Customer Reviews

We All Went On Safari

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

An excellent book, which has been written by a very talented author. Krebs has a true gift writing books that are enjoyed by children all over the world. As for Kokodoko's review, I found their opinion of the artwork harsh. I think s/he needs to take another look at the book as ALL the characters wore some type of clothing and were not "running around naked in the wilderness." Perhaps this person has yet to learn that in many cultures men, women and children wear limited clothing based upon tradition, need and climate. Just because they do, should we regard all photographs or illustrations of them as depicting "negative stereotypes?" Should we expect all people to be dressed as Westerners or to follow our codes of modesty? I don't think so.

Our whole family loves this book. My son, now 3, learned to count to ten in English by reading this at bedtime almost every night. We are just now starting to read the Swahili words too. The information, spellings of the Swahili words and their pronounciations, even the names of the children are all accurate (I speak Swahili to moderate fluency). One note... Most Maasai do not even speak Swahili, rather they speak Maa! But that doesn't really matter. We love the book anyway, and the Maasai do live with all of the wildlife depicted on this wonderful safari! I would say this book is appropriate from age 1, as it has a very nice cadence to it that is calming before bedtime and the pictures are very engaging. Don't wait until age 4!

This exuberant, colorful journey through Tanzania is a treasure trove of visual and auditory pleasures. The musical, rhythmic verse perfectly captures the action of the Maasai counting trip: "We all went on safari/ past an old acacia tree/ Nearby giraffes were grazing/ So Tumpe counted three." The illustrations are awash with the lovely, subtle hues of the Serengeti, and the artist's depiction of the Maasai men, women, and children reveals personality and attitude in a single brushstroke. The effortlessly multicultural story introduces young children to the Swahili words for the numbers 1 to 10, and in an informative glossary, to the Swahili names for the different animals encountered on safari. An effervescent, irrestible read-aloud... enjoy!

This exuberant, colorful journey through Tanzania is a treasure trove of visual and auditory pleasures. The musical, rhythmic verse perfectly captures the action of the Maasai counting trip: "We all went on safari/ past an old acacia tree/ Nearby giraffes were grazing/ So Tumpe counted three." The illustrations are awash with the lovely, subtle hues of the Serengeti, and the artist's depiction of the Maasai men, women, and children reveals personality and attitude in a single brushstroke. The effortlessly multicultural story introduces young children to the Swahili words for the numbers 1 to 10, and in an informative glossary, to the Swahili names for the different animals encountered on safari. An effervescent, irrestible read-aloud... enjoy!

We borrowed this book from the library and enjoyed it so much we bought a copy to keep. My 3 1/2 year old son loved the counting journey and learning to say all the animals and numbers in swahili. What a fun way to learn to count and speak a new language!

This is a favorite for my 2 year old. Counting is represented 3 ways on each page spread - in the text, a visual number in the same location on each page, and by the number of animals on each page. Great picture book for counting, nice text for reading.

The back of the book offers a bit of material that we read over as well - descriptions of the Masai people, and their way of life, a map of Tanzania, and visuals + descriptions for all of the animals.

This book starts with a story about Masai culture and also an introduction to how to say their numbers. What really fascinated me were the facts in the back. It tells you about Tanzania, the Masai culture, some words in their language and also a little about how they name their children. I love learning about African culture so I absolutely loved this book!

This book has FABULOUS art work & a good story. The kids loved both. It's colorful & a show's a place that most of the preschooler's in my church have not seen. They were drawn to this interesting book!

This book is just gorgeous to look at. The artwork is wonderful. I really enjoy cultural books like this.

What child wouldn't want to learn how to count such exotic creatures as leopards, lions, ostriches, giraffes, hippos, wildebeests, zebras, warthogs, monkeys, and elephants. It is an extra treat that the swahili names are added too.

This is so much better than an ordinary counting book with it's interesting creatures and cultural introduction to Tanzania. A great way to encourage kids to learn about far away places.

We combined this book with Mama Panya's Pancakes and had a wonderful time learning about Africa.

My son, now 22 months, loves this book. We started reading it less than 2 months ago and he can name all the animals and starts to count pretty well. The writing and graphics are excellent. The book has added information that he can learn when he's older, like the Swahili names for numbers and also a map of Tanzania and Kenia. Definitely recommend it.