Don't Spill the Milk!

by Stephen Davies, Christopher Corr (Illustrations)

Book by Davies, Stephen

After carrying a bowl of milk on her head across dunes and the River Niger, and even up a mountain, without spilling a drop despite many distractions, Penda gets a surprise when she arrives at the grasslands to give her father his lunch.

Genres: Picture Books, Family, Africa, Childrens, Cultural, Juvenile, Storytime

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Stephen Davies is the author of more than thirty children's books, with a particular interest in Ancient Egypt. Stephen's bestseller THE ANCIENT EGYPT SLEEPOVER is widely used as a whole-class read in Key Stage 2, while the Comic Book Myths books are perfect for reluctant readers.

Stephen loves visiting schools in the UK and overseas, helping young people with their own creative writing.

Agent: Julia Churchill

Events: Authors Abroad

Reviews

[Iqra Fiaz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Penda takes a bowl of milk through her town, over to the grasslands where her dad is looking after their sheep. She has to work hard to ignore the cultural events around her so she doesn't spill the milk. It is a great story that keeps you hanging on and guessing when and where she may slip, trip or stumble and drop her bowl of milk.
It is a heartwarming story that gives teachers the opportunity to explore different cultures with children. The story is set in Africa and there are many things that Penda encounters that children could research, or discuss.
The bright illustrations make the book really enjoyable and add to the understanding we have of Penda's culture.
A really lovely story.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

I fell asleep while my kindergartener was reading this to me. When I woke up she said that was OK, she would explain it to me. "It was all about love, Mommy," she said. "The milk was actually love." I skimmed through it before returning the book to the library the next day. She was right.

[Sadie · Rating 5 out of 5]

i strongly, strongly feel this book is underrated on goodreads. i actually got choked up reading it - a wonderful message about love.

[Jehan Jones-Radgowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very cute book! My two year old was having a temper tantrum and (no lie) she stopped crying when I started to read this book. The colors are vibrant and alluring. The story is very charming. I am not sure if she got it, but her four year old brother did. He also liked this book. He is at the stage where he only wants to read about robots, Power Rangers, superheroes etc. When I pulled out this book he said, "Not that one." But then he was quickly entranced when I started to read.

My only tiny problem is on the first page it says "Penda lived in a tinny village in Africa." Whenever I see AFRICA or hear people say AFRICA I roll my eyes. But I guess saying a tiny village in NIger or even West Africa would be too specific for the majority of children who have never heard of the African continent. So I didn't roll my eyes for long.

I lived in West Africa (Ghana) for two years and I never knew that there was such a thing as a West African giraffe!

Lovely book, please read it to a child.

[Melle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am usually a little (okay, a lot) skeptical about a cultural outsider, even one who has lived and worked with a particular cultural group, representing that culture, but I think this kind of universal story with almost-just-enough details about Fula culture worked well. The bright folk-art-style illustrations were wonderful and reminded me of Cynthia Rylant's picture books. I would have loved to have seen an individual of West African nationality or of West African descent included in the creation process, but I still think this book has merit, and it's really lovely to see kids from across world cultures, especially tribal cultures, in picture books. Also, there's a cute orange cat in this book.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have read this story on SBT2 in preparation for my 2 weeks English planning as I am choosing a text to work on with the class. It has a lovely moral to the story and the vibrant pictures help to make the story more engaging!

[Haley Hogan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about a little girl named Penda who goes on a journey to bring her Dad a bowl of milk because he was in the grasslands at the time. It follows her trek through different African landcapes to finally reach her dad. The whole time she is very cautious of spilling the milk. Miles and miles later, when she finally arrives to her father, a mango falls in the milk and it spills everywhere. The father says that her love was still in the bowl and they share the mango together and she makes the journey back to her mother. Two major themes of this story are love and family and are shown through the relationships between Penda and her parents throughout the whole journey. I enjoyed this book because it told a sweet story of a young girl wanting to help her father and it also had very vivid illustrations to go along with the text. I would recommend this book because it is a way for a child to have a glimpse into a different culture and their way of life as well as being a great example about doing good for your family.

