Education Resource Area: Global Voices

Ethiopia

Ethiopia

Ghana:
Inspired by true events, One Hen tells the story of Kojo, a boy from Ghana who turns a small loan into a thriving farm and a livelihood for many.

Iraq

Israel:
Mom's departure in the morning leaves little Noni wondering, Where's Mom? While he's at his grandparents' house, where does she go? Is she at the florist's? Or the gym? He thinks of all the different places she could be throughout the day. But when Mom arrives to pick Noni up, he is nowhere to be found, and it's Mom's turn to look for him! Readers will delight in playing along as they discover Noni in his different hiding places throughout the house, even when Mom can't!

Israel

Kenya:
For months, the sun has baked Lila's Kenyan village. It's too hot to gather firewood, too hot to weed the garden, even too hot to milk the cow. Without rain, the crops will fail. Lila is so worried that when her grandfather whispers to her the secret of making the rain fall, she decides to do something about it - even if it means confronting the sky itself. Lila's quest to save the village is beautifully told in David Conway's elegant, sparse prose. Jude Daly's color-drenched illustrations perfectly evoke both the parched landscape and vibrant village life.

Kenya:
Chirchir just wants to make herself useful like all her other family members. But she drops Mama's water bucket, spills Kogo's tea, and sends Baba's potatoes tumbling down the hill. Isn't there something that Chirchir does best? Set in the rolling hills of rural Kenya, this is a wise and lyrical story about belonging from Kelly Cunnane, the author of the Ezra Jack Keats Award winner For You Are a Kenyan Child, accompanied by Jude Daly's beautiful folk art-style illustrations.

Kenya:
Follow real-life animal rescuer Chryssee Perry Martin (a.k.a. "Mama 'O'rphanage") as she makes her daily trek down a dusty road in Africa.

Kenya:
Wangari Maathai, winner of the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize and founder of the Green Belt Movement, grew up in the highlands of Kenya, where fig trees cloaked the hills, fish filled the streams, and the people tended their bountiful gardens.

Kenya:
Beatrice is a thirteen-year-old orphan in Kibera, Nairobi - a Kenyan shantytown built on refuse and rubbish and one of the biggest slums in Africa.

Somalia:
A Somali-English Bilingual Children's Picture Book. The heart? The leg? The ribs? What part of the sheep is the answer to the Sultan s riddle? When wise Somali leader Wiil Waal asks the men in his province to bring him the part of a sheep that best symbolizes what can divide men or unite them as one, most present him with prime cuts of meat. But one very poor man s daughter has a different idea. In this clever folktale, a father reluctantly follows his daughter s advice and has astonishing results.

South Africa

South Africa

South Africa:
Waiting for the land to spring to life again after a terrible flood in the Valley of a Thousand Hills, Lindi and her grandmother try to earn a living selling their beautiful beadwork. Then a dove brings hope for the survivors and special good fortune for Lindi and her loving Gogo.

South Africa: In this witty book based on an African folk tale, Thulani prefers sitting in the sun to doing his chores. Tired of milking the cow, he trades her in for a goat. When the goat gets into the corn seed, he trades it for a sheep. Sick of shearing, he buys some geese, which then get exchanged for some sunflower seeds. With each trade, his hard-working wife gets more and more exasperated. Can Thulani redeem himself and still have time for his favorite hobby, doing nothing? Droll text and lively illustrations make this book ideal for repeated readings.

South Africa:
"Pweew Pweew " Malusi's shrill whistling drives the sheep out of grandfather's kraal. By the time they reach the grazing slopes, the earth is hot beneath his bare feet. He keeps the sheep and goats from straying towards the deep donga, which is easy to fall into but hard to climb out of. You have to be awake, and you have to be brave, to be a herd boy. Malusi is a herd boy. It is a big job for a small boy, yet he does it well, no matter the danger. But he also dreams of being more than a herd boy someday: Malusi wants to be president. This simple but poignant story explores the idea that many great leaders have come from humble beginnings. Perhaps what gives someone the strength and integrity to lead well isn't so different from what it takes to be a good herd boy.

South Africa:
A lyrical, strikingly illustrated story celebrates the unifying power of soccer. In a dusty township in South Africa, Ajani and his friends have earned a brand-new, federation-size soccer ball. They kick. They dribble. They run. They score. These clever boys are football champions! But when a crew of bullies tries to steal their ball, will Ajani and his friends be able to beat them at their own game?

In South Africa, a young black boy shares a special day with his grandmother when they go into the city on a shopping trip.

Showing how teachers can infuse global literature throughout the K-8 curriculum, this inspiring guide recommends numerous outstanding books and provides a wealth of teaching ideas.

