Anna Hibiscus
(Reviewed with Hooray for Anna Hibiscus.) A pair of welcome chapter books feature a young girl and her family who live in a large city in Africa. Anna Hibiscus’s dad is Black African; her mom is white Canadian. Anna lives with her parents, twin baby brothers, and grandparents, aunties, uncles, and cousins in their family compound. Cars, cell phones and the internet are a way of life, but so is traditional dress, food, and values. Humor is often drawn from situations in which embracing modern ideas has unexpected outcomes. When Anna Hibiscus’s parents decide to take only their immediate family on a vacation, they miss everyone else so much that one by one Anna Hibiscus’s dad brings the rest of the family to join them. When Anna’s uncles purchase a generator so the family has light when the electricity goes out—a predictably unpredictable occurrence—Anna and the other younger children miss the thrill that used to come with each power outage: playing hide-and-go-seek in the dark, and listening to their grandmother's stories. The decision not to replace the generator it is one that emphasizes the importance of slowing down and taking time to be together in a mindful way. Author Atinuke, originally from Nigeria, incorporates the cadence of oral storytelling into the narrative of these entertaining volumes that burst with energy and warmth and offer a positive, affirming look at African identity. The author makes clear Anna Hibiscus lives in one of many countries in Africa, engagingly portraying a contemporary urban African child who is not only surrounded by the love and bustling chaos of her family, but also learning about the larger world right outside her door, in which not everyone is as fortunate as she is. Enlightening but most of all entertaining, these books are a treat for newly independent readers, as well as children lucky enough to hear them read aloud. ©2010 Cooperative Children’s Book Center
Illustrated by Lauren Tobia
CCBC Age Recommendation: Ages 4-8
Age Range:
PreK-Early Elementary (Ages 4-7)
Grades 3-5 (Ages 8-10)
Format:
Novel
Subjects:
African Peoples
Community
Families
Humor
Multiracial Characters/Families
Diversity subject:
Black/African
Publisher:
Kane Miller
Publish Year: 2010
Pages: 112
ISBN: 9781935279730
CCBC Location: Fiction, Atinuke