite illustrations have been enhanced digitally, and the night scenes of storytelling and fantasy with their glowing stars and moons have a more powerful impact than the daytime scenes, with their blander colors.
While the blend of folklore, fantasy and realism is certainly far-fetched, Imani, with her winning personality, is a child to be admired. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 14, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-934133-57-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Mackinac Island Press
Review Posted Online: July 28, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2014
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