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Kings and Queens of Central Africa
(Watts Library: Africa-Kings and Queens)
Sylviane Anna Diouf;
Readers travel to the heart of Africa and trace Central Africa's geographical, political and social evolution through its greatest rulers in this revealing volume. Focus is given to the 15th-century Kongo king Afonso I, the first to introduce European religion, goods and know-how to the region. Afonso wanted to deal with Europe on an equal footing but could not stop the slave trade that eventually sent millions of people from the region to the Americas. Shamba Bolongongo, the legendary Bakuba king was an innovative and peaceful ruler who developed arts and crafts. In the 20th century progressive King Njoya of Cameroon, a restless innovator introduced new ways into Bamum country, even as his realm was caught between competing French, British and German powers.

Joseph Lemasolai Lekuton gives American kids a firsthand look at growing up in Kenya as a member of a tribe of nomads whose livelihood centers around the raising and grazing of cattle. Readers share Lekuton's first encounter with a lion, the epitome of bravery in the warrior tradition. They follow his mischievous antics as a young Maasai cattle herder, coming-of-age initiation, boarding school escapades, soccer success, and journey to America for college (where he was so worried about not eating with ''proper'' American manners that he went without food for four days). Lekuton's riveting text combines exotic details of nomadic life with the universal experiences and emotions of a growing boy. A full-color photo insert draws young readers deeper into this vibrant but rapidly disappearing culture.

Joseph Lemasolai Lekuton is a Maasai tribesman who grew up on the savanna of northern Kenya. He teaches eighth grade social studies in Virginia. Each summer he brings a group of students and parents to Kenya to work on development projects that help his people.

This lovely text shatters the myth that only the white people settled the West. In fact, we learn that one quarter of the 38,000 cowboys who rode the open ranges in the late 1850s were African-American. Schlissel tells stories about these cowboys along with other African-Americans who moved west after the end of the Civil War. Filled with vintage photographs, this book makes the lives of these unsung heroes come alive.

Nzingha: Warrior Queen of Matamba, Angola, Africa, 1595 (The Royal Diaries)
Patricia McKissack;

This entertaining piece of historical fiction recreates the year 1595 to 1596 in the life of a young African princess destined to become a queen in what is now Angola. Nzingha keeps a diary in Portuguese in order to become familiar with her enemy's ways. This journal traces the year before and including her coming of age at 13. Though she is the first child of the king of Ndongo, her mother was a slave and an outsider, which precludes Nzingha from becoming the heir to her father's kingdom. Her rivalry with her half brother (the "heir apparent"), her budding natural leadership, and her cunning as an ambassador to the Portuguese spin out a fascinating story.

The gripping story of two hundred freed Mississippi slaves who sailed to Liberia to build a new colony - where the colonists’ repression of the native tribes would beget a tragic cycle of violence.

When a wealthy Mississippi cotton planter named Isaac Ross died in 1836, his will decreed that his plantation, Prospect Hill, should be liquidated and the proceeds from the sale be used to pay for his slaves’ passage to the newly established colony of Liberia in western Africa. Ross’s heirs contested the will for more than a decade in the state courts and legislature - prompting a deadly revolt in which a group of slaves burned Ross’s mansion to the ground - but the will was ultimately upheld. The slaves then emigrated to their new home, where they battled the local tribes and built vast plantations with Greek Revival mansions in a region the Americo-Africans renamed "Mississippi in Africa." The seeds of resentment sown over a century of cultural conflict between the colonists and tribal peoples would explode in the late twentieth century, begetting a civil war that rages in Liberia to this day.

Debating the development of civilization in Egypt and Greece, this collection of essays explores European misconceptions of African history. Featuring contributions from some of the top scholars in African American studies, this book analyzes the inconsistencies erupting from academic and Eurocentric reports on ancient culture. For example, if the pyramids were built in 2800 B.C. and Greek civilization began around 700 B.C., how could the Greeks have contributed or taught Africans math and science? And if the Greeks built pyramids in Egypt, why did they not build a few in Greece? These questions and more are raised in this informative collection.

