International Book Blog

Title: Together for Kwanzaa

Author: Juwanda G. Ford

Illustrator: Shelly Hehenberger

Publisher: Random House

Copyright: 2000

# of Pages: 24

Genre: Fiction

            Together for Kwanzaa is a story about a young girl Kayla and her family celebrating Kwanzaa. Kwanzaa is a seven-day celebration that honors African heritage. This story tells of the traditions of Kwanzaa and all that Kayla and her family does for the holiday. Each night of Kwanzaa, families light one candle on the kinara (kee-nah-ruh), which is a Kwanzaa candle holder, to celebrate one of the seven Kwanzaa principles. There are seven candles placed in the kinara: a black candle in the middle, three red candles on the left, and three green candles on the right. Swahili is mostly spoken during Kwanzaa. The food they place around the mkeka (muh-kay-kuh), a traditional straw mat, represents the harvest and importance of working together. As the story continues, Kayla explains the principle of each night and how her family practices the principle throughout the year.

         Shelly Henhenberger does a good job with the illustrations. She includes a lot of bright, lively colors. Her illustrations help the reader with imagery of what Kwanzaa would look like and to relate to the story. The illustrator uses a lot of borders in her drawings which creates a focus on certain images. Shelly uses paint to create the colorful images in a traditional African style. She captures the African culture brilliantly creating more understanding for the reader. 

         I think this would be a great book to include in the classroom because it enlightens students of a tradition that many Americans are unaware of. The theme of this book is to explain the rituals and traditions of Kwanzaa through a young girl's eyes making the book relatable to students. It also shows the importance of family, and having them close to us during the special holidays; and are great lessons to include in your classroom.

Content Area and Grade: Social Studies, Geography: K, 1, 2
ALEX: Weeping Camel: Finding Rituals in Our Daily Lives

In this Xpeditions lesson, students identify characteristics of traditional and modern rituals found in different cultures. Through reading stories about rituals, students identify some of their characteristics. Finally, students apply their understanding to rituals which occur on familiar holidays.