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Penda begs to carry milk to her dad while he tends the sheep. Her mom agrees and she milks the cow. She sets out carrying the milk in a bowl on her head. She travels across the land, by the Niger River, and up the mountain. Just as she arrives where her dad is sitting, a mango falls off the tree and splashes all of the milk out of the bowl. She's crushed. Her dad tells her that she brought something much more important than milk - love. She heads back at the end carrying a third of the mango for her mom.
Brightly colored illustrations support the text.
Some rhythmic elements with the text.

[Francesca Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely read about a girl called Penda who has to trek with her father’s milk without spilling it. After crossing many obstacles and not spilling it, just as she reaches her father, a mango falls in the milk and it spills out. Her father tells her not to worry as there is still some milk left and Penda carrying the bowl of milk with love is what mattered to him. This brings a tear to her eye. A tear of joy I imagine is because she is relieved from her father’s reaction that he is not angry and just proud of her. The book explores life in another country and the animals she passes.

[Megan Conroy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The illustrations in this book are some of the best I have ever seen in a children's book as they are detailed, vibrant, and teach about culture throughout the book. There is a strong sense of love hidden in the message of this book as even though the young girl's mission was not complete to the standards she hoped for, she showed her Dad how much she loves him and the dedication she had to prove that. This is a great book to learn about a different culture, for adventures, and to learn about love.

[Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book follows a little girl who takes a journey with a bowl of milk on her head to give to her dad. She doesn't spill a single drop until she gets to her dad and a mango falls in the bowl and spills all the milk. Her dad says her love was also in the bowl, so it isn't ruined. I would use this book in my class to show students that even when you work hard, mistakes will happen, but how you overcome those mistakes in challenges is what matters.

[Mia Moeller · Rating 5 out of 5]

FANTASTIC! If the beautiful colors or interesting animals does not get you hooked on this book, the overall message of the book will. I loved the representation of diversity and different cultures while reading from the POV of a little girl. This book is amazing as it shows how we love one another through acts of kindness, which is represented by the girl bringing the milk to her father.

[Masyn Heggem · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very sweet and cute book about a girl bringing her dad a bowl of milk across many different places without spilling it. She makes it all they way to her dad without spilling it until a mango drops in the bowl and spills it all. She is very upset but her dad tells her that it was more then just milk in that bowl, there was love.

[Jenna Guggenmos · Rating 4 out of 5]

The illustrations in this book were amazing. Colorful and engaging. The creatures were unique and the journey felt long. I think this book is relatable for a lot of people. When you try to do something nice for someone, and then it backfires. People say "A for Effort!" and I think that is what this book is getting at.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like this book because we always try to figure out who the mom was in the last picture and the two aunties. And she's trying to bring it to the papa, but [spoiler alert] boom! The milk spills [sad trombone].

[Hunter Higashionna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This wonderfully written and illustrated book is a great read for young readers. This book is set in Africa around this girl taking a jar of milk to her father, taking great care not to spill the milk as she travels far across the fields and community.

[Jiayi · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this picture book, I really like the journey of Penda, and the pictures are full of colorful colors and vividly bring the African environment to life. I thought it was a lovely book about hard work, family and love.

[Cara Byrne · Rating 2 out of 5]

A little girl goes on a journey across her home in Africa to bring milk to her father. I wanted to like this story and illustrations more.

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

Penda is bringing a bowl of milk to her father through many obstacles. The hardest part will be not a spill a drop and what happens when a caring father gives his daughter sweet encouragement.

[Tasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Penda lives in a tiny village in Niger with her family. Her father has headed up into the grasslands with the sheep. Penda volunteers to take her father a bowl of milk and has to try not to spill any along the way. She puts the milk on her head and starts to walk. She has to walk along the sand dunes and between the dancers at the rainy-season mask dance. Then she takes a boat across the Niger River with the milk still on her head. After that she has to climb one last mountain and there is her father. She’s almost there when… You will have to read whether Penda delivers the milk successfully or not.

Davies has traveled extensively in Africa and carefully chose the setting of the Niger River thanks to its varied landscape and intriguing animals. All of the landforms in the book exist in this area as do the animals too, including the unusual and endangered pale giraffes. Davies writes with a lovely rhythm that moves the book along quickly. Penda speaks to herself as she walks, reminding herself to pay attention in couplets of natural verse.