Introduction to the History of African Civilization
C. Magbaily Fyle;
Introduction to the History of African Civilization explores the major issues dominating African Civilization from the earliest recorded period to the eve of colonial conquest of the continent. C. Magbaily Fyle begins with a discussion of the myths and prejudices underlying most analyses of African issues, and moves into a discussion of the origin of humanity; the similarities between the classical Nile valley civilizations of Egypt, Nubia, Kush, and Axum; and the spread of Islam through African societies. He portrays the systems of precolonial government and society, including the role of women in governance, as well as traditional trade and agricultural patterns. Fyle provides a new perspective on the Islamic Jihads, shifting focus from Sokoto and Macina to the Senegambia and the Upper Guinea region, and a revised interpretation of the Atlantic slave trade, which includes the importance of African objectors to this process. He also discusses important cultural features such as the traditional African food, architecture, and typical structures of towns.

1997: Kofi Annan is elected secretary-general of the United Nations. 2000: In a civil rights landmark, Selma, Alabama, elects its first black mayor. 2001: Colin Powell becomes the first African-American U.S. Secretary of State. Featuring 50 percent new questions and answers, the updated Black History Brain Quest is here. Produced in the popular Brain Quest card deck format, kids will have hours of fun while learning about Black History. Six
categories-Eminent Leaders; Scientists, Educators & Entrepreneurs; the African Continent; Arts & Literature; Black History; and This & That-cover African and African-American achievements and events up to the present day. Reflecting the way Black History is taught, the deck now has a more global perspective, and a greater emphasis has been placed on geography.
Take the African Continent: What language is used mostly in the Transkei territory of South Africa and is spoken by Nelson Mandela? (XHOSA) Arts & Literature: Who is known as "the Princess of Black Poetry"? (Nikki Giovanni)
Eminent Leaders: Who was the first black woman ever named to the cabinet of a U.S. President? (Patricia R. Harris) Non-curriculum-based yet highly educational, Black History takes the fast-paced, play-it-anywhere format of Brain Quest and makes it extra fun and extra smart.

The Glory Field
Walter Dean Myers;
Grade 7 Up-This moving, effective novel is a sort of Roots for young adults. It chronicles the African American experience through the lives and times of one family, beginning in 1753 with the capture of Muhammed Bilal in Sierra Leone. He survives his journey to America on a slave ship to become the founder of a family, whose history The Glory Field is all about. Readers then meet one of his descendants, Lizzy, a young slave who works on a plantation in 1864 on Curry Island, South Carolina. From slavery, escape, and the Civil War, they follow the fortunes of the family to the year 1900. Then, teenaged Elijah migrates North. Chicago of the 1930s is described through the experiences of Luvenia, 16; Curry of 1964 is seen through the eyes of Tommy, also 16. The last part of the story is set in the present and focuses on Malcolm and Shep, teenaged cousins who have come to Curry from New York City for a family reunion. The decades pass swiftly and are connected by characters who appear in one segment of the saga and reappear later as survivors from the past or as memories. Each part of the story ends on a hopeful note, yet each is unfinished. Readers are left to wonder what happened to various people; sometimes an answer is provided, but more often not. The vast array of characters play out their lives challenged and beset by problems of racism, poverty, and identity. The anchors in their lives are family and their love for one another and their land. A beautifully written, powerful book.

From Slavery to Freedom describes the rise of slavery, the interaction of European and African cultures in the New World, and the emergence of a distinct culture and way of life among slaves and free blacks. The authors examine the role of blacks in the nation's wars, the rise of an articulate, restless free black community by the end of the eighteenth century, and the growing resistance to slavery among an expanding segment of the black population.

The book deals in considerable detail with the period after slavery, including the arduous struggle for first-class citizenship that has extended into the twentieth century. Many developments in recent African American history are examined, including demographic change; educational efforts; literary and cultural changes; problems in housing, health, juvenile matters, and poverty; the expansion of the black middle class; and the persistence of discrimination in the administration of justice.

