Children's Picture Book Database at Miami University

The biggest soap | by Shaefer, Carole

Kessy loved to listen to stories told by his Mama and his cousins on laundry days. One laundry day, Kessy is asked to go to the store and bring back the biggest piece of laundry soap. Kessy returns and tells his story about the biggest soap.

Keywords: accidents, assertiveness, beach, cleanliness, clothing, colors, decision making, exercise, family, feelings, happiness, helping, injury, kindness, monsters, parents, peer resistance, play, running, sadness, storytelling, verbal communication, water

Napi | by Ramirez, Antonio

Napi and her Mazateca Indian family live in a village on the bank of a river. As Napi relaxes in the garden and listens to her grandfatherʼs stories, she notices the vibrant colors in the trees, village, river, and animals around her. Napi dreams of being a heron, flying softly above her world.

Keywords: animals, birds, bodies of water, colors, culture, customs, day, dreams, family, grandparents, heron, language, mexican, multicultural, native american, river, storytelling

Memorial | by Crew, Gary

Storytime is a great time to recollect and gain lessons on past events. Take a stand with a young boy as he tries to preserve a memory.

Keywords: assertiveness, conservation, critical thinking, decision making, family, fight, generations, grandparents, history, memories, monument, plants, storytelling, tree, war

The day gogo went to vote: South africa, 1994 | by Batezat Sisulu, Elinor

Thembi and her beloved great-grandmother, who has not left the house for many years, go together to vote on the momentous day when black South Africans are allowed to vote for the first time.

Keywords: africa, aging, celebration, critical thinking, dancing, determination, election, family, grandparents, helping, history, holidays, illness, parents, politics, pride, song, storytelling

What the animals were waiting for | by London, Jonathan

The story of the dramatic cycles of life on the African savanna, one of the last great, wild places on earth.

Keywords: africa, animals, bodies of water, celebration, crocodile, elephant, family, giraffe, grandparents, language, lightning, lion, moon, multicultural, nature, night, patience, river, storytelling, wisdom, zebra

Shadow | by Brown, Marcia

The village storytellers and shamans of African expound on the important, mysterious, haunted, and enchanted life of shadows.

Keywords: africa, animals, appreciation, birds, bodies of water, cow, dancing, eagle, elephant, fable, fire, forest, insects, magic, mystery, night, reptiles, river, scorpion, shadows, snake, spy, storytelling, tree, war

Drumbeat in our feet | by Keeler, Patricia//Leitao, Julio T.

Informative passages and lyrical verse explore the history and rhythmic qualities of traditional African dance as performed long ago and today.

Keywords: africa, african, african american, america, animals, celebration, ceremony, colors, congo, dancing, elephant, ethnic, exercise, generations, geography, history, instruments, learning, maps, monkey, multicultural, music, nonfiction, nonverbal communication, performance, rhythm, storytelling, traditions, village

Afro-bets: First book about africa | by Ellis, Veronica

Mr. Amegashie explores the cultural diversity, rich history, and the beautiful and exciting land of Africa.

Keywords: africa, african, animals, art, bodies of water, business, camel, celebration, ceremony, culture, customs, dancing, desert, discrimination, diversity, egypt, family, forest, geography, ghana, history, horse, hyena, independence, instruments, islam, learning, leopard, library, maps, mountains, multicultural, music, muslim, nigerian, nonfiction, nonverbal communication, photograph, religion, river, school, ship, slavery, storytelling, traditions, transportation, verbal communication, village, water, zimbabwe

Bintou's braids | by Diouf, Sylviane

When Bintou, a little girl living in West Africa, finally gets her wish for braids, she discovers that what she dreamed for has been hers all along.

Keywords: africa, african, america, animals, beach, birds, bodies of water, celebration, chicken, clothing, critical thinking, dreams, envy, family, feelings, fish, food, fruit, grandparents, moon, multicultural, parents, prayer, pride, sadness, sea, selfishness, siblings, sleep, sounds, stars, storytelling, stress management, sun, traditions, tree, village

Ogbo: Sharing life in an african village | by Onyefulu, Ifeoma

Ogbo are a special part of village life in Nigeria, uniting children of the same age in a lifelong fellowship - a group with whom they celebrate festivals, share day-to-day chores, and face the challenges of growing up. A young girl named Obioma helps us understand what belonging to an ogbo means. Growing, working, and relaxing together, the ogbo weave the fabric of village life.

Keywords: africa, african, celebration, chores, cleanliness, community, customs, death, family, friendship, grandparents, instruments, language, multicultural, music, nigerian, parents, photograph, respect, responsibilities, singing, song, storytelling, traditions, village, work

The blind hunter | by Rodanas, Kristina

A blind African hunter teaches a young man how to see by using his other senses.

