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by Margy Burns Knight (Author), Mark Melnicove (Author), Anne Sibley O'Brien (Illustrator)
Enter into the daily lives of children in the many countries of modern Africa. Countering stereotypes, Africa Is Not a Country celebrates the extraordinary diversity of this vibrant continent as experienced by children at home, at school, at work, and at play.
This edition includes updates to the text, statistics, and illustrations to reflect Africa in the 2020s.
“A lovely book about Africa that gets the issue of its enormous diversity right.” ―Barbara Brown, Director, Africa in our Schools and Community Program, African Studies Center, Boston University
“A book every school must have as we emerge into the global village. Gives good insights into Africa’s many cultures, with a balance of the contemporary and traditional that is the way of life now.” ―Oscar Mokeme, Director, Museum of African Tribal Art, Portland, Maine
Recommended in particular for readers aged 8 - 11 years (grades 3-6).
Softcover, 48 pages.
Published by Millbrook Press, an imprint of Lerner Publishing Group.
Printed in the United States.
“The title says it all. Instead of the ‘vanishing tribes’ view of one Africa with tourists from different countries photographing the animals and primitive people, this informative picture book celebrates the diversity of the 53 nations that make up the continent today. . . readers will want to go on from here to explore in depth particular countries that interest them. The essential differences and connections are here.” —Booklist
"This book is a beautiful presentation of Africa's stunning range of people, places, and priorities. Children parade across the endpapers waving the flags of the fifty-four countries that make up the African continent. A full-page map shows country names and borders, along with rivers and the continent's three main ecosystems. Introductory paragraphs read like a poem, distilling key demographics for anyone to understand. For example, Africa covers more area than the United States plus China, Japan, and Europe combined. And, if Africa were a pie with ten slices, four would be the deserts. Each of the sixteen subsequent spreads is dedicated to a family or individual in a different country. The first focuses on morning activities while the last features a bedtime moment. The daily routines--breakfast, going to school or work, shopping, studying, playing, and eating meals--will be familiar to readers, but each is shown in a manner that is unique to the featured country. Richly colored art shows culturally distinct details of urban and rural settings as experienced by the children. The art style is rather traditional, and each page has a lot of text. This visual and linguistic tone conveys simple steadiness and is never stale. Extensive backmatter shares brief blurbs of key demographic and historical facts about all of the African countries in this fascinating continent. This approach works as a very kid-friendly reference that tells the elaborate story of Africa in a personal way. -Children's Literature
