For the 16th year, I have had a summer reading game in my children’s library. It is always geographical, encouraging readers to read books they might not otherwise encounter. This year, we visited North Africa. Almost 30 kids took part, and they are voracious readers. A third of them read over 100 books, and one of those read over 200. This means I have to be able to find enough books for them, which was a challenge this year. I knew I had lots of books on ancient Egypt, but it was harder to find books on other countries in the area.
Here are some of the books I made available, starting with the nonfiction ones. For the Biblical characters, nice picture books are “Joseph the Long Lost Brother,” by Catherine Storr. And “Joseph the Dreamer” by Clyde Robert Bulla. For better readers, try “Joseph and the Coat of Many Colors,” by Lavinia Derwent. For Moses, a lovely picture book is “Moses,” by Maud and Miska Petersham. There’s even a “search” book, full of amazingly detailed pictures: “Moses and the Great Escape,” by Tim Dowley. For a little more text, try “Moses,”by Margaret Hodges, still with nice illustrations.
Other biographies include a richly illustrated, fairly new biography of Athanasius--part of a series by Simonetta Carr. For the better reader, see “Against the World,” by Henry W. Coray. A gorgeous picture book by David Wisniewski is “Sundiata,” who was a ruler in Mali. “Hatshepsut of Egypt” by Shirin Yim Bridges tells the story of this female pharaoh with many helpful pictures and diagrams. “Seeker of Knowledge” by James Rumsford is a very readable telling of the story of Jean-Francois Champollion, the man who first deciphered Egyptian hieroglyphics after studying the Rosetta Stone and being sent inscriptions from Egyptian tombs. Diane Stanley has done a well-illustrated book on Cleopatra. There is a longer DK book by Fiona MacDonald called “Cleopatra, the Queen of Kings.” The illustrations include maps, art, and photographs. There’s one book about an Ethiopian Christian leader—”A Saint and his Lion,” by Elaine Murray Stone. This is the story of Tekla, his determination and the lion that befriends him (lots of pictures).
There are so many books about ancient Egypt, that I’ll just pick a few. For myths, a good place to start is “Egyptian Gods and Goddesses,” by Henry Barker, with simple text and rich illustrations. Leonard Everett Fisher is always good, with his format of text and illustration on each spread—”The Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt.” Marcia Williams in “Ancient Egypt: Tales of Gods and Pharaohs” covers both myths and history of Egypt in her special, picture-filled style. “Hieroglyphs from A to Z” by Peter Der Manuelian helps kids understand Egyptian writing and encourages them to try it for themselves.
Stephen Biesty’s “Egypt in Spectacular Cross-section” is amazing to look at and covers quarries, harbors, temples, pyramids, and more. Aliki is always good, with her simple text and great illustrations, so “Mummies Made in Egypt” is helpful on the subject. “Cat Mummies,” with more text by Kelly Trumble helps kids understand the importance of cats in Egyptian culture. For King Tut, and good start is “Tut’s Mummy Lost...and Found” by Judy Donnelly. Usborne’s Time Traveller series includes “Pharaohs and Pyramids“ by Tony Allan. “The Great Pyramid” by Elizabeth Mann focuses on the Pharaoh Khufu and the building of his pyramid. “The Pharaoh’s Boat” by David Weitzman is a lovely tribute to the many highly-skilled workers needed to a special boat. “Secrets of the Sphinx” by James Cross Giblin describes the building of the Sphinx, what it looked like originally, and its later loss and rediscovery.
Although I have information about other North Countries in collections, the only individual book I’ll mention here is “E is for Ethiopia,” by Ashenafi Gudeta, nicely illustrated with photos. It introduces you to the culture, food, etc.
Fictional books offer a wider view of North Africa. For Ethiopia, look especially for books by Jane Kurtz, who grew up there. It may interest you that she has created 70 libraries in Ethiopia and her family continues to interest American children in the culture of Ethiopia. One of her books is “Pulling the Lion’s Tail,” which is a traditional tale of learning patience in developing relationships. Her “Fire on the Mountain” tells the story of a young boy who spends all night alone on a cold mountain on the dare of his boastful master, then has to earn his reward with the help of other servants. “Only a Pigeon” describes the life of a boy who, besides going to school and shining shoes, has homing pigeons which he races with his friends. For better readers, there is “Saba—Under the Hyena’s Foot,” which is part of the “Girls of Many Lands” series. “Silly Mammo,” by Gebregeorgis Yohannes tells of a very silly young man who is sent out to work, but can never bring home his earnings, because he always manages to lose them in some way. Finally, his silliness finds a use, when a young woman who is deaf and can only be cured by laughing sees him doing something very silly.
For Morocco, one lovely book is Ali—Child of the Desert, by Jonathan London. A boy and his father are in a caravan when he gets separated in a sandstorm. He is helped by local Berbers, but then had to make a tough decision. Ted Lewin’s “The Storytellers” has a boy and his grandfather going through the market (with gorgeous pictures) and finding a spot where the grandfather can send up his pet pigeon to “bring down a story to tell.”
I’ll list a few more without descriptions;
“The Butter Man,” by Elizabeth Alalou
“Ibrahim” by Francesc Sales
“My Father’s Shop” by Satomi Ichikawa
“Zorah’s Magic Carpet” by Stefan Czernecki
“King of the Wind,” by Marguerite Henry, which begins in Morocoo—for better readers.
There are a few scattered ones from other North African countries. “One Night” by Cristina Kessler is a poetic reflection about aTuareg boy spending the night with goats in the Sahara. “My Great-Grandmother’s Gourd” set in Sudan and by the same author, tells of a girl and her great-grandmother who help a village recognize that there are “old ways” that are important even when there are modern improvements. “Deep in the Sahara” tells of a girl who loves her mother’s special dress and wants to be old enough to wear it. By Kelly Cunane, it is set in Mauritania. “Rain School,” by James Rumford (who served there in the Peace Corps) tells of a small school built by children which comes apart in rainy season (but will be rebuilt the following year.
Finally a few fiction books set in Egypt. “Pepi and the Secret Names” by Jill Paton Walsh tells of a boy who helps his father by bringing wild beasts to him to paint from life on tomb walls. He does this by guessing their secret names. In “The Tomb Robber and King Tut” by Sarah Gauch, a boy wants to be part of an archeological dig, but first must convince his father and then the guard (who knows his family were tomb robbers in the past). In “How the Amazon Queen Fought the Prince of Egypt” by Tamara Bower, an Egyptian war force and a force of warrior women clash. When the head of each side do battle one-on-one, they find they are evenly matched and finally fall in love (at the end is historical context).
A few more:
“The Monster That Grew Small” by Joan Grant
“Temple Cat” by Andrew Clements
“The Winged Cat” by Deborah Nourse Lattimore
“The Egyptian Cinderella” by Shirley Climo
For better readers, I was delighted to find a book I read as a child when it was serialized in “Jack and Jill” Magazine. This is “Boy of the Pyramids” by Ruth Fosdick Jones. A ten-year-old boy helps solve a mystery. I really like “Escape from Egypt,” which is a fictional re-telling of the Exodus story by Sonia Levitin. Her descriptions are so vivid, I found myself going often to the Bible. Did that happen? Yes!
G. A Henty’s “The Cat of Bubastes is probably his most popular and most accessible book. A priest’s son accidentally kills a sacred cat and must escape with his sister . This is set in the time of Moses.
Here are a few more for good readers:
“Mara—Daughter of the Nile” by Eloise Jarvis McGraw
“His Majesty. Queen Hatshepsut” by Dorothy Sharp Carter
“Sphinx Princess” and “Sphinx Queen” by Esther Friesner