Africa Brothers and Sisters

by Virginia L. Kroll

A father and son spend time together as they play a well-loved game in which they talk about the twenty-one different African peoples, in a work that includes a pronunciation guide and a map.

Genres: Cultural, Picture Books, Historical Fiction, Family, African American

32 pages, Hardcover

First published March 31, 1993

About the author

Kroll has written numerous children's books since her career started in the mid-80's. Her first book was published in 1992. She started writing when she had her fourth child. Before that, she taught elementary school in Buffalo, NY. She also has written a number of books under the pseudonym Melrose Cooper to mask her tremendous output in so short a time.

Reviews

[Mi Ngo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This picture book explores the cultures of the different tribes in Africa as Jesse and his dad as they discuss who his siblings are.

The illustrations were very vivid, and you could see the similarities and differences of the culture in each tribe as the father talked to Jesse about each of them. The drawings were very realistic as well.

It was great that the book included a map of where the different tribes are located and how to pronounce each tribe's name. It is well appreciated. However, I felt that instead of trying to cover one thing that's well known in the 21 tribes, if the author covered fewer tribes but more facts about the tribes, it would have been nice and not so overwhelming, like 10 tribes and 3 facts about each one. But it was well written. I'm glad I was able to learn more about a continent that's not described much in children's books.

[Kai Seifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great message and story
Good to read during an Africa unit in class
Great illustrations

[Linnea Lyding · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book does a wonderful job of explaining African culture and the connection that everyone has to their heritage. The artist uses watercolors and colored pencils to create bright, inviting illustrations. The story starts off with a father and son - who appear to be in America. The boy asks his dad, "Why don't I have any brothers and sisters?" And his dad responds, "You do!" This appears to be a ongoing dialogue. From there, the father explains what his "Africa brothers and sisters" do. The artist keeps the father and son on the page as she illustrates the African activities in the background. This would be a great book to use for a unit concerning other cultures or even the celebration of differences among us.

[Illyra Vote]

My multicultural book: This book is about a young bot and his father having a conversation about their heritage. The young boy asks his dad about the people of Africa and the dad speaks of many different tribes and what they are famous for. This book was terribly boring and although the dialogue was great it was the only thing written in the book. The pictures were nicely done however, they depicted the conversations quite well and were the only enjoyable part of the book for me. The only time I would use this book in a classroom would be with third graders who are learning about African culture or for fourth graders who I'm teaching to write dialogue properly.

[Angie · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this book a boy and his father play a game where they talk about the different African tribes and what they are known for. For instance, the Guere make masks out of wood that they wear during dances and the Wagenia are fishermen. It has good information, but at times it does seem to be more of a list than anything else. I think it would have been nice if the author would have spent more time on fewer tribes and not tried to cover so many. And it seems kind of strange to characterize an entire people by one specific thing. Still it is interesting to learn so much about the people of Africa.

[Renae Williams]

I really enjoy books that feature fathers and sons. This book is great to teach children that they have roots. Being African-American I found this book interesting to learn about my roots and the different African tribes there are. I felt special to know that i came from such rich ancestry and i think African-American children will feel the same way while reading this book.

[Jennesy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is jammed packed full of knowledge about Africa. A father and son have a conversation through the entire book and the young boy asks several questions about his "brothers" and "sisters" from his culture, African culture that is. I would definitely use this book in my classroom as a resource if we were talking about countries.

[Nicholle Lang · Rating 3 out of 5]

Talked about many of the African Tribes and what each of them are known for. It's interesting to know the different kinds of tribes.

[Carrie Marie Lawson Brewer · Rating 4 out of 5]

When wondering about siblings, Jesse is told all about his African brothers and sisters from different tribes all around the world!