Africa in Children's Literature

Here's My IN PROCESS list for books on/about Africa that I've blogged about:

Picture Books:
Beard, Alex, The Jungle Grapevine - African animals play "telephone" in this cleverly worded tale.
Cummings, Pat, Ananse and the Lizard - West African/Ghana tale about the trickster spider.
Cunnane, Kelly - Chirchir Is Singing - A young contemporary Kenyan girl discovers that while she is too little to help her family with chores, her cheerful singing helps them all complete theirs in a happier way.
Daly, Niki - What's Cooking, Jamela? - Jamela raises a chicken that is to be the main part of Christmas dinner, but when it becomes a pet she goes to dire straits to make sure that “Christmas” does NOT become Christmas dinner.

Deedy, Carmen Agra, 14 Cows for America - A Masai tribe in Kenya bless and care for cows in memory of the 9/11 victims.
Doner, Kim, On a Road in Africa - Real life Oklahoma woman runs an animal orphanage in Kenya.
Graber, Janet, Muktar and the Camels - A Somalian refugee now living in an orphanage in Kenya misses his family and camels so much that he becomes the helper to a camel librarian.
Grifalconi, Ann, The Village That Vanished - Yao girl and her mother save their Malawi/Mozambique/Tanzania village from slave traders
Hassan, Marian A., Dhegdheer, A Scary Somali Folktale - Evil, cannibalistic Dhegdheer turns green lands to desert
Hoffman, Mary, The Color of Home - Young Somalian refugee misses the colors of his homeland
Isadora, Rachel, Over the Green Hills - In South Africa during the time of apartheid, Zolani and his mother walk all day to take supplies to Grandma Zolani
Javaherbin, Mina, Goal! - In contemporary South Africa, five friends playing with their first real soccer ball watch for bullies and fiigure out a way to thwart them from stealing the coveted ball.
Kurtz, Jane & Kurtz, Christopher, Water Hole Waiting - In Eastern Africa (Kenya/Ethiopia border) vervet monkeys watchfully wait their turn at a much-used water hole
McBrier, Page, Beatrice's Goat- A mother and her children in Uganda receive a Heifer Project goat
Milway, Katie Smith, One Hen: How One Small Loan Made a Big Difference - Women in Ghana receive community loans to begin small businesses
Moriarty, Kathleen, Wiil Waal - A Somali folk tale about a Sultan who meets his match by finding a wise woman when he's looking for a wise man.
Musgrove, Margaret, The Spider Weaver: A Legend of Kente Cloth - a Ghanan folktale about two weavers who found a spider's web so beautifully woven that they decided to recreate it.
Nelson, Kadir; Nelson Mandela - a biography of sorts, with beautiful illustrations.
Nivola, Claire A, Planting the Trees of Kenya - The true story of Wangari Maathai, who spendt 30 years planting seeds to reforest Kenya.
Onyefulu, Ifeoma, One Big Family: Sharing life in an African Village - Using photographs, Obioma describes the way age groups called Ogbos are a way-of-life in her eastern Nigerian village.
Roth, Susan L. & Cindy Trumbore, The Mangrove Tree; Planting Trees to Feed Families - Tells how scientish Dr. Gordon Sato discovered that Mangrove trees thrive near a salty sea and provide ample leaves for food for goats and sheep, which creates a chain reaction of helping people of all sorts.
Stock, Catherine, Gugu's House - Young Zimbabwe girls helps her grandmother decoratively paint her house until the much-needed rains come, and they begin again.
Whelan, Gloria, Yatandou - In Mali, the women of a village receive a machine that will help them grind millet to make grain instead of spending all day pounding it.
Williams, Karen Lynn, Galimoto - Young Malawi boy creates a toy fashioned from wire
Williams, Karen Lynn & Khadra Mohammed, My Name is Sangoel - Sudanese refugee wants people in American to correctly pronounce his name
Williams, Mary, Brothers in Hope - A story of the Lost Boys of Sudan, we follow a fictitious Garang from the time he loses his family at 8 until he reaches America at 21.
Winter, Jeanette, Elsina's Clouds - Besotho, South African girl paints her house with designs to help summon the rain
Winter, Jeanette, My Baby - In Mali, Nakunte paints a special bogolan cloth for her new baby as she thinks of all the creatures in her village.
Winter, Jeanette, Wangari's Trees of Peace - True story of a woman who reforested Kenya.

