Collaboratively written by Laura Hurwitz and Amanda Lumry, Alistair On Safari is an engaging and informative children's picturebook that alternates simple, cartoon-like pictures by Sarah McIntyre of young Alistair and her friends, and superb color photography by Amanda Lumry of wildlife from baboons to lions and hyenas. Filled with facts about these amazing creatures, Alistair On Safari is a great book for introducing young readers to the exciting wonders of exotic wildlife.

The engaging illustrations, beginning with the cover and end pages, set the scene and move the readers, children and adults, immediately into the African adventure, Alistair on Safari.The intense color and outlining of the whimsical illustrations project well to a classroom of children gathered around the reader. Children grades K - 6 have been eager to look closely at the featured wildlife photography and follow the story line enhanced by the illustrations. They have been keenly interested in the "tid-bit" fact boxes. They have been delighted to find the interactive website at alistairadventures.com, fill in their own passports, compare their animal footprint recognition scores, then go back and reread the book. They have been challenged to photograph their own vacations (single-use box cameras are great!)and write their own travel adventures. Alistair's intense focus on photographing a leopard as requested by his mom is a gentle warning to the adult reader about setting up possible unreal expectations and creating stress for children. The children I have shared this African Game Reserve Adventure with are looking forward to Alistair's next adventure. We would love to go with him. A Bellevue teacher

Alistair is a terrific book that is interesting, refreshing, educational and FUN! The story line was great because it was easy to follow. My kids enjoyed the "factoid" boxes which are unique and educational.

Photographs combined with the cartoon images really seem to hold the kid's attention and interest. The photos were magnificent! I would recommend this book to anyone with children!

There are not many books on the market that have as much to offer as this book does. To sum up this children's book I would use one word: Refreshing!

That Anansi is such a scoundral!!

After boring into one of Elephants melons, he eats himself too big to get out!! So, Anansi waits to get thing again...Only, he's bored! So he decides to amuse himself at Elephant's expense... and Hippo's...and Warthog's...Well, you get the idea.

This is a cute story about a trickster spider. Janet Stevens' illustrations are, as always, excellent. Anansi is not just a regular spider. Stevens gives him expressions and a personality. You wind up laughing with Anansi's pranks. Very well done!

I would definitly recommend this book. I read it to a group of young school age kids - 5-9. They could kinda tell where the story was going, but were more than willing to sit for the ride.

My 5 year old son LOVED the mischief Anansi got into and understood the lessons that were being taught. It is written in a way that younger kids can understand and the illustrations are great!

Anansi the spider bores his way into one of Elephant's melons and thus begins the great trickery of some of the greatest animals in the Animal Kingdom. I used this book with the second grade class and we loved the human characteristics of the animals and all the funny things Anansi says while he is in the melon. It is a great book to act out in the puppet theater and we had great fun taking on the roles of the elephant, monkey, spider and other surprised and astonished animals.

Both of my children, ages 2 and 5, love this book. The two-year-old, normally wiggling and wandering around the room during story time, stays put for this one. They can't wait to see what tricks Anansi and Aso will be up to next!

This book was such a delight. My first grade class could not wait to hear what Anansi would do next. For the first time, Anansi uses his trickery to help someone other than himself! It was refreshing to have the author show how Anani's wife, Aso, helped him to reach his goal. I think my readers learned a lot of valuable lessons from this story.

The Anansi series are a great read. As usual the author keeps us in suspense as to who and how Anansi will trick. My first grade class loved it. They were at the edge of their seats. I can't wait to read more to them.

Doing a unit on Ancient Egypt this Summer, and was THRILLED to see this book at the library. I wish they had made a video too! My kids love it. Ms. Frizzle is her usual self sans the class. She's taking a vacation in Egypt during Summer break but just can't let go of being a teacher. She jumps out of the plane on the way there and the other passengers become her students. They go back in time thanks to Ms. Frizz's Time Travel Watch. Great illustrations, captions. Very historically faithful and fun.

This new adventure with the loving teacher Ms. Frizzle will enchant kids of all ages. Splendidly illustrated with accurate details, this book is a delight to read: funny, informative, colorful, clear and comprehensive. An excellent, highly recommended book for children ages 8 to 12.