In this inspiring collection, children living all over the world speak about being forced to flee their homes as refugees. With original, autobiographical accounts, Making It Home gives a poignant voice to the millions of young people whose lives have been disrupted by war but who have escaped. With maps, brief histories of each country, and an eight-page photo insert, this book helps young people understand the world and the children who share the dream of freedom.

Botswana:
Ostrich and Lark spend their days on the grasslands of southern Africa surrounded by a chorus of birdsong. From his perch in a tree Lark joins the chorus, while below Ostrich is silent.

Cameroon:
Boyds Mills Press publishes a wide range of high-quality fiction and nonfiction picture books, chapter books, novels, and nonfiction

Chad:
It is the first day of school in Chad, Africa. Children are filling the road. "Will they give us a notebook?" Thomas asks. "Will they give us a pencil?" "Will I learn to read?" But when he and the other children arrive at the schoolyard, they find no classroom, no desks. Just a teacher. "We will build our school," she says. "This is our first lesson." James Rumford, who lived in Chad as a Peace Corps volunteer, fills these pages with vibrant ink-and-pastel colors of Africa and the spare words of a poet to show how important learning is in a country where only a few children are able to go to school.

Democratic Republic of Congo:
It's market day in a Congolese village It's market day in Luzolo's village, and she has a five-franc coin to spend.

Egypt:
Through simple words and gorgeous images, Mohieddin Ellabbad reflects on his childhood and on the cultural influences that led him to become one of Egypt’s finest illustrators. Using his own creative awakening as an example, he encourages young artists to find inspiration in the world around them, through the most ordinary sources: everyday objects, favorite books and magazines, even through explorations of their own feelings. Pages from Ellabbad’s exquisitely illustrated notebooks are reproduced in their entirety, offering readers of all ages rare insight into the history and traditions of Arabic literature.

Malawi:
Kondi is determined to make a galimoto -- a toy vehicle made of wires. His brother laughs at the idea, but all day Kondi goes about gathering up the wire he needs. By nightfall, his wonderful galimoto is ready for the village children to play with in the light of the moon.

Mali:Little Jamari loves the sound of the great village drum and often sits at drummer Baba's feet. "Why do you play every day?" he asks. "The drum is the keeper of peace in the village," Baba replies. Time passes and many of the village elders pass on. One day Jamari agrees to take over the beating of the drum, to keep the peace. But little by little, he forgets his promise until disaster looms. What will Jamari do to bring back peace? Featuring acclaimed artist Baba Diakité's gorgeous illustrations, Jamari's Drum offers a simple, compelling lesson about duty and the greater good.

Mali:
Penda Diakité joins forces with her award-winning author/artist father to give a charming peek at everyday life in Africa. "This fact-based story of losing a tooth while visiting family in Mali rings with authenticity and good humour...[T]he illustrations exude happiness and togetherness." - The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Mali:
Ten year-old Sidikiba is about to be initiated into the world of the kora, a twenty-one stringed West African harp performed by his family for seventy generations. To become a kora player, like his father and grandfather before him, Sidikiba must honor and respect the wisdom of his elders, trust in the mystical secrets of his community, and, above all else, be patient and practice hard. Sidikiba's Kora Lesson is the story of a child's encounter with a rich cultural heritage set in a modern African city, where learning to balance the new and the old is part of growing up. Through sound, pictures, and text, Sidikiba's Kora Lesson comes alive for readers and music lovers of all ages "

Morocco:
There is a rug in his fathers shop that Mustafa loves. (It has a hole in it, so you can put it over your head and still see out.) No one else wants the rug, though lots of tourists visit the shop. His father always welcomes them"Bienvenue"and offers them tea"O cha wa ikaga desu ka?" Mustafas father would like him to know some words in other languages too, and he tells Mustafa that he may have the rug if he agrees to learn. But after the first lesson, Mustafa is so bored he runs out of the shop (with the carpet on his head). Ending up at the market, he finds a very different way of learning foreign languages....and of getting tourists to visit his fathers shop.

Nigeria:
Anna Hibiscus lives in Africa. Amazing Africa. She lives with her whole family in a wonderful house. There is always somebody to laugh and play with.Anna Hibiscus loves to splash in the sea with her cousins and have parties with her aunties.

Nigeria

Nigeria

Nigeria

Tanzania

Turkey:
As Nasreddine and his father take dates, wool, chickens, or watermelon to market, people tease them no matter who is riding their donkey, and this causes Nasreddine embarrassment until his father helps him to understand.

Uganda:
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.