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Title: Ashanti to Zulu: African Traditions (Picture Puffin Books)
ISBN: 0140546049
Author:
Margaret Musgrove
Publicate Date: 1992-07-15
Publish: 1992-07-15
List Price: $6.99
Average Customer Rating: 5.0
Format: Paperback
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $2.98
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $0.91
Amazon Merchant Price: $6.99
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| Customer Review: |
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1: gorgeous!
The text is informative and succinct. But it's the illustrations that "make" this book. They are gorgeous and somewhat haunting.
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2: A primer for kids... or adults! A real gem! A keeper!
This book is as beautifully illustrated by Diane & Leo Dillon as it is well written by Margaret Musgrove, and the Caldecott Award committee only did what it had to: acknowledge a hands-down winner, a book for the ages. Westerners particularly will find their eyes opened, even today, to the range and depth of Africa - a great and beautiful aid in helping children appreciate - and adults to remember - the array of cultural diversity in a poorly understood continent. The alphabet is presented in order, of course, but this is way more than your rote A-B-C primer... get it in hardcover if you can, or paperback if you can't, but get it! Gift-shoppers, get extra copies for yourselves - you'll be very glad you did!!
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3: Ashanti to Zulu
My brother & I received this book when we were children in 1980 from our parents. It's one of my favorite childhood books & I still have the same copy. It's a great way to introduce African culture to not only African American children, but all children who yearn to learn about other cultures.
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4: Great alpabet book
This is a book that describes different African tribes from each letter of the alphabet. This is a great way to teach children about African tribes, and the book also pronounces each tribe so it is easier to read. The illustrations are wonderful and full of detail. This would be a great lesson in the classroom to learn about Africa. It would also be great to use each page as a poster or transparency.
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5: The alphabet at its best
Ho hum, thought I when I first saw this book. Yet another African alphabet book. It wasn't too long ago that I read, "Jambo Means Hello", the Swahili alphabet book by Muriel Feelings that was published in 1974. That book was okay, but I was disappointed that it didn't distinguish between tribes or acknowledge the advance of technology in Africa in the 1970s. Then I picked up this 1976 Caldecott winning book and upon reading it I was stunned. This book is everything that "Jambo Mean Hello" SHOULD have been. With meticulously researched information, delicate details, and stunning illustrations this book deserves to be read to every single child in elementary school for as long as there are either children or schools.
The book goes through the alphabet by naming a different tribe for each letter. First of all, I was surprised that there actually was an African tribe for every letter in the alphabet. Shows what I know. As we view each tribe we get a stunning illustration of their clothing, towns or villages, and activities. Author Margaret Musgrove describes their life, picking out the most interesting details for each. Through this method we learn that in Baule legend the crocodiles aided them when they were at war with the Ashanti. Or we find out that in the Tuareg tribe the men are veiled and the women do most of the talking, storytelling, and poetry. From A to Z we see a wide spectrum of African inhabitants, ending with a map of Africa that shows where each tribe resides.
But it doesn't stop there. Feelings explains in her Author's Note in the front that modern technology is changing the face of African life, though she contends that the traditions pictured in this book are still being passed on from generation to generation. She points out that some customs mentioned here are unique and relate only to that particular tribe while other values and philosophies are shared by all. She is even so careful as to point out that many (not all) African language prefixes are added to denote the plural. She, however, has used the root words throughout the book for simplicity's sake. Should you have any doubts about the background of this author, you can read in a tiny note on the publication page that she lived and studied in Ghana for years and a list of publications consulted is included. And if you've any doubts about the illustrations, don't. As noted, even the interwoven designs at the corners of the pages are based on Kano Knots. Every article of clothing, every animal, every home depicted here is accurate and beautiful.
I don't mean to pooh-pooh "Jambo Means Hello", but that book hasn't got anything on the amazing "Ashanti to Zulu". It's stunning.
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