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Every year, the Children’s Africana Book Award is given to outstanding authors and illustrators of children’s books about Africa published in the United States. The Center for African Studies, as part of the Outreach Council of the African Studies Association, is pleased to be part of this program.
The 2007 awards were presented Friday, October 19, 2007 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, NY during the Teachers' Workshop at the annual meeting of the African Studies Association.
Past awards and outstanding resources on Africa can be found at: Africa Access.
Honoring 2009 Winners Best Book for Young Children 2009
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One Hen: How One Loan Made a Big Difference
Katie Smith Milway
Eugenie Fernandes (illus.)
(Kids Can Press, 2008)
One Hen, is a colorful and informative picture book that introduces children to micro-financing, a loan program that helps budding entrepreneurs in economic-challenged communities. Kojo, the central character in One Hen, buys a hen and uses the egg proceeds to build a successful chicken farm. Author Katie Smith Milway based One Hen on the life of Kwabena Darko, a successful Ghanaian businessmen who used a small loan to build a thriving poultry business. Later he founded Sinapi Aba Trust, an organization that grants loans to other Ghanaian entrepreneurs.
Honor Books for Young Children 2009
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The Butter Man
Elizabeth and Ali Alalou Julie Klear Essakalli (illus.)
(Charlesbridge Publishing, 2008)
The Butter Man introduces a young girl who impatiently waits for her dad to serve the delicious couscous he has prepared. To detract her, he tells a story about growing up in the mountains in Morocco and his much longer wait for food during a time of famine. The story is based on the experiences of author Ali Alalou who grew up in a Berber community in Morocco's Atlas mountains.
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Planting The Trees of Kenya: The Story of Wangari Maathai
Claire A. Nivola
(Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2008)
Planting the Trees of Kenya introduces young children to the life and work of Wangari Maathai, the first environmentalist to win a Nobel Peace Prize. Author-illustrator Claire Nivola aptly captures the rolling hills of the Kenyan highlands and the emotional drama surrounding the creation of Maathai's Green Belt movement. Her book can educate and inspire young and old alike to take action to reclaim environmental abundance.
Honoring 2008 Winners
Best Book for Young Children 2008
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Ikenna Goes to Nigeria
Ifeoma Onyefulu
(Frances Lincoln, 2007)
In stunning photographs and bright, informative prose, award-winning author Ifeoma Onyefulu recounts an unusual and rewarding journey. Young Ikenna living in London takes a trip far away to his ancestral home in sunny Nigeria. In Lagos he plays with his cousins, attends the Oshun Festival, and sees age-old ceremonies and colorful traditions. This photographic book shows young readers the pleasures that await in other countries and cultures.
Best Book for Older Readers 2008
AYA
Marguerite Abouet & Clement Oubrerie
(Drawn & Quarterly, 2007)
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The graphic novel Aya tells the story of its 19-year old heroine, the studious and clear-sighted Aya, her easy-going friends Adjoua and Bintou, and their meddling relatives and neighbors. It's a breezy and wryly funny account of the desire for joy and freedom, and of the simple pleasures and private troubles of everyday life in Yop City, a suburb of Abidjan in Ivory Coast.