The baobab tree story, which I wrote (the church version) is actually based upon a true story, told by Limakatso Nare, a Lutheran pastor who is currently serving a congregation in Louisiana. When he was growing up in his native Africa, he gathered for Sunday school under the baobab tree. Here he learned the Biblical stories of Noah and the ark, Jonah and the big fish, and the parables of Jesus. His Sunday school experiences inspired my story, Under the Baobab Tree.
When the gods create a talking tree, they soon regret it because it won’t be quiet. So they turn it upside down and bury its head in the dirt. The classic African folktale, specially retold as part of the Usborne Reading Programme for children just starting to read alone. This ebook includes audio and reading-related puzzles. "Crack reading and make confident and enthusiastic readers with this fantastic reading programme." - Julia Eccleshare
Learning to survive in the harsh interior of Southern Africa, a former slave seeks shelter in the hollow of a baobab tree. For the first time since she was a young girl her time is her own, her body is her own, her thoughts are her own. In solitude, she is finally able to reflect on her own existence and its meaning, bringing her a semblance of inner peace. Scenes from her former life shuttle through her mind: how owner after owner assaulted her, and how each of her babies were taken away as soon as they were weaned, their futures left to her imagination. We are the sole witnesses to her history: her capture as a child, her tortured days in a harbor city on the eastern coast as a servant, her journey with her last owner and protector, her flight, and the kaleidoscopic world of her baobab tree. Wilma Stockenström's profound work of narrative fiction, translated by Nobel Prize winner J.M. Coetzee, is a rare, haunting exploration of enslavement and freedom.
Brer Rabbit and Brer Fox are always up to mischief. Now Brer Fox has the perfect plan to stop Brer Rabbit once and for all. Specially written for beginner readers, this lively tale is brought to life by charming illustrations and accompanying audio narration. "Irresistible for children learning to read. " - Child Education Plus
Set in Africa during the Christmas season, this is the story of a village preparing for a celebration - the birth of a child. The story is told in verse inspired by the traditional carol The Twelve Days of Christmas, but in this version by the author Catherine House the gifts are: 1 stork in a baobab tree, 2 thatched huts, 3 woven baskets, 4 market traders, 5 bright khangas, 6 women pounding, 7 children playing, 8 wooden carvings, 9 grazing goats, 10 drummers drumming, 11 dancers dancing and 12 storytellers. This is a Christmas steeped in the atmosphere of African village life, including descriptions of the objects and activities mentioned in the text.
When Maiko has to leave his village in Africa to live with his aunt and uncle in Canada, he misses the giant baobab tree in the middle of his village but makes friends with a small spruce tree in his aunt and uncle's yard.
A spectacular oversize photo book celebrating Africa’s most majestic trees—which are now facing an unprecedented ecological threat. Baobabs are one of Africa’s natural wonders: they can live more than 2,000 years, and their massive, water-storing trunks can grow to more than one hundred feet in circumference. They serve as a renewable source of food, fiber, and fuel, as well as a focus of spiritual life. But now, suddenly, the largest baobabs are dying off , literally collapsing under their own weight. Scientists believe these ancient giants are being dehydrated by drought and higher temperatures, likely the result of climate change. Photographer Beth Moon, already responsible for some of the most indelible images of Africa’s oldest and largest baobabs, has undertaken a new photographic pilgrimage to bear witness to this environmental catastrophe and document the baobabs that still survive. In this oversize volume, Moon presents breathtaking new duotone tree portraits of the baobabs of Madagascar, Botswana, South Africa, and Senegal. She recounts her eventful journey to visit these monumental trees in a moving diaristic text studded with color travel photos. This book also includes an essay by Adrian Patrut, leader of a research team that has studied Africa's largest baobabs and alerted the world tot he threat these majestic trees are facing. Baobab is not only a compelling photo book and travel narrative, but also a timely ecological warning.
