Kwanzaa Books for Children

Kwanzaa books for children usually focus on Kwanzaa's seven principles for living. The best children's Kwanzaa books combine wonderful prose with vivid artistry, to the extent that the writer and the artist often share the byline. Kwanzaa celebrations from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1 were born from African culture and first took root among African Americans. Still, the seven principles featured in Kwanzaa books for kids have meaning for all children and for all people.

Children's Kwanzaa books focos on the seven Kwanzaa principles, translated from Swahili. The seven Kwanzaa principles are umoja (unity), kukichagulia (self-determination), ujima (collective work and responsibility), ujamaa (cooperative economics), nia (purpose), kuumba (creativity), and imani (faith).

Good parents of all cultures strive to instill these Kwanzaa values, and children's Kwanzaa books can help. Plus, let's not forget, children's books are fun. Don't forget to consult your school librarian or your public librarian. Following are five Kwanzaa children's books to consider, from many that are available.

-- Seven Spools of Thread, by Angela Shelf Medearis, illustrated by Daniel Minter. What better way to show how the the seven Kwanzaa principles are interwoven, than to use the metaphor of thread spools in a Kwanzaa book for kids? Umoja requires ujima, with a sense of nia, and so forth. Like many modern children's books, not just Kwanzaa children's books but for all topics, the illustrations are so vibrant that even an adult will feel enriched.

-- It's Kwanzaa Time!, by Linda Goss and Clay Goss. The attention span for interactive reading with small children often maxes out at about a half-hour. So, how do we keep children occupied in other ways? This book contains crafts and games, recipes and songs. The Goss tandem provides the prose, and an array of guest artists illustrate a daily story for each of the Kwanzaa seven principles.

-- Celebrate Kwanzaa, produced by the National Geographic Society's Around the World series for early elementary children. This isn't the old National Geographic (sometimes cynically called "National Pornographic") that older adults will remember. Photographs tastefully illustrate Kwanzaa celebrations from around the globe. Drawings and paintings in other children's Kwanzaa books are wonderful, but a nice collection of books also benefits from true-life photographs.

-- The Children's Book of Kwanzaa, by Dolores Johnson. For middle elementary or possibly older elementary children (if they're behind their grade level in reading), this hefty 160-page paperback provides the volume to demonstrate that picture books are in the child's past. Youngsters at this age are capable of learning not only Kwanzaa's seven principles, but also how and why Kwanzaa emerged, starting in the 1960s.

-- 'K' is for Kwanzaa: A Kwanzaa Alphabet Book, by Juwanda G. Ford. Preschoolers and kindergartners can learn about Kwanzaa while they also learn their ABC's.

SOURCES

http://www.melanet.com/kwanzaa/whatis.html

http://childrensbooks.about.com/od/holidays/tp/kwanzaa.htm

http://books.simonandschuster.com/Children%27s-Book-of-Kwanzaa/Dolores-Johnson/9780689815560