Oct 27 2008
Sikulu and Harambe By the Zambezi River :: Book Review
When the opportunity to review a book by a Nigerian author, Kunle Oguneye, I jumped at the chance. While I have never been to Africa, various bits of its culture has touched me through the lives of my friends and family. Two of my college roommates, Rinnie and Esther, grew up in Kenya. Rinnie’s husband, Erik, also grew up in Kenya is is quite involved in the African technology/ blogging arena (check out Ushahidi, his project to help track violence in Kenya and South Africa). Grace and her husband Sila are friends of ours who are both Kenyan. My Uncle Tim and Aunt Lois have lived in many places in Africa (they are working on getting to Nigeria soon), raising their four children in Chad. My dad was stationed in Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
So, all this African influence in my world and I was excited to get to review this children’s book about friends Sikulu and Harambe, a spider and a hippo respectively. The story, By the Zambezi River
, is a familiar one to me, a retelling of the Bible story The Good Samaritan.
The universal theme of kindness to those in need was very obvious. But the story was also a wonderful introduction to African culture. It brought in geography (the story takes place in Zambia along the Zambezi River), new vocabulary (with an excellent glossary in the back and pronunciation keys in the story), zoology (various animals are the main characters in the story), and the mention of the Ku-omboka Ceremony which is explained in further detail in the back of the book.
I have to mention the illustrations, by Bruce McCorkindale, which were very colorful and easy to follow the story from the pictures. I could read the book to Fuller who could look at the illustrations and visualize what was going on (“Mommy! the clothes are going in the water!”).
From what I can tell from the book cover and the Sikulu.com website, Sikulu and Harambe will be traveling to different areas of Africa in upcoming books. I’m looking forward to following them around the continent and helping Fuller also learn more about Africa. Maybe he’ll actually get to go there one day.
Technorati Tags: Kunle Oguneye, Sikulu and Harambe, children’s books
Discover 40 Bible Study Methods
[...] Crumley Family Blog – The universal theme of kindness to those in need was very obvious. But the story was also a wonderful introduction to African culture. It brought in geography (the story takes place in Zambia along the Zambezi River), new vocabulary (with an excellent glossary in the back and pronunciation keys in the story), zoology (various animals are the main characters in the story), and the mention of the Ku-omboka Ceremony which is explained in further detail in the back of the book. [...]
interesting, if the story ever reaches Kenya, let me know. I am excited that you are teaching your son about Africa too. Do you know what Harambee means in Swahili? Pulling together!!
graces last blog post..Sippy Cup!