2023 - ‘70’s Immersion Reading Challenge

READING LEVEL: 4.9 AR POINTS: 0.5

Ashanti to Zulu: African Traditions by Margaret Musgrove (1976) 36 pages. Read online at Internet Archive, then ordered the book from Thriftbooks.com for my Hodge grandsons.

So, Vidor Elementary, in Southeast Texas, is FAILING at educating our kids. My daughter had held both of her boys back in their first year of school, giving them more time to mature and learn. But, since, she has discovered that her youngest, who they continue to pass, is still at Kindergarten reading level.

She has yanked both her boys from that school and will be homeschooling to get them caught up, or even by-pass what’s being taught, which, what is even being taught?

Now, I’m out to find good learning books for her boys, and this one would definitely qualify as a cultural lesson. The author has researched the different African regions and its people to write this book. From A to Z, a short and simple tradition is told of a particular culture of people in Africa. There’s even a pronunciation key provided for each tribe, and also a map of Africa showing where each tribe of people live.

For learning more, I can see using a world globe so kids can see where Africa is related to where they, themselves, live. Maybe Google African recipes to make together, such as “foufou”, mentioned on page 7, dipped with their hands into a homemade African stew just like the Ga (gah) people do. Kids would love that! No eating utensils.

Maybe you’ll come up with other ideas after reading this beautiful book. The artwork is absolutely gorgeous!

Read FREE here at Internet Archive:

https://archive.org/search?query=ashanti+to+zulu ( )

19 copies

Background on content and illustrations, as well as an author's introduction precede the body of the text. Final page shows tribal locations on a map: Ashanti, Baule, Chagge, Dogon, Ewe, Fanti, Ga, Hausa, Ikoma, Jie, Kung, Lozi, Masai, Ndaka, Ouadai, Pondo, Quimbande, Rendille, Sotho, Tuareg, Uge, Vai, Wagenia, Xhosa, Yoruba, Zulu.

Explains some traditions and customs of twenty-six African tribes beginning with the letters from A to Z

A well designed book for young children with informative text and wonderful illustrations giving some of the customs of various African peoples. There is also a map of Africa to show where the homelands of these people are located. This book will probably be part of the next set of my son's childhood books that I send to his children.