My children absolutely love the Magic School Bus Adventures. Now, combining Ms. Frizzle with one of their favorite times in history is a magical success! My children learned about Ancient Egypt in the exciting, fun and descriptive way only Ms. Frizzle could portray. I'm so glad Ms. Frizzle "took chances and got messy" with social studies! Hooray!

I have long been an admirer of the artwork of Leo and Diane Dillon, who did a lot of covers for the works of Harlan Ellison. So it is because of the Dillons that I picked up this alphabet book in which Margaret Musgrove introduces young readers to twenty-six African peoples by depicting a custom important to each. While some of the customs are unique to a particular people, others are shared throughout the continent, but Musgrove assures her readers that all of these customs reflect African values or philosophies. From the Ashanti weavers who make a beautiful cloth called "kente" to the leaping Zulu dancers saluting their new chief, we learn about these customs. Each entry is accompanied by a gorgeous illustration by the Dillons, who show as much concern for detail and accuracy as the author. Musgrove lived in studied in Ghana where she did extensive research for this volume. For their part the Dillons did considerable further research as well. One of most interesting aspects about their pictures for this book is that most of the paintings include a man, woman, child, their living quarters, an artifact and a local animal. While there is admittedly a degree of artificiality to some of these compositions, there is obviously a concerted effort to provide as much detail in the illustrations as possible. No wonder I have been a big fan of the Dillon's work for thirty years. A map in the back of the volume shows where each of these peoples lives in Africa, which shows that the focus here is on the sub-Sahara peoples rather than the Arab influenced Northern Africa. I can easily see a grade school class studying Africa looking at a couple of pages each day to get a unique sense of the peoples of Africa. Certainly each page could work as a poster; something for teachers to think about when they are planning their unit on Africa.

"Ashanti to Zulu" presents 26 African tribes, from A to Z, and lets children learn something about the culture and customs of each one. Aside from being a learning experience, the book is visually eye-popping; the illustrations are so gorgeous you'll want to blow them up and frame them. The book won a well-deserved Caldecott Medal for the best illustrated children's book of 1977. It's a great book for helping children to learn about some of the peoples of our least-known populated continent, and the pictures will hold the kids mesmerized. It's a volume that belongs on every youngsters bookshelf.

An A-to-Z alphabet book for children in which the examples for the letters are twenty-six different tribes in Africa, exhibiting some of their varied traditions and customs. Hence, children learn of other peoples. It was illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon and it won the 1977 Caldecott Medal for best illustration in a book for children.

DR. BEN HAS TRULY PUT HIS HEART INTO THIS BOOK HE POINTS OUT THE CENTRAL AFRICAN AND ETHIOPIAN ORIGINS OF NILE VALLEY CIVILIZATION. HE ATTACKS FLIMSY, BIASED, PEUSUDO "HYPOTHETICAL LIBERAL AFRICANIST SO CALLED SCHOLARS, AUTHORITIES AND HISTORIANS" WHO HAVE A VESTED INTEREST IN DISTORTING THE HISTORY OF AFRICAN AND ITS INDIGENOUS PEOPLE. THIS BOOK IS RECOMMENDED FOR ALL AFRICAN PEOPLE. IT WILL BE READ MY FUTURE GENERATIONS STILL TO COME.

THIS BOOK IS EXCELLENT HE TELLS THE TRUTH I LOVE IT THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS WERE BLACK

A masterful book that expose the historical distortions of the Black Man of the Nile.Hieroglyphics,mathematics,shetches of the Head of the Royal Egyptian , Bronze Statue of IMHOTEP,The Great Spinx of Ghizeh, and the Black Madonna and Child are samples of Great Cultural History of the Man Black of The Nile. Our Education system here in the United States always leave out the Real facts of the great accomplishment of the Black Man in the World. These facts are distorted only to keep a race of people down for their benefit. This book will educate one on how history is so wonderful to read and understand why society behaves to any group of people in the negative manner, because their history hold something very valuble that the rest of the world should not know!!!!!!!!!.

Black on Black uses the works of Du Bois and Alice Walker as a framework for tracking the authors' rejection of Ethiopianism in literature. In the 1920s some blacks began questioning the popular foundations of Ethiopianism: by the 1950s and 60s, rejection was in full swing. This examines the foundations and history of 20th century Afro-American literature about Africa and provides some important perspectives.

