My First Kwanzaa Book

by Deborah M. Newton Chocolate, Cal Massey (Illustrator)

A look at Kwanzaa introduces readers to the annual week-long reunion of family and friends during which African Americans celebrate their heritage, describing the foods they eat, the clothes they wear, and the stories they enjoy.

Genres: Holiday, Picture Books, Cultural, Family, Childrens, Fantasy, Storytime

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Debbi Chocolate is the author of numerous popular and award-winning books for young readers, including Talk, Talk, for which she received the Parents CHoice Award; On The Day I Was Born, a Children's Book Council Notable selectiom; and Neate to the Rescue!

Reviews

[India Lavoyce]

This is another Black History Month read of 2025. I enjoyed this short and informative book. I love the bibliography and dictionary in the back. I celebrated Kwanzaa years ago as a child, but I’ve come away from celebrating. It won’t be bad to at least acknowledge what our ancestors went through.

[Edgar Benavides]

This book was great. It showed the tradition and the celebration of Kwanza. I was not to informed on the holiday Kwanza. However, I learned a lot from this book. The fact that I did not know much about Kwanza is the reason why I would show or read this book in my classroom. Students need to learn about other cultures. A great way of doing that is by reading books like this one. I lived most of life only being familiar about Mexican/American culture which is not good. Expanding your knowledge on cultures will open your eyes to the beauty of these said cultures. Maybe students will read this book and start asking questions about other holidays or cultures. I think it is a great idea for students to have access to books like these in the classroom.

[Abbey Pignatari]

3/5 (physical book)

This is a nice story about a young boy celebrating Kwanzaa with his family. The illustrations are beautiful and the story is simple in its tellings of the celebration. With this said, I do with there was more information about the celebrations of Kwanzaa because I feel like I did not learn a lot from this, being My First Kwanzaa Book. I do still think it is a nice place to start when introducing young readers to the holiday, I just wish it had a bit more information on the celebrations.

[Jana]

This picture book is a nice way to introduce young readers to the celebration of Kwanzaa and the underlying principles that make up the special time of year. Easy to understand text and vibrant illustrations make this a terrific book to have as part of a holiday collection in classrooms and at home.

[Suzanne Lorraine Kunz Williams]

A beautiful book for children to learn about Kwanzaa. I wish there would a been a page at the back with more info for those wanting to learn more. But it shows what a beautiful holiday celebrating universally good values this is.

[Dmc]

Way too wordy for preschoolers.

[Sherry Scheline]

Great book for kwanzaa

[Hope]

Read at Kilbourn Public Library storytime w/ Ms Tammy!

[Latifa Awad]

Genre: Picture Book, Non-Fiction



This book describes the different steps that people who celebrate Kwanzaa do. The purpose of Kwanzaa is to celebrate African American harvest and the beliefs and values of traditional African customs. There are seven principles of Kwanzaa, and they revolve around unity and working together. In the book, the little book explains the different things his family does on the different days of Kwanzaa.

I would recommend this book for children in grades 1 and higher. The story is interesting and is age-appropriate, children can understand what is being represented. It includes realistic characters. The illustrations help enhance the story and correspond to the text. The lifestyles of the characters are genuine and complex. The author is also celebrates Kwanzaa, and this gives an insider’s point of view on the Holiday. This book is a great source to use when teaching about celebrations around the world, because it is a Holiday celebrated by many Africans and African Americans.

[Haley Sterritt]

This narrative would be a great book to read to early childhood students, particularly the kindergarten or 1st graders. It tells the story of a little boy's first experience of Kwanzaa from his point of view. He gets to wear African clothing, fly the flag, visit and eat with family, and make African jewlery. This book does a good job giving a simplistic view of Kwanzaa and making it easy to understand for young readers. One thing I found interesting was that the dates of each event during Kwanzaa is in the bottom right corner of the pages with the name of the day of Kwanzaa as well. The illustrations are bright and upbeat, which symbolizes the use of bright colors during the holiday. If used in the classroom, this book teaches of multicultural holidays and students could make their own African jewlery or flags. Also in the back of the book is definitions of the Seven Principles of Kwanzaa with their pronounciation included.

[Genny Flett]

Subtopic: Kwanzaa

Genre: Fiction- Realistic

Topics: Family, African-American celebration and history

Synopsis: This story depicts the first Kwanzaa that a little boy celebrates. The story talks about common Kwanzaa traditions from the way they dress to what they eat. The family comes together to celebrate and retell stories about the African culture and holiday. The family lights candles for the seven principles of Kwanzaa. I liked that in the back it displayed the seven principles and had a list of the symbols and words used during Kwanzaa.

Chocolate, D. M. (1992). My first Kwanzaa book. New York: Scholastic.

[Janelle Zingaro]

This narrative is about an African American family and their Kwanzaa celebration. The narrator, a young African American boy, tells what happens when his "Mama says, 'It's Kwanzaa time.'" The family wears traditional African clothing. Family visits, decorations are hung, the Kwanzaa candles are lit, stories are told, and gifts are exchanged. The dates and names of each day of Kwanzaa are included throughout the pages and the meanings are listed in the back of the book. This book promotes cultural diversity, especially during the holiday season.

[Samantha]

What a great book for children! A little boy takes readers through his family's celebration of Kwanzaa. The date and the principle assigned to that day is present in the bottom right corner of each two page spread.

Follwing the story is an afterword about the establishment of Kwanzaa. The principles are defined and a pronunciation guide is also included. Words and symbols used during Kwanzaa rounds out the back matter.

I love how muchy information is included in this book and that the story is simple enough for reading aloud with youg children. PreK-2.

[Rachel Escobar]

I really enjoyed reading this book, because it was something different than what is normally offered in holiday sections. This book was very simply written but talked about what Kwanzaa was and why it is celebrated. The thing I enjoyed most about this book was how on the bottom of the pages is said what day certain things are done on and I think that helps children get a better picture of how this holiday is celebrated

[Emily]

Throughout this bright colored picture book, young readers will learn about the Muslim holiday, Kwanzaa. Children will be exposed to the importance of traditions, family and unity within this religion. More specifically, students will have an opportunity to learn about the special foods, clothing and celebrations associated with Kwanzaa. t

[Stephanie Klaren]

The pictures in this book are nice to look at and full of colors. This book would be best for lower elementary students because it is short and to the point but it also tells about a family coming together for Kwanzaa. I also liked that in the bottom left corner of each page was a date and the African name for the day of Kwanzaa.

[Carmen]

I loved how this book shares the seven principles of Kwanzaa and how the main character's family traditionally celebrates the African American holiday. It is a very kid friendly read and the pictures are so detailed and colorful. I would recommend this book for children ages 3-7.

[Belise Michel]

I use this book as a tool to introduce another holiday in the month of December. I talk to the children about who celebrates Kwanzaa and where Kwanzaa started. It also a great book to have in the class if you have a student that is from Africa. We also compare Kwanzaa with Christmas, & Hanukkah.

[Kaylen Matherly]

This book is about a little boy telling about his family tradition, which is Kwanzaa. This book would introduce children to the African culture and the Kwanzaa holiday. It is appropriate for Kindergarten and first grade.

[Amy-Marie]

A book that will show students how some celebrate kwanza.

[June]

This is the simplest Kwanzaa book I have been able to find. I wish the pronunciations were in the story. I never get them all correct.

[Suzanne]

Sparse text and colorful illustrations - a good introduction to the holiday for young students.

[Kris]

This was my least favorite of the four Kwanzaa books I read to my kids. The extra info included in the intro and afterwords were great, but not incorporated into the story at all.