Mama Africa!

 

Book: Mama Africa! 

Author: Kathryn Erskine 

Illustrator: Charly Palmer 

Genre: Biography 

Awards: Coretta Scott King Award

Age Group: 1-4

Summary: 

As soon as she could talk and walk: Miriam sang and danced. She was free to sing out in church but in the real world, she was not free. In South Africa, police raided their homes, were all called Bantus, and their freedom was taken away. Not allowing her voice to be silenced, Miriam goes to protests and sings. Singing gives her strength however an accident that causes her friend to die leaves her angry. This anger causes her to sing in a secret movie to tell the world what the baases were like. After receiving many warnings, Miriam boards a plane for Europe where she continues to sing about what the baases are doing to her people. As the baases pass more laws to stop people from protesting and threaten Miriam about what they would do to her if she came back, more people begin listening to her songs and she's invited to speak to the United Nations. As she speaks louder, her voice roars and she becomes Mama Africa! Mama Africa sings and sings until her people finally gain their freedom and she is able to go home. 

Evaluation and Comments:

Mama Africa is a breath-taking story about how Zenzile Miriam Makeba didn't let anyone drown out her voice and how she used that voice to give her people their freedom back.

I would 100% use this book in my future classroom! The story of Miriam is so inspiring and shows that the power of song is strong enough to make a difference. A nice touch the author added is that in the end of the book, she provides her own story and how Miriam Makeba had an impact on it. Also, the illustrations are just absolutely amazing and make you feel apart of the story! 

For assignments, this book would be perfect when introducing/talking further about the Anti-Apartheid movement and the American Civil Rights Era. The book provides a timeline of the major events of Miriam's life so going over it with the class will allow the students to learn about key events related to these two events and Miriam. You can also go over vocabulary and introduce/define words such as apartheid, bantus, and etc. Lastly, the book mentions many important figures, such as Nelson Mendela and Ella Fitzgerald. This book thus allows you to teach the students about these figures and compare/contrast them with Miriam. 

In conclusion, Mama Africa has my seal of approval! 🥇😄