Black On Black uses the works of Du Bois and Alice Walker as a framework for tracking the authors' rejection of Ethiopianism in literature. In the 1920s some blacks began questioning the popular foundations of Ethiopianism: by the 1950s and 60s, rejection was in full swing. Black On Black examines the foundations and history of 20th century Afro-American literature about Africa and provides some important perspectives.

In Black on Black, John Gruesser begins with Du Bois and Alice Walker's writings and tracks the growing rejection of the Ethiopianist stand in literature, from the 1920s when black writers began questioning its tenants to its final rejection in the 1950s. The view that black Americans will deliver a bright future to Africa is refuted in this survey of 20th century Afro-American writings about Africa.

This is an incredible story of the adventures that a young commando endured during the boer wars. The narrow escapes, the victories, the defeats and the struggle to keep up the fight make this a must read for anyone interested in the Boer War. If there is one book to read on the subject this is it!

It is always interesting to hear 'the other side of the story'. This account of the Boer War is informative yet very personal. It is one of those books that most will find difficult to set down before it is finished.

The author had a most incredible life which is doccumented in Commando and two subsequent books. The adventures are so amazing that, in the preface, Jan Smuts is compelled to comment upon the truthfulness of the account. The book provides insight into the Boer culture and a turn of the century concept: honor.

The memoirs of a soldier in the unsuccesfull war of independence that the Transvaal and Free State Republics in Southern Africa fought against the British Empire at the turn of the century. Reitz wrote the book in exile and left it for 20 years, then took out the emotion and bitterness and was left with a well structured, intelligent memoir that reads like the best fiction. His account of this guerilla war against the British empire can loosly be compared with Chickenhawk, Robert Mason's equally gripping memoir of the Viet Nam war

The author writes well, and explains well in her writing. I could actually picture myself in numerouse places which she had explained. From The war time, to her weding day, to what she went through during her sisters death.

...a truly excellent real-life story of tragedy and love.

The amazing things that the author went through throughout her life were very uplifting. I laughed and cried throughout. The author's experiences were vividly captured on the pages of the book. I was caught up in the horrific imagery of the war that was described, but also the beauty of her family relationships as well as her love for her country of birth. I recommed this book highly, but be prepared for an emotional roller coaster.

This book was like taking a trip into Africa and meeting people along the way who although from a compeletly different world than me taught me the amazing truths of my own ancestry.

If you're fortunate enough to read this book, you'll begin to know the author. Her writing style is easy to read because it is so much like her. I read this book in it's first printing from South Africa some years after visiting the author and her family. I was able to visit a healer featured in this book and have a greater appreciation for a healer's art now that I understand more of their journey.

If ever you wondered what the life of a traditional healer REALLY is like, this book will surely give you a looking-glass to see through. The author has an impecible ability to "draw" the reader into learning about sacred ceremonies and traditional healing practices that few westerners would ever have a remote idea of, let alone the close and up-front personal encounters that are made available through these pages. Containing about a dozen or so personal stories of highly gifted healers who were "plucked" out of ordinary lives and pushed by the forces that guided them into being traditional healers, this book presents the reader with incredible real-life stories of being "called to heal."

Definately a one-sitting read, this book has a spirit of its own and truly cannot be put down once it is picked up. The author has an almost hypnotic ability to keep you reading through her highly entertaining story-telling style that makes you feel as though you're sitting 'round the campfire listening to old stories, wishing for "just one more." Not only are the healers' stories sometimes astonishing, but the amazing tale of how this author came to obtain these stories, plus the incredibly realistic view into the world of traditional African healing, is truly worth the read. In the end, one is left to ponder the gifts Africa has been holding for the rest of the world, as ancient tradition is brought to life through this modern glimpse into long held beliefs and practices.

Being a person myself who went through a drastic life change to answer a call right here in modern American life, the stories of these healers gave me an incredible reassurance that my path was not farfetched, while also revealing to me a deep inner connection to a world little known, and far away in Africa. This book was a confirmation that told me, answering a calling is an ancient practice that our souls have known long before the modern world existed.

Not only will this book change you, but surely it will effect the way you see "the call" in your own life. It is a must read, for sure!