Today we celebrated The African Arts Festival with our families and caregivers at Family Storytime! We had special songs and stories, and extra felt board extensions to share with our friends, and a special guest, Jessica Custer-Bindel, who came to share an extra special story about how storytelling began. The perfect story for storytime, if you ask me!
To see what else is going on in the library and in the community for the African Arts Festival check out the link at The Multicultural Resource Center's page online :)

Here are the books we read today:

 

We All Went on Safari: A Counting Journey Through Tanzania by Laurie Krebs; Ills. by Julia Cairns

Counting Chickens by Polly Alakija

 

In We All Went on Safari, we follow a Tanzanian family through the African grasslands. As they travel, they count the animals they see, from one leopard to ten elephants. It's a safari adventure for all ages, because at the end of the book there is further information about Tanzania and Swahili names and numbers - a signature hallmark of Barefoot Books. Lots of fun!

 

We also used Counting Chickens for our felt board story. It's a book about a quintessential African Village - full of color and life and.....counting! You could do a LOT of counting with this book if you wanted too! Tobi's prized hen out-procreates all the other children's animals put together ; ) (But we only counted her original 7 eggs and 7 chicks :)

 

Special thanks to Jessica for sharing her Zulu story with us - I really enjoyed it! Here is a link to a version if you're interested in checking it out: Where Stories Come From.

 

Get your little ones moving with this song about animals you might see on the savannahs of Africa:

Out on the Savannah

(Sing to the tune of Skip to My Loo)

Elephants will swing their trunks

Elephants will swing their trunks

Elephants will swing their trunks

Out on the savannah!

Lions will roar so loud…..

 

Cheetas will run so fast…..

Meerkats will watch with care…..

 

Giraffes will reach so high…..

Out on the savannah!

Let's take a safari and meet some more African Animals!

On Safari

(To the tune of Frere Jacques - repeat all lines)

 

On safari

 

What do I see?

 

I see a Lion

 

Roaring at me!

I see a Zebra running from me...

I see a Monkey chattering at me...

I see an Elephant trumpeting at me...

I see a Giraffe munching near me!

Can you think of any other animals that live in Africa?

 

Next Saturday we'll take a look at FOOD. Better bring a snack - if you're like me, these great books about food might make you hungry! Hope to see you then!

Miss Kelly

 

Some great books with Africa as the subject:

• Counting Chickens by Polly Alakija
• We’re Going on a Lion Hunt by David Axtell
• One Day on Our Blue Planet: The Savannah by Ella Bailey
• One Child One Seed: A South African Counting Book by Kathryn Cave; Photos by Gisele Wulfsohn
• Honey…Honey…Lion! by Jan Brett
• Rain by Manya Stijic
• Elsina’s Clouds by Jeanette Winter
• We All Went on Safari by Laurie Krebs; Ills. by Julia Cairns
• A Triangle for Adora and A is For Africa by Ifeoma Onyefulu
• Mama Panya’s Pancakes by Mary and Rich Chamberlin; Ills. by Julia Cairns
• The African Orchestra by Wendy Hartmann; Ills. by Joan Rankin
• Simms Taback’s Safari Animals by Simms Taback
• Hidden Hippo by Joan Gannij, Ills. by Clare Beaton
• Ziggy the Zebra by Libby Ellis, Ills. by Salina Yoon
• My Elephant by Petr Horacek
• No Matter What by Emma Dodd
• Welcome to Zanzibar Road by Niki Daly
• ABC Safari by Karen Lee
• We All Went On Safari by Laurie Krebs, Ills. by Julia Cairns
• *Big Little Hippo by Valorie Gorbachev
• Kidogo by Anik McGrory
• The Water Princess by Susan Verde; Ills. by Peter H. Reynolds
• Thirsty, Thirsty Elephants by Sandra Markle; Ills. by Fabricio VandenBroeck
• Goal! by Mina Javaherbin; Ills. by A.G. Ford
• I Lost My Tooth in Africa by Penda Diakite; Ills. by Baba Wague Diakite
• The Song for Six Birds by Rene Deetlefs; Ills. by Lyn Gilbert
• Where’s Jamela? by Niki Daly
• Deep in the Sahara by Kelly Cunnane & Hoda Hadadi
• African Alphabet and others by Eric Walters
• Nonfiction picks
  • Grandma Elephant’s In Charge by Martin Jenkins; Ills. by Ivan Bates J 599.67 Jenkins
  • One Plastic Bag: Isatou Seesay and the Recycling Women of the Gambia by Miranda Paul; Ills. by Elizabeth Zunan J 363.72 Paul
  • African Critters by Robert B, Haas J 591.96 Haas
  • Safari by Gail Tuchman ER Tuchman
  • Anansi and the Talking Melon and other fables by Eric A. Kimmel J 398 Kimmel