Friday, January 22, 2016

Africa is Not a Country

We have kids from Nicaragua, Guam, and Africa in my class…”
We made masks from China, Peru, and Africa
He is been to England, Africa, and Italy


A colorful, cross-cultural look at a fascinating continent!
Strangely it’s not just children who make this basic ‘geographical’ mistake, but even adults. The fact is, Africa is not a country but a continent of over 50 sovereign states and thousands of ethnicities.

’Africa Is Not a Country’, written by Margy Burns Knight and illustrated by Anne Sibley O’Brien, was first published in 2000. It was the beginning of a century when people wondered if such a book was even necessary; some were even saddened that young readers required such a title to remind them of the difference between a country and continent. The book allows children to enter into the extraordinary and diverse lives of people living in this vibrant continent. The mini stories in this book help readers recognise names and learn customs of different regions. For example they will learn about salt mining in Mali, sweet potato farming in Cape Verde and fishermen in Senegal. This is a great book to have in the classroom or home study, especially if you're doing a lesson on continents and it's a great gift for children who love to read. In this interactive book that touches on 25 countries in Africa- children will locate and color countries on the map as they hear them mentioned in the story.


The book is available online.

The author narrates the experiences of children at play, at school, and at home, and use realistic illustrations to explore the cultural, environmental, ethnic, and social diversity of  countries that make up the African continent.



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