Keywords: africa, african, animals, birds, blindness, bodies of water, feelings, five senses, flowers, forgiveness, friendship, garden, happiness, humor, hunting, leopard, multicultural, nonverbal communication, pond, pride, respect, rhinoceros, song, storytelling, teaching, tree, village, wart hog

Vacation in the village: A story from west africa | by Njeng, Pierre Yves

A boy discovers and takes pride in the customs of his people when he visits his family's village in West Africa.

Keywords: affection, africa, books, boredom, buildings, construction, customs, discovery, dreams, family, fear, feelings, fish, fishing, forest, friendship, games, grandparents, happiness, history, hunting, multicultural, parents, reptiles, school, siblings, storytelling, traditions, train, transportation, travel, turtle, vacation, village, work, worry

Africa brothers and sisters | by Kroll, Virginia

At lunchtime Daddy and Jesse play their favorite game: a question and answer game about people who live in Africa and the ways in which they are connected to Jesse.

Keywords: africa, african, animals, art, clothing, community, critical thinking, dancing, family, farm, fishing, games, geography, giraffe, jewelry, maps, multicultural, parents, recreation, siblings, storytelling, traditions, verbal communication, village

Turtle summer: A journal for my daughter | by Monroe, Mary A.

A young mother writes a journal for her daughter. This scrapbook-journal explains the nesting cycle of loggerhead sea turtles and the natural life along the southeastern coast, including local shore birds, shells, and a sea turtle hospital.

Keywords: animals, baby, beach, birds, birth, bodies of water, family, injury, migration, nature, parents, reproduction, reptiles, sea, shells, storytelling, turtle

Jamari's drum | by Bynum, Eboni//Jackson, Roland

Jamari grows up drawn to the beating of the djembe, the keeper of the peace, the great drum of his Mali village. Jamari grows older and becomes the drummer of the djembe. He eventually gets caught up in other aspects of village life. When the village is once again threatened by the nearby angry mountain, Jamari returns to his post as drummer for village peace.

Keywords: africa, african, clothing, community, dedication, fable, family, five senses, harmony, instruments, language, marriage, mountains, multicultural, music, peace, rhythm, storytelling, traditions

Boundless grace | by Hoffman, Mary

According to the stories Grace read, her family is not normal. Grace's father lives in Africa while she and her mother live in America. Grace visits her father to learn about his new family and the African culture in Gambia. Grace's visit to Africa helps her to understand that her family is normal.

Keywords: african, african american, change, comparisons, crocodile, divorce, family, grandparents, letters, love, multicultural, parents, reptiles, shopping, siblings, storytelling, travel, vacation, verbal communication

The wisdom bird: A tale of Solomon and Sheba | by Oberman, Sheldon

Queen of Sheba, the wisest woman in the world, travels to Jerusalem after hearing about King Solomon, the wisest man in the world. She hopes to learn something new, but after asking for a palace made out of bird beaks, they both learn something important. This folktale is derived from Jewish, African and Biblical tales.

Keywords: africa, african, birds, critical thinking, culture, folktale, israelian, Jewish, leadership, multicultural, religion, riddle, royalty, self esteem, ship, storytelling, teaching, transportation, travel, wisdom

Arijole | by Mashiri, Pascal

Arijole's stepsisters are envious of her beauty. They do not want Arijole to be chosen as a wife in a nearby village, so the stepsisters turn her into a dog. When only Arijole (the dog) is left, a mother takes her home for her son to hunt. Soon they realize that Arijole is not a dog but a beautiful woman. She and Obondo are then married.

Keywords: africa, beauty, conflict resolution, culture, envy, family, folktale, jealousy, love, marriage, multicultural, nonverbal communication, obedience, parents, respect, self esteem, siblings, stepmother, storytelling

The talking cloth | by Mitchell, Rhonda

Aunt Phoebe has a collection of many wonderful things, each having an interesting story. The little girl's favorite thing is an adinkra cloth from Ghana. It has many colors and symbols to represent feelings, faith, power, and love.

To be a drum | by Coleman, Evelyn

Daddy Wes whispers to his two young children about the history of Africans forced into slavery and how the pulse of the drum has moved through them over time. Daddy Wes promises his children that as long as they can hear the heartbeat of the earth, they will be free.

Keywords: africa, african, bodies of water, careers, colors, community, culture, five senses, freedom, hearing, history, instruments, language, multicultural, music, nonverbal communication, ocean, playing, pride, rhythm, sea, ship, slavery, sounds, spiritual, storytelling, symbols, time, verbal communication, war

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