Somewhere in Africa [Hardcover]

Ingrid Mennen (Author), Niki Daly (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 3 and up

A look at life in an African city for a young boy describes the busy streets, the songs of the fruit vendors, the street musicians, and sights and people not unlike those in American cities.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this gentle tale, "the great African continent" is depicted as a land of much more than the lions, zebras and jungles with which it is most often associated. Ashraf lives in a bustling South African city where traffic lights, tall buildings and supermarkets are part of his everyday experience. But Ashraf also enjoys vicariously visiting the other, "wild and untamed" Africa through his favorite book at the city library. The authors create an immediately appealing story at once universal and distinctly African. Children everywhere will relate to Ashraf's jaunt through town and identify with his beloved trips to the library, while the native street vendors and indigenous music and foods mentioned give the lad's adventures a distinctive foreign flavor. Maritz makes his picture book debut with boldly hued, chunky images--eye-catching in their primitiveness--that accurately capture the sights and sounds of big city life. This work, though a bit slight, is an enjoyable introduction to a faraway, multifaceted land. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 2-- Ashraf, a South-African boy of mixed race, lives not in the Africa of lions, crocodiles, and giraffes, but in a noisy bustling city. The only place he has seen these animals is in a library book. Readers follow the boy as he leaves his home in the old slave quarter and, book in hand, visits his favorite haunts on his way to the library. This offering is a joyous celebration of central Cape Town and its people: the flower sellers, the fruit seller, the musicians with their marimbas and African drums. Ashraf's independence and confidence, and his strong sense of connection to the city, are evident in both text and illustrations. Maritz's paintings, with their broad, powerful brush strokes, intense primary colors, and childlike perspective, have immediate visual appeal. The blue skies, astonishingly yellow sea, and red mountains give one a sense of extreme summer heat. Tall skyscrapers (one with a helicopter on its roof), a busy traffic intersection, and a highway overpass leave no doubt as to the modernity of this city. However, none of these details overwhelm Ashraf, who remains the central focus of the illustrations. The pleasant librarian projects a positive image. A book for group sharing, beginning readers, and social-studies classes, where it should help dispel any lingering myths about the omnipresence of lions and crocodiles in Africa. --Susan Giffard, Englewood Public Library, NJ
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 3 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Juvenile (January 16, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0525448489
• ISBN-13: 978-0525448488
• Product Dimensions: 10.6 x 8.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,390,995 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a curriculum jewel!, March 11, 2002

By 

Sunny Wallick (Redlands,, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Somewhere in Africa (Picture Puffins) (Paperback)

If you are committed to reducing stereotypes you'll love this one. A South African child walks thru the South African city where he lives. He's dressed much like my grandson in northern California. Here are stop lights, trucks and cars, airplanes and a typical South African shopping area. He visits the library to renew his favorite book about other areas of Africa areas where lions and crocodiles live, an Africa he has seen only in books. Suitable for 3 thru adult.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great look at city life in the African Continent., December 5, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Somewhere in Africa (Picture Puffins) (Paperback)

This beautifully illustrated children's book introduces children to an "Africa" they do not see portrayed very often. The main character, a young boy named Asraf, takes the reader into his world, and helps children understand that there is incredible diversity within the African continent. This is sure to delight you and your children, as you discover together the many aspects of Ashraf's life and dreams.