Award Winning and Notable Children's Books PreK - 8

The inspiring biography of Ghanaian artist El Anatsui whose handmade sculptures, created from discarded bottle tops, have received international acclaim and been showcased around the world. "If you touch something, you leave a charge on it and anybody else touching it connects with you, in a way." -- El Anatsui

On a humid March night in 1957, Kwame Nkrumah made history. While thousands of people, including dignitaries from around the world cheered, he announced his country's independence. After many decades of British rule, Ghana, formerly the Gold Coast, became the first sub-Saharan African nation to break free from colonial rule.

In this moving story that celebrates cultural diversity, a shy girl brings her West African grandmother--whose face bears traditional tribal markings--to meet her classmates. It is Grandparents Day at Zura's elementary school, and the students are excited to introduce their grandparents and share what makes them special.

Based on true historical events, this story captivates readers as they watch Idia transform herself from the young and curious daughter of a village warrior to becoming the Queen of the Kingdom of Benin.

The poignant story behind the 1976 photograph that exposed the ugliness of South Africa's apartheid to the world and sparked change.On June 16, 1976, Hector Pieterson, an ordinary boy, lost his life after getting caught up in what was supposed to be a peaceful protest. Black South African students were marching against a new law requiring that they be taught half of their subjects in Afrikaans, the language of the White government.

While most siblings are rivals, Akie and his little brother are the best of friends. They love singing while flying kites, one big kite for Akie, and one small kite for Ebuka. Akie and Ebuka don't intend to disobey their parents, but as they follow the trails of an airplane flying low over their house, they do the unthinkable. Ebuka employs lies and tricks to keep their mother in the dark, to buy time, and to help his brother. Will their parents forgive them? If you've never lied, or made mistakes, deliver the first punch!

Whether it's jumping in puddles with Tata in the rain, greeting the neighborhood cat on the quiet back streets with Gogo, or holding hands with Mama while rushing to make the bell, walking to school with family is the best. But nothing is better than walking to school with Papa.

All Rise: Resistance and Rebellion in South Africa revives six true stories of resistance by marginalized South Africans against the country's colonial government in the years leading up to Apartheid.

African Proverbs for All Ages is a beautifully-illustrated, engaging picture book about the power of proverbs, how they evolve over time, and the wisdom of various cultures in Africa. It has been said that a proverb is a short sentence based on long experience. Whether you are young or old, proverbs can open your mind to a whole new way of seeing the world.

The Talking Baobab Tree is derived from a story the author heard while visiting a Wolof village in the outskirts of Dakar, Senegal. The story is in keeping with traditional Wolof tales which reveal a deep admiration for getting the better of a stronger, more powerful opponent.

That night, Kanzi wraps herself in the beautiful Arabic quilt her teita (grandma) in Cairo gave her and writes a poem in Arabic about the quilt. Next day her teacher sees the poem and gets the entire class excited about creating a "quilt" (a paper collage) of student names in Arabic.

Sulwe has skin the color of midnight. She is darker than everyone in her family. She is darker than anyone in her school. Sulwe just wants to be beautiful and bright, like her mother and sister. Then a magical journey in the night sky opens her eyes and changes everything.

This beautifully illustrated story connects past and present as a girl bakes a chocolate cake with her father and learns about her grandfather harvesting cacao beans in West Africa. Chocolate is the perfect treat, everywhere!

Songs about children playing in the schoolyard at recess, sisters braiding each other's hair at the beach, and parents dancing late into the night mesh together thanks to the music. A wide array of styles--nursery rhymes from Gabon, lullabies from Cape Verde, and rumbas from the Congo--are all performed exquisitely by men, women, and children in more than a dozen languages.

Black Panther meets X-Men in this "fast-paced, action-packed, and empowering" (A. F. Steadman, New York Times bestselling author of Skandar and the Unicorn Thief) middle grade adventure about a British Nigerian girl who learns that her Afro hair has psychokinetic powers--perfect for fans of Amari and the Night Brothers, The Marvellers, and Rick Riordan!

From Kwame Alexander, comes the first book in a searing, breathtaking trilogy that tells the story of a boy, a village, and the epic odyssey of an African family.

This powerful novel-in-verse captures one girl, caught between cultures, on an unexpected journey to face the ephemeral girl she might have been. Woven through with moments of lyrical beauty, this is a tender meditation on family, belonging, and home.

Nothing is more important than loyalty. But what if you've sworn to protect the one you were born to destroy?

Seventh grader Tristan Strong feels anything but strong ever since he failed to save his best friend when they were in a bus accident together. All he has left of Eddie is the journal his friend wrote stories in. Tristan is dreading the month he's going to spend on his grandparents' farm in Alabama, where he's being sent to heal from the tragedy.

An emotionally riveting novel for fans of Ibi Zoboi and Erika L. Sánchez about two sisters in Nigeria on their journey to break free of an oppressive home.

A richly imagined magical adventure set in West Africa by a prize-winning new voice in children's writing, Children of the Quicksands introduces readers to Yoruba myths and legends while showcasing the wealth of culture, traditions, adventure, joy, pride, and love found in Nigeria.

This rags-to-riches story by an award-winning Ghanaian author has page-turning appeal with luminous literary resonance. Writing with effortlessly engaging prose, Wolo showcases the interweaving layers of Ghanaian culture to create a prismatic, multifaceted world in which two young girls, against all odds, are able to find each other.

A way to survive. A way to serve. A way to save. Simi prayed to the gods, once. Now she serves them as Mami Wata--a mermaid--collecting the souls of those who die at sea and blessing their journeys back home.

