Children's Story Time
BIODIVERSITY RESOURCE CENTER AT THE CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

Friday, February 4, 11, 18, & 25 at 2:00 p.m.
Saturday, February 5, 12, 19, & 26 at 10:30 a.m.

Previous Story Time themes

Books

A is for Africa.
Ieoma Onyefulu.
Publisher: Cobblehill Books, 1993.
NC Juv DT3 .O58 1993.
(An alphabet book that talks about African culture)
B is for beads, J is for jumping, and T is for turban in this book full of colorful images from Africa. Learn about African culture while practicing the alphabet!

Albidaro and the Mischievous Dream.
Lester Julius & Jerry Pinkney.
Publisher: P. Fogelman Books, 2000.
NC Juv PZ7 .L5629 Al 2000.
(Modern fable with African spirits)
In order to play a joke on his sister, the Guardian of Animals, the Guardian of Children sends a dream to all children and animals to make them happy. He tells them to do whatever they want and not mind their parents. The joke backfires, however, when the children become unhappy and afraid of marauding animals who will not mind what they're told. Only the teddy bears warned of the consequences, but the Guardian of Children would not listen.

Barefoot: Escape on the Underground Railroad.
Pamela Duncan Edwards.
Publisher: HarperCollins, c1997.
NC Juv E450 .E38 1997.
(Animals witness the journey of an American runaway slave)
Dramatic text and illustrations highlight this book that takes the reader into the natural world encountered by a slave on his desperate journey to be free. When the bullfrog croaks, is he guiding the youngster to water, or is he just being a bullfrog? Along the way, the young man gets a great deal of help from the animal kingdom. The animals have seen "Barefeet" before, along with some dragged off in chains by the "Heavy Boots."

Faraway Drums .
Virginia Kroll.
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company, 1998.
NC Juv E 185.86 K76 1998.
(A story of blending the real and the imagined)
When their mother leaves for work every afternoon, Jamila is put in charge of her little sister Zakiya. The strange and sometimes frightening sounds of their new neighborhood startles both girls. Then, Jamila remembers the stories her great-grandmother told her. Stories about Africa where their people came from. Jamila uses these stories to create a magical safe haven for Zakiya where the strange sounds of the city are transformed into the brilliant sounds of Africa.

The Hunterman and the Crocodile.
Baba Wague Diakite.
Publisher: Scholastic Press, 1997.
NC Juv. PZ8.1 .D564 Hu 1997.
(A tale of West Africa)
Bamba the Crocodile and his family ask a hunterman for help in getting home.
Neither Bamba nor the hunterman trust each other, yet each need each
other. When the hunterman captures the crocodiles, the hunterman learns a
lesson about living in harmony with nature.

Konte Chameleon Fine, Fine, Fine!
Cristina Kessler.
Publisher: Boyd Mills Press, 1997.
NC Juv. PZ8.1 .K5 Ko 1997.
(West African folktale)
Konte Chameleon feels just fine until he climbs onto a red orchid and he
begins to turn red. Then he climbs onto a yellow flower and turns yellow.
Konte thinks he is sick, but the Doctor has another explanation.

The Lonely Lioness and the Ostrich Chicks.
Retold by Aardema, Verna.
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf, c1996.
NC Juv PZ8.1 .A213 Lo 1996.
(Masai tale of mother ostrich)
In this retelling of a Masai tale, a lioness feels loneliness after watching a
mother ostrich and her brood. To ease her sadness, she decides to steal the
chicks from their mother. In her desperate attempts to retrieve her babies,
the mother ostrich seeks out the help of other African animals, but only the
mongoose is smart enough and brave enough to outwit the lion. One of the
great features of this story is the use of actual Masai words to convey the
sounds of the animals.

Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters.
John Steptoe.
Publisher: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard, c1987.
NC Juv PZ8.S585 Mu 1987.
(Modern retelling of tale from Zimbabwe)
This story is taken from a folk tale collected in 1895. In the story, Mufaro's two daughters are very beautiful. One of them is going to marry the king and become a queen. Unfortunately, while one daughter is kind, merciful, and generous the other is mean spirited and selfish. The names of the characters are taken from words in the Shona language. Mufaro means happy man, Nyasha means mercy, and Manyara means ashamed. The book contains beautiful illustrations and a fun and charming story.

On the Day I was Born.
Debbi Chocolate.
Publisher: Scholastic Books, 1995.
NC Juv E 185.86 .C46 1995.
(A story that combines age-old African traditions with a newfound family)
A moving celebration of the gift of life, as a newborn African-American boy is welcomed into the world by his proud family. Gifts including a kente cloth and a kofia crown are given to him as aunts, uncles, and grandparents gather to name and bless him.

The Patchwork Quilt.
Valerie Flournoy.
Publisher: Dial Books for Young Readers, 1985.
NC Juv PZ7 .F667 Pat 1985.
(A family's patchwork quilt tells the story of their lives)
A beautiful story about a young girl named Tanya who helps her grandmother and mother create a magical masterpiece. Using scrapes cut from their family's old clothing, they sew an extraordinary quilt of memories that tells the story of their family's life.

Qunnie Blue.
Dinah Johnson.
Publisher: Henry Holt, 2000.
NC Juv PZ7.J6316 Qu 2000.
(African American family history)
The author took the name of the young girl and her grandmother, Hattie Lottie Annie Quinnie Blue, from her own great-grandmothers and her youth in South Carolina. In the story a young girl imagines what childhood was like for her grandmother, her namesake. Beautiful paintings have been used to convey a representation of family, relationships, and society in the African-American community.

Storm in the Night.
Mary Stolz.
Publisher: HarperTrophy, 1990, c1988.
NC Juv PZ7 .S875854 St 1990.
(African American inter-generational story)
To pass the time during a stormy night with no power, Thomas's Grandfather tells stories to Thomas and Ringo the cat. Thomas is frightened of the dark, and Grandfather tells of a time when he was a young boy without power and afraid of the dark. Grandfather overcame his fears. Can Thomas do the same? As Thomas grows more and more accustomed to the dark, his senses heighten and he can hear and smell things that he could not sense before.
The lifelike illustrations and the easy to follow story will likely entertain children from first grade up.

Summer Sun Risin'.
W. Nikola-Lisa.
Publisher: Lee & Low Books, Inc., 2002.
NC Juv PZ8.3 .N5664 Su 2002.
(A day on the farm)
Greet the summer sun with a young boy as he goes about his busy day on his family's farm. Rhyme and colorful illustrations create a day in the life.

Where are you Going Manyoni?
Catherine Stock.
Publisher: Morrow Junior Books, c1993.
NC Juv DT2889 .S86 1993.
(Little girl in the African veld)
Above the Limpopo River and under the tall wild fig trees, follow Manyoni to school. In the parts of Zimbabwe where Manyoni lives, some children walk as far as two hours each way to get to school. In this book we follow Manyoni's journey to school as she walks past kingfishers and baboons on a long journey to get to school: her favorite place. The book also contains a glossary.

Why the Sun and the Moon Live in the Sky.
Elphinstone Dayrell, illustrations by Blair Lent.
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1968.
NC Juv. PZ8.1.D33 Wh 1968.
(African creation myth told as folktale picture book)
The arrangement of the sun and the moon in the sky with the water below
is explained by a simple story that will resonate with children. The
illustrations depict African tribesmen in whimsical and stylized costumes
representing sun, moon and their great friend, water. An invitation to visit
brings about a drama in which many of the young people of the village get
to play roles as the water's people.

All books featured in Story Time are from the Academy Library and the Biodiversity Resource Center. If you have any questions, please contact the Biodiversity Resource Center at 415.750.7361 or biodiversity@calacademy.org