|
Of course, one of the best ways to learn is by actually visiting Africa. (But
remember, if you go on a safari you'll only really get acquainted with animals,
magnificent though they are!) Another fine way - the most accessible of all -
is by reading. My advice? Read, Read, Read! Get kids reading too; there are
plenty of both picture and chapter books for them. I'll get you started with
five of my favorite African novels, each one quite different from the rest;
then I'll recommend several children's books and give you a hotlink to our
African Studies Center site for more suggestions.
(But first, it's pop quiz time: can you name the three Nobel Literature Prize
winners from Africa? The answer is at the bottom of this page.)
Now for my recommended titles for adults. I've included here a hotlink to
amazon.com, which generally has good summaries and reviews of these books.
- Miriama Ba, So Long a Letter, is the winner of the first Noma Award for the
best book published on the continent in 1980.
- Ngugi wa Thiong'o's Grain of Wheat, offers a powerful contrast to Hemingway
and Isak Diniesen's settler views of Kenya. (Note: His "last name" is Ngugi.)
- J. Nozipo Maraire's Zenzele: Letters to My Daughter is a frequent favorite
of American book groups and was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year for
1996.
- Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart is perhaps the most widely read African
novel in the world.
- Sundiata, the 13th century epic of the founding ruler of ancient Mali, was
sung and recounted for six hundred years before being written down for the
first time in 1960 by D.T. Niane.
Now for children's books. The African Studies Association annually honors the
best children's books on Africa. Here I'm including four favorites from among
the award winners. You can visit our African Studies Center website for the
full list of winners-as well as for advice on selecting children's books on
Africa and for other resources for learning and teaching about Africa.
- Sundiata: Lion King of Mali by David Wisniewski is a picture book version of
the epic of the founder of ancient Mali, one of the wealthiest kingdoms in the
world in the 13th century. (See above for the adult version.) The New York
Times declared this picture book one of the ten best illustrated of 1992.
- Jane Cowen-Fletcher, with a story set in Benin, brings vividly to life the
African adage, It Takes a Village [to raise a child].
- Beverley Naidoo's chapter book Journey to Jo'burg has won numerous awards.
(Naidoo has written other fine novels for older children.)
- My Rows and Piles of Coins by Tololwa Mollel. (Mollel's other picture
books are also a delight.)
(Did you get the names of all three Nobel laureates in literature? They're
Wole Soyinka of Nigeria; Nadine Gordimer of South Africa; and Naguib Mahfouz of
Egypt. Now can you name the five African winners of the Nobel Peace Prize?
I'll only give you this hint: four are South African and one is Egyptian.)
|
|