Middle Grade and YA Fiction:
Applegate, Katherine, Home of the Brave - Sudanese refugee comes to America, 256 pgs.
Ellis, Deborah, The Heaven Shop - Three siblings are separated after their coffin-maker father dies of AIDS and suffer at other's hands until they are able to reunite.
Mead, Alice, Year of No Rain - Three young boys hit the road - barefoot and starving - looking for refuge when their southern Sudan village is attacked and their families are killed. 130 pgs.
Park, Linda Sue - A Long Walk to Water - Based on the true story of Salva Dut, one of the "lost boys of Sudan," who spent years as a refugee in the southern Sudan before coming to America and deciding to help the southern Sudanese in any way he can.
St.John, Lauren - The White Giraffe - After her parents are killed in a house fire, Martine is sent to live with her previously unknown grandmother on a south African wildlife reserve, where she is befriended by a mythical white giraffe.
Smith, Alexander McCall, Akimbo and the Crocodile Man - A young boy accompanies a crocodile expert who is tagging newborn crocs and their mothers when disaster strikes and young Akimbo has to take charge.
Stolz, Joelle, The Shadows of Ghadames -19th Century Libyan women live on the roofs of their town following strict Islamic gender rules. 118 pgs.
Whelan, Gloria, Listening for Lions - Early 20th century Kenyan missionaries die, leaving their daughter to do everything she can to return to Kenya and rebuild their hospital, 194 pgs.
Yohalem, Eve, Escape Under the Forever Sky - The 13-year old Ethiopian ambassador's daughter is kidnapped and must make her way across dangerous terrain to escape. 220 pgs.

Countries:
Botswana: 
Smith, Alexander McCall, Akimbo and the Crocodile Man - A young boy accompanies a crocodile expert who is tagging newborn crocs and their mothers when disaster strikes and young Akimbo has to take charge.

Eritrea:
Roth, Susan L. & Cindy Trumbore, The Mangrove Tree; Planting Trees to Feed Families - Tells how scientish Dr. Gordon Sato discovered that Mangrove trees thrive near a salty sea and provide ample leaves for food for goats and sheep, which creates a chain reaction of helping people of all sorts.

Ethiopia:
Kurtz, Jane & Kurtz, Christopher, Water Hole Waiting - In eastern Africa (Ethiopa/Kenya border), vervet monkeys watchfully wait their turn at a much-used watering hole.
Yohalem, Eve, Escape Under the Forever Sky - the 13-year-old ambassador's daughter is kidnapped and must make her way across dangerous terrain to escape. 220 pgs.


Ghana:
Cummings, Pat, Ananse and the Lizard - West Africa/Ghana Tale about the trickster spider
Milway, Katie Smith, One Hen: How One Small Loan Made a Big Difference - Women receive community loans to begin small businesses
Musgrove, Margaret, The Spider Weaver: A Legend of Kente Cloth - Ghana folktale about two weavers that find a spider that spins gorgeous webs that they recreate in their own weaving.

Kenya:
Cunnane, Kelly, Chirchir Is Singing - A young contemporary Kenyan girl discovers that while she is too little to help her family with chores, her cheerful singing helps them all complete theirs in a happier way.
Deedy, Carmen Agra, 14 Cows for America - A Masai tribe bless and care for cows in memory of the 9/11 victims.
Doner, Kim, On a Road in Africa - Real life Oklahoma woman runs an animal orphanage near Nairobi.
Graber, Janet, Muktar and the Camels - A Somalian refugee living in an orphanage in Kenya misses his family and camels so much that he becomes a helper to a camel-riding librarian.
Kurtz, Jane & Kurtz, Christopher, Water Hole Waiting - see Ethiopia, above
Nivola, Claire A., Planting the Trees of Kenya - True story of Wangari maathai who spent 30 years seeding and planting trees in Kenya.
Whelan, Gloria, Listening for Lions -Early 20th century missionaries die, leaving their daughter to do everything she can to return to Kenya and rebuild their hospital, 194 pgs.
Winter, Jeanette, Wangari's Trees of Peace - True story of how a woman reforested Kenya.


