14 Cows for America - Carmen Agra Deedy

In collaboration with Wilson Kimeli Naiyomah
Illustrated by Thomas Gonzalez
Peachtree, 2009
36 pgs.
Rating: 4
Endpapers: (front) blazing sunset, (back) dusky sky

Kimeli comes home to his remote native village in Wesern Kenya from his studies at Stanford University. It's been most of a year since September 11th, and he tells the devastating story to his village. To these Masai people, the cow is life. They invite the U. S. Ambassador to their village and present him with 14 cows they've specially blessed - as an offering for the future. The book ends, "Because there is no nation so powerful it cannot be wounded, nor a people so small they cannot offer mighty comfort."

There's a two-page explanation at the end by Wilson Kimeli Naiyomah, for this is his story. The full-page deeply-colored illustrations accentuate the uniqueness of these Masai people artistically showing their customs and life in lovely detail - a beautiful story.

Note: The 14 cows are being cared for in Kenya. They are blessed, sacred, and can never be slaughtered. The herd now numbers 35.

There are reviews at 5 Minutes for Books, the Scrub-a-Dub-Tub Blog, and at School Library Journal.