Africa
Hands on Africa by Merrill
A is for Africa by Onyefulu
Look What Came From Africa by Harvey
A True Book: Africa by Peterson
Food and Recipes of Africa by Beatty
Dk Eyewitness: Africa
Children Just Like Me by Kindersley
Pictured is our Montessori puzzle map of Africa with the countries labeled on little arrows in the bowl. The big kids labeled all the countries once or twice and the toddlers dumped the whole thing on the floor enough times that we became fairly familiar with the countries of Africa.
Explorers
David Livingstone: Deep in the Heart of Africa by Otfinoski
Uncommon Traveler: Mary Kingsley in Africa by Brown
The older children colored and labeled detailed maps of the countries and ecosystems while the littles drew animal after exotic animal from Draw Write Now #8.
Saints and Religion
A Saint and His Lion by Stone
DK Eyewitness: Islam
Modern Saints Vol. I and II by Ball
We read about Our Lady of Africa on the computer and wrote a narration. We also read about St. Charles from Modern Saints Vol. 1 by Ball. The intention was color a flag and map of each country that we visited in our reading. I made up a template that only needed to be updated as we moved through the continent. Then the children would add pictures of the saints and other important people to their specific county maps. It worked well for the time that we did it.
The one country that we did an art project for: Morocco. The rugs are drawn on graph paper to mimic the geometric designs that we saw in our research on the Internet.
Animals
Honey, Honey, Lion by Brett
African Critters by Haas
The Water Hole by Base (very fun to picture hunt through!)
One Small Square: African Savanna by Silver
One Small Square: Tropical Rain Forest by Silver
In the same fashion as the coral reef of Australia, I read one section of the tropical rain forest book each day and had the children draw and add to their own rain forest. These were turning out beautifully. It is really a shame we didn't finish or even start on the savanna one.
Stories
King of the Wind by Henry
The Rat- Catcher's Son by London
Beat the Story Drum by Bryan
Stories from Uncle Remus by Chandler
These stories are adaptations of African-American tales told by slaves on plantations in the South. It is interesting to note their similarities with more traditional African tales such as Anansi. The Amin version has a section in the back of the book with information on Africa, the slaves, and the animals. It would have been fun to have the children write and illustrate their own African tale.
Picture Books
We All Went on Safari by Krebs
Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain by Aardema
Beatrice's Goat by McBrier
Galimoto by Williams
Abiyoyo by Seeger
I Lost my Tooth in Africa by Diakite
Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears by Aardema
Jambo Means Hello by Feelings
Pretty Salma by Daly
Kente Colors by Chocolate
My Painted House, My Friendly Chicken, and Me by Angelou
The Leopard's Drum by Souhami
Zomo the Rabbit by McDermott
For You are a Kenyan Child by Cunnane
If you go to the Big List, these books are listed by region of the African continent.
After Marie was born, a wonderful friend who had also studied Africa sent us an African meal from the book, I Lost my Tooth in Africa. After reading the story to the children, we feasted on African Onion Sauce whose recipe is in the back of the book.
This is a mild curry dish that even my picky children ate. They were quite pleased with the idea of eating dinner with their hands in the same manner as the story's characters. Mango lemonade topped off the meal. This was a perfect end to our African journey.
Next Stop: The Middle Ages :-)