Libya
Stolz, Joelle, The Shadows of Ghadames - 19th century women live on the roofs of their town, following strict Islamic gender rules. 118 pgs.

Malawi:
Williams, Karen Lynn, Galimoto - Young Malawi boy creates a toy fashioned from wire
Ellis, Deborah, The Heaven Shop (YA) - Three siblings are separated after their coffin-maker father dies of AIDS and suffer at other's hands until they are able to reunite.
Grifalconi, Ann, The Village That Vanished - Yao girl & her mother save their village from slave traders .

Mali:
Whelan, Gloria, Yatandou - The women in a poor village receive a machine that will save them endless hours pounding millet.
Winter, Jeanette, My Baby - Nakunte paints a special bogolan cloth for her new baby as thinks of all the creatures in her village.

Nigeria:
Onyefulu, Ifeoma, One Big Family: Sharing Life in an African Village - Using photographs, young Obioma describes how age groups called ogbos are the way-of-life in her eastern Nigerian village.

Somalia:
Hassan, Marian A., Dhegdheer, A Scary Somali Folktale - Evil, cannibalistic Dhegdheer turns lush green lands into desert
Hoffman, Mary, The Color of Home - Refugee misses the colors of his homeland, Somalia
Moriarty, Kathleen, Wiil Waal - A tale about a Sultan who meets his match when he finds a wise woman when looking for a wise man.

South Africa:
Daly, Niki, What's Cooking, Jamela? - Jamela raises a chicken that is to be the main part of Christmas dinner, but when it becomes a pet she goes to dire straits to make sure that “Christmas” does NOT become Christmas dinner.

Isadora, Rachel, Over the Green Hills - In South Africa during the time of apartheid, Zolani and his mother walk all day to take supplies to his Grandmother.
Javaherbin, Mina, Goal! - In contemporary South Africa, five friends playing with their first real soccer ball watch for bullies and figure out a way to stop them from stealing the coveted ball.
Nelson, Kadir; Nelson Mandela - a biography
St. John, Lauren, The White Giraffe - After her parents are killed in a house fire, Martine is sent to live with her previously unknown grandmother on a south African wildlife reserve, where she is befriended by a mythical white giraffe.
Winter, Jeanette, Elsina's Clouds - Besotho girl decoratively paints her house to help summon the rains

Sudan:
Applegate, Katherine, Home of the Brave - Sudanese refugee comes to America, 256 pgs.
Mead, Alice, Year of No Rain - Three young boys hit the road - barefoot and starving - heading for shelter and food when their southern Sudan village is attacked and their families are killed.
Park, Linda Sue - A Long Walk to Water - Based on the true story of Salva Dut, one of the "lost boys of Sudan," who spent years as a refugee in the southern Sudan before coming to America and deciding to help the southern Sudanese in any way he can.
Williams, Karen Lynn & Khadra Mohammed, My Name is Sangoel - Sudanese refugee wants people in America to correctly pronounce his name.
Williams, Mary - Brothers in Hope - A fictitious story based on true stories of the Lost Boys of Sudan, it follows Garang from age 8 when he loses his family to age 21 when he reaches America.


Uganda:
McBrier, Page, Beatrice's Goat - A mother and her children receive a Heifer Project goat

Zimbabwe:
Stock, Catherine, Gugu's House - A grandmother teaches her granddaughter how to sculpt mud animals and walls, then decoratively paint the house before the rains come and they begin again

Refugees in America:
Applegate, Katherine, Home of the Brave - Sudanese refugee comes to America, 256 pgs.
Hoffman, Mary, The Color of Home - Young refugee misses the colors of Somalia
Williams, Karen Lynn & Khadra Mohammed, My Name is Sangoel - Sudanese refugee wants people in America to correctly pronounce his name. Picture Book.