Africa - Peoples & Places, Africa - General & Miscellaneous

South Africa

Name: South Africa
Author: Mary N. Oluonye
ISBN: 9780822594116

by Mary N. Oluonye

Write a review

Overview

Pack Your Bags! We're headed to South Africa. On this whirlwind tour, you'll learn all about the country's landscape, culture, people, and more. We'll explore the city life of Johannesburg and the wildlife of Kruger National Park and find out what South Africans celebrate on April 27. A special section introduces South Africa's three capitals, many languages, population, and flag. Hop on board and take a fun-filled look at your world.

Examines the climate, people, languages, history, society, economy, and culture of South Africa, the largest country in southern Africa.

Synopsis

Children's Literature

This offering in the "Globetrotters Club" series is lively and informative and likely to keep young readers interested beyond the usual research project. Questions and asides are frequent--"See that tiny country tucked away into the eastern part of South Africa? That's the mountain kingdom of Lesotho, looking as if South Africa swallowed it for lunch!" There is no more discussion of Lesotho's origins, but there is very thorough treatment of apartheid, its consequences, and its aftermath. Photos of Soweto shanties and middle class backyard swimming pools share one page; a few pages later, neatly uniformed black-and-white children line up together at school. The short glossary includes words like "desert" and "veld" but also "oppression" and "segregated." The book acknowledges and celebrates the diversity not only in South Africa's population generally, but within the black population as well, where several tribal groups have their own language and culture. There are vibrant photographs and stories of holidays and traditions, with sidebars on everything from legends and recipes to simple words in Afrikaans and Zulu. 1999, Carolrhoda Books Inc., Ages 9 to 14, $22.60. Reviewer: Karen Leggett

Reviews

There are no reviews yet. Log in to write one.

Editorials

Children's Literature - Karen Porter

The colorful pages introduce the people and places of South Africa along with tourist interests. Page 4 contains an attractive map which shows the country sitting at the southern tip of Africa and includes all the major cities, physical features, and national neighbors. The photographs, which appear on every page provide abundant images of the rich and poor in South Africa, her animals and cities, and a brief view into her more ancient past. While the author mentions apartheid and her words reflect the racism still practiced in South Africa, she chooses not to delve into its history of violent revolution. Any child would be able to compare his or her own life to the foods, homes, and landscapes displayed in this book and would be drawn to the well chosen pictures and highly accessible text. This book is a wonderful beginning introduction to modern South Africa. It is complete with a table of contents, index, glossary and bibliography.

Children's Literature - Children's Literature

School Library Journal

Gr 1-4-Both of Oluonye's books have the same organization and identical full-color photos, and present parallel concepts. However, the "A Ticket to" series entry has larger type and an abbreviated text, making it more suitable for younger children and less-competent readers. Both volumes cover basic information: geography and wildlife, history, language, food, education, religion, art, and music. They also address apartheid and how certain groups of the South African population are still being segregated and oppressed. While the "Globe-trotters" entry will be more useful for most middle-grade report writers, the "A Ticket to" title will serve the varying needs of mainstream and special-needs students.-Betsy Barnett, Eads School District, CO Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|