We All Went on Safari: A Counting Journey through Tanzania

Jambo! (means hello in Swahili, the most widely spoken language in sub-Saharan Africa).
As I go through books with my Big Little E, I will blog about the individual books here so we can all share in the benefit of them!

Here are some useful information on We All Went on Safari:

NOTE: "We All Went on Safari" has been printed in 16 foreign countries
and has won the following awards:

Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Award
Kirkus Book Review Stars
Child Magazine's Best Children's Books of 2003
Family Fun's Best Books of 2003
Capitol Choices 2004
The Children's Literature Choice List 2004
ForeWord Magazine's Silver Award for Picture Books
Bill Martin, Jr. Picture Book Award Nominee, 2005
Great Lakes Great Book Award Nominee 2005
Teacher's Choice Award of 2004

Editorial Reviews

Review
"In this charming tale, your child follows a group of Maasai people as they travel across Tanzania, encountering big cats, ostriches, warthogs, monkeys, elephants, and other fascinating wildlife. There is also a glossary of Maasai names and a review of Swahili numbers from one to 10." --Your Big Backyard"

"The text's easy, natural rhythm makes reading aloud a pleasure:
'We all went on safari
Where the treetops intertwine.
We met mischievous monkeys,
So Doto counted nine'.

Each sharply detailed scene glows with jewel-like color, set off by the traditionally dressed human figures' heads and limbs. Further information about the Maasai, Tanzania, the ten children's Swahili names, and the equal number of wild creatures met along the way close this brilliant, horizon-expanding outing." --Kirkus Review (starred review)

"Youngsters will learn numbers from one to ten in English and Swahili as Mosi, Tumpe, Arusha, and other friends count African wildlife. Attractive borders frame vibrant watercolor spreads of different types of animals, including giraffes, elephants, zebras, and lions. The rhyming singsong verse, beginning with the refrain "We all went on a safari," lends itself to a fun read-aloud." --School Library Journal"

Product Description
Join Arusha, Mosi, Tumpe and their Maasai friends as they set out on a counting journey through the grasslands of Tanzania. Along the way, the children encounter all sorts of animals including elephants, lions and monkeys, while counting from one to ten in both English and Swahili. The lively, rhyming text is accompanied by an illustrated guide to counting in Swahili, a map, notes about each of the animals, and interesting facts about Tanzania and the Maasai people.

Lesson Plan Ideas
'It is important that children from the earliest stages are helped to recognise that there are many ways of seeing and understanding the world.'

Global citizenship activities in the early years provide opportunities for young children to:

• make connections between their lives and the lives of other children and families across the globe
• develop respect for other cultures, religions, languages and lifestyles
• understand that areas of their lives, such as the food we eat and how it is produced and transported, mean that we rely on the skills and resources of others.
  

Global issues are part of children and young people’s lives in ways unfamiliar to previous generations due to advances in technology such as the internet. We know far more about how children live across the world and can share information about our families and lifestyles. This provides an opportunity to encourage children to develop positive attitudes, to promote equal opportunities and to challenge discrimination.

Activities for under-5s

Download Global Citizenship: Activities for under 5s, activity ideas from the extensive Oxfam site on developing ideas about diversity and interdependence.

For a start, you can introduce your child to a foreign language - Swahili - with this precious, beautifully illustrated book. Your child will learn to count in Swahili:-

moja - one

mbili - two

tatu - three

nne - four

tano - five

sita - six

saba - seven

nane - eight

tisa - nine

kumi - ten

It's also in the style of Barefoot Books to include reference pages in the back of the book and in this book, you'll find the Swahili names for the animals found in Tanzania. For more Swahili for beginners go to http://mwanasimba.online.fr/E_index.html and then go to http://languagestudy.suite101.com/article.cfm/foreign_language_number_games to play foreign language number games and finally listen to Swahili songs here http://mwanasimba.online.fr/E_songs.htm

Books for Africa

Yesterday was Thanksgiving in the United States, a holiday that reminds us to express gratitude for what we have and reach out to those who have less. In this spirit of giving, we cannot think of a better time to announce Barefoot Books' partnership with Books For Africa, a truly inspiring organization whose mission is to bring the enduring gift of literacy, education and hope to underprivileged children and their communities in Africa.

Books For Africa is the largest shipper of donated books to the African continent. Since 1988, they have sent over 20 million books to 44 African countries and into the hands of rural schoolchildren. Many of these children are taught in primitive schoolrooms without running water, electricity or the basic materials and tools needed to learn. By collecting, sorting and shipping books to these communities, Books For Africa provides these children with the fundamental tools they need to learn, grow and improve their individual lives and the world around them. To learn more, we encourage you to visit the Books For Africa web site and watch this inspiring video on their mission.

Before we go into the details of this partnership, we felt it was important to share the story of how it came to be. This story speaks volumes about the power of human connection, because our relationship with Books For Africa stemmed from a chance encounter between one of our very own Stallholders and a Books For Africa employee. Tara Morrison, a Stallholder in Minnesota, was selling Barefoot at an outdoor event this summer when she struck up a conversation with a woman who walked into her booth. This woman turned out to be Linda Mah oney, the Director of International Relations for Books For Africa. Tara, who has a life-long passion for Africa's culture and people, already knew of Linda's organization and was happy to gather more information about it and share the story of Barefoot Books. Sensing the connection between the two, Linda made sure to pass along her business card before purchasing some books for her granddaughter. Afterwards, the mission of Books For Africa stayed with Tara and she continued to reflect on the similarities between the two organizations. Eventually, she called Linda to meet for coffee, and as Tara told us, "The more we talked, the more we could both envision what an amazing partnership this could be." So Tara put Linda in touch with our staff here at the US office, and we too quickly realized what a perfect fit this would be for both organizations - and the rest is history!

From a chance encounter evolving into a conversation over coffee and eventually into the exciting partnership we are announcing today, we thank Tara for illustrating so beautifully how simple human connections can grow and develop into something larger and more rewarding than we could have imagined. We couldn't be more excited about launching this meaningful partnership with Books For Africa. They are truly an organization that speaks to the core of what Barefoot Books is about - spreading literacy, art and cultural understanding throughout the world, and extending a helping hand to children less fortunate than our own.

We have committed to this partnership through at least the end of 2009, and this week we are implementing a number of ways to supplement the work of Books For Africa. Without further ado, read below to hear how Barefoot will be working with Books for Africa to support their existing efforts and bring the colorful art and story in ou r books to children half-way around the world!

Books For Africa Donations on the Barefoot Books Website (US only) This Wednesday we are launching a new Books for Africa page on our US website that will allow customers to donate a selection of African-themed books to Books For Africa by "purchasing" them at well below retail value. These donated books, available for either $5 or $3, will be set aside at our warehouse in Wisconsin and picked up in bulk by Books For Africa for shipment to the African continent.

For $5, customers can donate these hardcover titles: We All Went on Safari, Mama Panya's Pancakes, We're Sailing Down the Nile, Hidden Hippo
For $3, customers can donate these board book titles: How Loud is a Lion, Zoe and her Zebra

Books For Africa Bookmarks
For the second component of this partnership, we will be offering beautiful We all Went on Safari-themed bookmarks for sale. The proceeds from the sale of these bookmarks - which read "Your purchase supports Books for Africa" on the back - will be donated to Books for Africa to offset the cost of shipping books to the continent. The bookmarks will be shrink-wrapped in packs of 20.

This special offer below will extend from late-Wednesday, 26 November through 11:59pm PCT/23:59 GMT on Sunday, 30 November (3:00 am EST on Monday, 1 December). Spend $50 and get a free copy of We All Went on Safari.