For You are a Kenyan Child, a picture book
by Kelly Cunnane, with art by Ana Juan
Simon & Schuster/ Atheneum Books for Children
- The Maine Lupine Award: Most Outstanding Children's Picture Book writing
- The Ezra Jack Keats Award: Outstanding Children's Picture Book writing: award given for a story that exemplifies the universal world of family, community, and the child
- The New York Library list of 100 Books for Reading and Sharing
- Also published in Japanese!
"In this entrancing tour of a Kenyan village on a typical day, a small boy neglects his chores... The boy's remorse is its own punishment: the grandfather's equanimity is in keeping with the gentleness of this book). Well-chosen details of village life, like grandmother's "sleeping milk, sweetened with crushed charcoal, fresh from a gourd," are an inviting introduction to a different culture vividly evoked by Juan's illustrations."
-- New York Times Bookshelf
"A charming slice-of-life story illustrated with lush paintings of a bustling Kalenjin community and its charismatic inhabitants."
-- Curriculum Connections Multicultural Titles
"Through vivid, descriptive text that highlights the Kenyan countryside and culture, this story about one day in the life of a Kalenjin boy unfolds... The brilliant, colorful, and humorous illustrations stand out agains the white backgrounds and are large enough for group viewing. A gentle story about family, responsibility, and a curious little boy."
-- School Library Journal
"Cunnane invites readers to place themselves at the center of her warm tale... Smiling brown figures dressed in a mix of modern and traditional clothing fill the foregrounds in Juan's luminous rural scenes, echoing the poetic text's happy tone. Drawing on personal experiences, Cunnane opens with an acknowledgement of Kenya's distinctive tapestry of languages and customs, but goes on to show qualities in the character, community, and play of one particular child of that land that mirror those of children everywhere. A rare excursion, glowing with love and laughter."
(glossary) (Picture book 6-8)
-- Kirkus Review
Other Picture Books
Chirchir is Singing (Kenya, East Africa), Summer 2010/ Schwartz & Wade/Random House/ illus. by Jude Daly
Malafa (Mauritania, West Africa Arab African Sahara culture) Currently with Random House: manuscript format only
Early Readers
All Around the World (Kenya, East Africa) Heinemann International
An early reader that portrays a child in China, North America, and Africa, at the "same time" around the world. (In French, too)
Mzungu (Kenya, East Africa) Heinemann International
An early reader about a new teacher in the village and making friends with what at first seems too strange!
Book Cassette
Tea in Africa (Kenya, East Africa) Shoofly: an audio cassette magazine for Kids
Winner of the Ezra Jack Keats Book Award
- Reading level: Ages 4-8
- Hardcover: 40 pages
- Publisher: Atheneum/Anne Schwartz Books; First. edition (January 3, 2006)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 068986194X
- ISBN-13: 978-0689861949
- Dimensions: 11.1 x 10.5 x 0.8 inches