Ato hasn't visited his grandmother's house since he was seven. He's heard the rumors that she's a witch, and his mother has told him he must never sit on the old couch on her porch. Now here he is, on that exact couch, with a strange-looking drink his grandmother has given him, wondering if the rumors are true.

From Los Angeles Times Book Prize Award winner and Edgar Award nominee Malla Nunn comes a stunning portrait of a family divided and a powerful story of how friendship saves and heals.

What's a queen to do when her summer plans go horribly wrong? A powerful, funny and timely novel for young readers by writer, broadcaster and award-winning social advocate, Yassmin Abdel-Magied. Exploring the diaspora experience, race, politics and identity, Listen, Layla by Yassmin Abdel-Magied is an own voices novel for young readers, which bursts with passion, humour and truth.

Omar and his younger brother, Hassan, have spent most of their lives in Dadaab, a refugee camp in Kenya. Life is hard there: never enough food, achingly dull, and without access to the medical care Omar knows his nonverbal brother needs. So when Omar has the opportunity to go to school, he knows it might be a chance to change their future . . . but it would also mean leaving his brother, the only family member he has left, every day.

Two sisters are torn apart by war and must fight their way back to each other in a futuristic, Black Panther-inspired Nigeria. The year is 2172. Climate change and nuclear disasters have rendered much of earth unlivable. Only the lucky ones have escaped to space colonies in the sky.

Join Baby and his doting mama at a bustling southwest Nigerian marketplace for a bright, bouncy read-aloud offering a gentle introduction to numbers. Market is very crowded. Mama is very busy. Baby is very curious. When Baby and Mama go to the market, Baby is so adorable that the banana seller gives him six bananas.

Miriam Makeba, a Grammy Award-winning South African singer, rose to fame in the hearts of her people at the pinnacle of apartheid--a brutal system of segregation similar to American Jim Crow laws. Mama Africa, as they called her, raised her voice to help combat these injustices at jazz clubs in Johannesburg; in exile, at a rally beside Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; and before the United Nations.

Fatima was tired of people treating her like a child. Determined to prove her worth, she sets off to complete the tasks on Grandma's to-do list. She resists all distractions. However, when she reaches her first destination, she realizes she has lost the list. Fatima is certain she remembers everything on the list and doles out instructions to her family accordingly.

Gizo-Gizo the spider is a lazy, selfish fellow. So when he starts a gold mine that pollutes the Zongo Lagoon and makes other animals sick, naturally he ignores everyone else's concerns. ''Someday, when I am rich, I will buy this place,'' he tells them. ''I can do whatever I want!'' But when the fish groan with upset stomachs and the frogs wince from sore throats caused by the filthy water, Tortoise and Crab decide that things have gone too far. They come up with a clever plan to teach their friend Spider a lesson and make him clean up his mess.

Long, long ago, like a pearl around a grain of sand, the Kingdom of Morocco formed at the edge of the great, dry Sahara. It had fountains of cool, refreshing water to quench the thirst of the desert, and storytellers to bring the people together. But as the kingdom grew, the people forgot the dangers of the desert, and they forgot about the storytellers, too. All but one young boy, who came to the Great Square for a drink and found something that quenched his thirst even better: wonderful stories.

Forgetful sisters Siba and Saba are always losing something. Sandals, slippers, sweaters--you name it, they lose it. When the two sisters fall asleep each night, they dream about the things they have lost that day. Until, one night, their dreams begin to reveal something entirely unexpected...

Etabo dreams of being a camel racer. One day he might even beat his older brother when they race. But with the price of water rising, Etabo's father must sell the camels, and his siblings must find work. What will Etabo do now?

It's 1976 in South Africa, and four young people are living in Johannesburg and its black township, Soweto: Zanele, a black female student organizer; Meena, a South Asian girl working at her father's shop; Jack, an Oxford-bound white student; and Thabo, a teen-gang member, or tsotsi. From each of their points of view, this book explores the roots of the Soweto Uprising and the edifice of apartheid in a South Africa about to explode.

Amagama Enkululeko! Words for Freedom: Writing Life Under Apartheid is an anthology of short fiction, poetry, narrative journalism and extracts from novels and memoirs which frames local literature as a lens through which to engage with South Africa's past.

Seventeen-year-old Blade endeavors to resolve painful issues from his past and navigate the challenges of his former rock star father's addictions, scathing tabloid rumors, and a protected secret that threatens his own identity.

A year ago, Sunny Nwazue, an American-born girl Nigerian girl, was inducted into the secret Leopard Society. As she began to develop her magical powers, Sunny learned that she had been chosen to lead a dangerous mission to avert an apocalypse, brought about by the terrifying masquerade, Ekwensu. Now, stronger, feistier, and a bit older, Sunny is studying with her mentor Sugar Cream and struggling to unlock the secrets in her strange Nsibidi book.

Eleven-year-old Mor was used to hearing his father's voice, even if no one else could since his father's death. It was comforting. It was also a reminder that Mor had made a promise to his father before he passed: keep your sisters safe. Keep the family together. But almost as soon as they are orphaned, that promise seems impossible to keep. With an aunt from the big city ready to separate him and his sisters as soon as she arrives, and a gang of boys from a nearby village wanting everything he has--including his spirit--Mor is tested in ways he never imagined.

An unforgettable novel based on the life of Ricky Richard Anywar, who at age fourteen was forced to fight as a soldier in the guerrilla army of notorious Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony Soldier Boy begins with the story of Ricky Richard Anywar, abducted in 1989 to fight with Joseph Kony's rebel army in the Ugandan civil war (one of Africa's longest running conflicts).