Corr’s art is eye-poppingly bright with yellow skies, orange hills, and blue water. Against those bright colors, the characters wear even more color filled with designs. The book evokes the vibrancy of Africa and the bustle of its villages.

Expect small children to want to try to carry bowls of liquids on their own heads after this beautiful introduction to Africa. Appropriate for ages 3-5.

[Christy Cryer]

Reflection: Penda begs to be allowed to carry her bowl of milk to her father, and she promises not to spill a drop. She is so careful along the way only to have it spilled by a mango falling off the tree. This reminds me of a time in college when I was typing a major paper for a class in a campus computer lab. Just as I was finishing the last few sentences, there was a power surge, and the computer froze. I was frustrated just like Penda was.

Rationale: The author’s note in this book gives some great background as to what makes this book culturally specific. He has spent a great deal of time in the region of Africa that this book is set, and has researched the Fulani tribe that Penda and her father are from. The animals, landscapes, and plot events are all specific to the region surrounding the Niger River.

Questions:
Remembering: What is in the bowl Penda is carrying?
Understanding: Why isn’t Daddy upset that the milk spilled?
Applying: What questions would you ask if you were going with Penda on her journey?
Analyzing: What evidence can you find to show that Penda was a responsible girl?
Evaluating: What was the most difficult obstacle for Penda to get past?
Creating: Make a model or mural showing the obstacles that Penda had to overcome.

[Tricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a big fan of Stephen Davies' teen and middle grades books, so when I saw this in my library's catalog I had to get it (even though we no longer read picture books at bedtime). A young girl delivers a bowl of milk to her father far away in the fields. Disaster strikes at the end, but her father reassures her that "there was more than milk in that bowl." As with his longer works, this is true to the culture and landscape - make sure to read the author's note at the end. Christopher Corr's illustrations are bright and colorful and child-like.

[Mathew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Set in Niger, the story follows Penda as she carries a bowl of milk to her father in the grasslands of West Africa's Burkina Faso. We follow her across Corr's striking, gouache paintings of downy dunes, the dark, wide river and up and down the steep, steep mountain. I was interested to find out that Stephen Davies lives among the Fulani herders in West Africa, is fluent in Fulfulde, accompanies cattle-drives. He has also helped founder a Fulfulde radio station. He worked closely with the artist who was given the opportunity to picture the area's diverse geography.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bright colors jump out and grab the reader's attention as we read about a girl traversing a variety of land forms and landmarks as she takes milk to her father. Based on real landforms near the Niger River, this African story brings to life the daily life of a village. In spite of the seeming fancifulness of the illustrations, there really are white giraffes! Fascinating!

[Pour Marianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marianne a adoré ce livre et ne pouvait s'empêcher de parler en le lisant, elle montrait le lait à maman et posait des questions. Maman aussi a beaucoup aimé l'histoire, j'ai même eu un peu la larme à l'oeil vers la fin (j'étais fatiguée, mais quand même). Elle l'a redemandé le lendemain. Je crois qu'elle aime les couleurs vives, et qu'Halima ait du lait sur la tête!

[Maggi Rohde · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect to share with students after talking to them about Have You Filled a Bucket Today?: A Guide to Daily Happiness for Kids or other bucket-filling stories.

[Victoria Boswell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book was an incredible show of culture. It follows the story of Penda, a girl from an African village, who has volunteered to bring her father (many miles away) his milk. The drawings are bright and the plot is thick with African roots, and it would be good to have in the classroom for children to relate to or learn about new cultural norms.

[Tracie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Penda bets to be allowed to take the bowl of milk to her father in the grasslands far away. To do so, she has to promise not to spill it and she is careful...until.... Lively illustrations and a lovely story.

[Great Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

Walking through the Nigerian landscape, Pendra balances a bowl of milk on her head, for her Daddy who is tending the sheep. Even though a mango falls in the bowl, spilling the contents, Daddy reassures his little girl it was filled with love.
Reviewer 23

[Irina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book that teaches about love. Wonderful story to read to students. Talks about a different culture, story takes place in Africa, great pictures of characters, unique names that are true to the origin of the story.