World Famous Comics: For You Are a Kenyan Child (Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Award)
For You Are a Kenyan Child (Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Award)
By: Kelly Cunnane Publisher: Atheneum/Anne Schwartz Books Average Rating: Binding: Hardcover Label: Atheneum/Anne Schwartz Books Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 40 Publication Date: January 03, 2006 Reading Level: Ages 4-8
Product Description: Imagine you live in a small Kenyan village, where the sun rises over tall trees filled with doves. You wake to the sound of a rooster's crow, instead of an alarm clock and the school bus. Your afternoon snack is a tasty bug plucked from the sky, instead of an apple. And rather than kicking a soccer ball across a field, you kick a homemade ball of rags down a dusty road. But despite this, things aren't that different for a Kenyan child than they would be for an American kid, are they? With so much going on around you, it's just as easy to forget what your mama asked you to do!
For You are a Kenyan Child This is a GREAT children's book. The illustrations are captivating. The story is one that all children can understand... that of learning responsibility. Aspects of Kenyan culture are taught throughout and the snatches of Kiswahili are fun! 5 stars!
We like this book This book is unusual in that it's written in second-person format. The main character is "you", and it's told like a retelling of *your* day... if you happened to be a Kenyan child, that is.
It's hard to successfully write a story in that format, but the author accomplishes it.
I also like how the actions "you" take in this book are described. It's very realistic, the way the child makes one little choice after another and totally neglects his chores. (I pointed out to my nieces when reading it that maybe his parents should have supervised him a little more.)
And I definitely like the portrayal of babywearing on one page. That's always nice.
I am a little concerned that the Swahili may not be totally accurate. We wouldn't accept inaccurate French or Spanish in our books, so why should we accept inaccurate Swahili just because we are less familiar with it? That should be corrected if it is true.
A Wonderful Cultural Experience! I bought this book for my husband to read to our baby, he is a Kenyan and a Kalengin. We both instantly feel in love with the book and can't wait to read it to our little girl and future children. It is a great book for anyone wanting to learn about a wonderful place!
Incorrect Swahili I am a Kenyan residing in the U.S. and my 10-year-old cousin also from Kenya just borrowed this book from the library and ran to me saying some of the Swahili was wrong. I went through the book and was in total shock by the way the author had totally used words that were out of context. First, I'd like to commend her for writing a book about a Kenyan village and to state that the illustrations are quite good. I am sure she had the purest of intentions when writing it. I cannot claim to have flawless Swahili but having learned and spoken the language since childhood, I can easily identify mistakes. It is unfortunate that there are thousands of children out there reading incorrect Swahili. Her father says the following: "It is bad that she has placed the wrong meaning of Swahili words in the English context and she ought to have consulted a Swahili scholar or native speaker (a Tanzanian/Kenyan) so as to write the language correctly. No book would be published in English with incorrect spellings and context and we hope that measures will be taken to correct these errors." We also believe that the publisher has an obligation to ensure that the books they sell which are geared to millions of people/children are correctly edited by native speakers/scholars of the respective foreign languages.
Some mistakes found in the book include: Una taka chepati? = Unataka Chapati? * Chapati is not a pancake, it is a type of flat-round-bread with its origin in India Jambo, Mzee - Mzee means an old man/elder not exactly respected one as stated * Mheshimiwa means respected one Una taka shika rungu (fly-whisk)? = Unataka kushika rungu? * A rungu is a club, not a fly-whisk, not sure what a flywhisk means in Swahili Una taka maziwa lala? = Unataka kunywa maziwa lala? * Maziwa lala is not sleeping milk but cultured milk/Natural yogurt Una taka ndudu? = Unataka mdudu/dudu? Una taka cheza? = Unataka kucheza? Kabisa means completely/totally but not `of course' as implied
Most of the people I have spoken to including my friends are in total shock at the incorrect use of Swahili. It isn't right. Once again, we are grateful that such a book exists but hope that the errors will be corrected.
It doesn't get better than this... My 8 year old and 2 year old boys love this book. It's fun, it's beautiful, and it celebrates an African boy's day.
Joyfully, the message is "boys will be boys" no matter where they live.
This book combines a wonderful story with the work of a VERY talented illustrator. I hope to see more from author Kelly Cunnane, and I'm going to seek out other books illustrated by Ana Juan...and I'll even spring for the hard cover versions.
You'll find your kids reaching for this book over and over.
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