I love my local library. I appreciate all the care and thoughtfulness that goes into the book displays. I know it's a good display when I find myself picking books from the displays ever so often, and dropping them off into my book bag.
That was just how Anna Hibiscus and I got introduced to each other. From her coffee-toned skin, to her cornrows and pigtails, to that sweet smile on her face, I knew I'd love Anna Hibiscus, the star of Atinuke's Anna Hibiscus chapter books.
I was won over immediately by the blurb on the back cover of Good luck, Anna Hibiscus! : Anna Hibiscus lives in Africa. Amazing Africa. She can't wait to fly across the world to visit her granny in Canada. But can she find enough warm clothes for the cold winter weather? And will her family miss her?
How refreshing it is to have a chapter book set in a country and culture so different from our own! As a transitional reader many years ago myself in Asia, my friends and I found ourselves emptying the library shelves of Beverly Cleary's Ramona books. At the bookstore, Enid Blyton's books of the enchanted wood, faraway tree and Amelia Jane found their way into our baskets. In our minds, worlds different from our own were likely to be the worlds of western middle class schoolgirls, or imaginary worlds with pixies and elves. The Anna Hibiscus books are a much needed window into another world not often represented in chapter books: the world of a just-like-you-and-me girl in Amazing Africa.
Sure, there are chapter books which showcase other places and cultures, such as the Magic Tree House or the Geromino Stilton books. In these books, the concept is that of the main characters leaving their own worlds, for adventures in other worlds. But it is only in the Anna Hibiscus books that the main character is living in that less familiar world. While the adventures in the Magic Tree House or Geromino Stilton books feature mainly people and places of renown (e.g. Amazon rainforest), the Anna Hibiscus books showcase the Africa of the ordinary people. In Good luck, Anna Hibiscus, Atinuke tells of the arrival of the dry season, Harmattan, and how this affects the everyday life of Anna and her (very large) family. Bath water is rationed and everyone is irritable because of the heat. Nonetheless, Anna and her family look beyond their own needs to share their well-water with the children of the city, sacrificing the water they would have used to keep their garden green through Harmattan.
Though set in a different cultural context, the book gives young readers enough to relate to. The scrapes that Anna Hibiscus ends up in, her fears and frustrations, could be the experience of any child, anywhere. The warm family relationships are the longing of every child's heart.
Teaching Tip:
Ever experienced the situation when a child keeps drawing on prior knowledge to understand a book, to such an extent that this gets in the way of comprehension? Prior knowledge is undoubtedly important in reading comprehension, but our young readers must also know how to look in the text for evidence on which to base their inferences. Inferences, in turn, are so crucial to text comprehension. The unfamiliar cultural context of this book is likely to force readers to pay text closer attention than they would usually do. A GO-chart like this one, comparing everyday events as experienced by Anna Hibiscus and readers, could be helpful.
Did you know?
Another of Atinuke's books Have fun, Anna Hibiscus has just won the 2011 Cybils award for the Early Chapter Book category! Congratulations, Atinuke!
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