Rosa Parks (Unabridged)
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Mali to Memphis
Va-Blues Csputu

African American Achievers in Science, Medicine, and Technology: a Resource Book for Young Learners, Parents, Teachers, and Librarians
Wina March;

A Resource Book for Young Learners, Parents, Teachers, and Librarians:

Camping With the Prince and Other Tales of Science in Africa
Thomas A. Bass;

We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will be Killed With Our Families: Stories from Rwanda
Philip Gourevitch;
In April 1994, the Rwandan government called upon everyone in the Hutu majority to kill each member of the Tutsi minority, and over the next three months 800,000 Tutsis perished in the most unambiguous case of genocide since Hitler's war against the Jews. Philip Gourevitch's haunting work is an anatomy of the war in Rwanda, a vivid history of the tragedy's background, and an unforgettable account of its aftermath. One of the most acclaimed books of the year, this account will endure as a chilling document of our time.

The achievements of notable black scientists and their life-changing discoveries are the topics in this volume of the wide-ranging set of trivia books for young people.

Black Stars: African American Women Scientists and Inventors
Otha Richard Sullivan;
Inspiring profiles in courage and achievement spanning three centuries of American history
This latest gem in the Black Stars series brings African American women heroes of science and invention to life for young readers ten to fourteen years of age. Thirty lively profiles of both unsung and legendary heroines spanning three hundred years of American history. Each profile includes its subject's background and achievements and the challenges they overcame. These stories of courage and determination will be a source of inspiration and encouragement for the next generation of heroines and heroes of every ethnic background.

Six chapters divide various Ancient Egyptian accomplishments into categories such as the Nile, building pyramids, early math, astronomy and time, medicine, and contributions to society. For example, the science used to measure floods, gauge time, move large limestone blocks up inclined planes, and mummify a body are explained. While the book would benefit from more drawings of how things work, the text explains enough to give middle elementary and older readers a basic understanding of, for instance, how the ancient Egyptians measured an odd-shaped field or what mathematics they substituted for place value. A glossary, index, and a modest selection of children's book nonfiction references also are included. A printing error on page 34 gives wrong equivalencies for 1/7 but is sure to be corrected in subsequent printings. Valuable as a resource for children as young as third grade, the book's primary audience seems to be slightly older children who have a deeper knowledge of mathematics (area, perimeter, place value) and the world in general. Given the new Virginia Standards of Learning, however, this book would be a welcome teacher resource for elementary school libraries.

http://www.anansevillage.com/page/item/96

Off to the Sweet Shores of Africa and Other Talking Drum Rhymes

Talking Drum Rhymes

$16.95

http://www.anansevillage.com/page/item/94

The Hatseller and the Monkeys: A West African Folktale

A West African Folktale

$15.95

http://www.anansevillage.com/page/item/97

In the Rainfield: Who Is the Greatest?

Riveting Nigerian Folktale

$16.95

http://www.anansevillage.com/page/item/98

Only One Cowry: A Dahomean Tale

A Dahomean Tale

$16.95

http://www.anansevillage.com/page/item/338

Head, Body, Legs: A Story from Liberia

Straight from the oral tradition comes this magical retelling of a creation story from Liberia.

http://www.anansevillage.com/page/item/291

The Hunterman and the Crocodile: A West African Folktale

$15.95

http://www.anansevillage.com/page/item/93

African Names
Sharon Bernhardt;

$7.99

http://www.anansevillage.com/page/item/3

It Takes a Village

A heartwarming story based an African proverb.

http://www.anansevillage.com/page/item/383

A South African Night

"It is time for bed...But...the animals begin to stir"

http://www.anansevillage.com/page/item/380

Fly, Eagle, Fly : An African Tale

A modern parable with rich, vibrant illustrations

$16.95

http://www.anansevillage.com/page/item/379

We All Went on Safari: A Counting Journey Through Tanzania

A counting journey through Tanzania

Ananse and the Lizard: A West African Tale A story to capture all the mischief and humor of Ananse the Spider. $16.95	Two Ways to Count to Ten A clever tale about jungle beasts learning to count. $6.95
African Kings Gorgeous book on the monarchs of Africa $40.00	Tree of Life: The World of the African Baobab Barbara Bash;