For You Are a Kenyan Child (Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Award)

Average Customer Rating: List Price: $16.95 Asia Trips Trips Price: $12.38 Your Savings: $ 4.57 ( 27% ) Subject To Change Without Notice Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Manufacturer: Atheneum/Anne Schwartz Books
Binding: Hardcover EAN: 9780689861949 ISBN: 068986194X Label: Atheneum/Anne Schwartz Books Manufacturer: Atheneum/Anne Schwartz Books Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 40 Publication Date: 2006-01-03 Publisher: Atheneum/Anne Schwartz Books Reading Level: Ages 4-8 Studio: Atheneum/Anne Schwartz Books
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Editorial Reviews: 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!
Spotlight customer reviews: Customer Rating: Summary: Why isn't this boy in school? Comment: As an American pediatrician living in east Africa, I find the book's portrayal of rural Africa to be (at best) naive and stereotypical. However sympathetic the author's intentions may be, she seems to be trading in the "noble savage" myth. As in, 'They're simple people, but they're happy. And they have their traditions.' I'm pretty sure that this boy would rather play soccer with a real ball than with a hunk of garbage, and that he'd rather be in school than tending cattle, and that he'd rather have shoes than no shoes. Kids are smart enough to understand these important concepts--we owe it to them to offer more than a whitewashed version of "culture." This book is rural Kenya as viewed through the window of a tourist's land cruiser, butchered Swahili and all. I have two Tanzanian-American godchildren for whom I love to bring books about east Africa, where their relatives still live. But I would not demean them with this book. The illustrations, for what it's worth, are lovely. Customer Rating: Summary: For You are a Kenyan Child Comment: 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! Customer Rating: Summary: We like this book Comment: 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. Customer Rating: Summary: A Wonderful Cultural Experience! Comment: 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! Customer Rating: Summary: Incorrect Swahili Comment: 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. More Reviews