Nelson Mandela--for young people

As people all over the world mourn the death of Nelson Mandela, it's a great time to take a look at some of the outstanding books to introduce children and teens to this iconic figure.

But first, I can't resist passing on my favorite of the many tributes to Mandela in the past days, from The Onion:

"JONANNESBURG--Following the death of former South African president and civil rights leader Nelson Mandela today at the age of 95, sources confirmed that the revered humanitarian has become the first politician in recorded history to actually be missed." (Note:  I can so imagine Mandela chuckling at this one!)

Please consider sharing one or more of these books on one of history's great men with your family or classroom:

Nelson Mandela (Kadir Nelson)

Kadir Nelson.  Nelson Mandela ( Katherine Tegen Books, 2013).  Kadir Nelson's moving text and monumental illustrations are a perfect introduction to Mandela for all ages.  This spare picture book presents a brief introduction to the outlines of Mandela's life.

Nelson Mandela:  Long Walk to Freedom, Chris Van Wyk, editor.  (Flash Point, 2009).  A picture book adaptation of Mandela's own autobiography.  More information than Kadir Nelson's book, but still suitable for elementary school children.

Floyd Cooper.  Mandela:  From the Life of the South African Statesman (Puffin, 2000).  Beautifully illustrated picture book for upper elementary school students.

Meg Belviso, Pamela Pollack.  Who Was Nelson Mandela? (Grosset & Dunlap, 2014) A new addition to the highly popular Who Was series, this comes out next June (undoubtedly it will be quickly updated with his passing).    This series of brief "chapter book" biographies is great for 3rd grade and up.

Yona Zelda McDonough.  Peaceful Protest:  The Life of Nelson Mandela (Walker Children's, 2006).  Reviews call this picture book biography "easy to read but engaging."

Barry Denenberg.  Nelson Mandela:  No Easy Walk to Freedom (Scholastic, 2014).  An updated version of an earlier biography of Mandela, this will go up to his recent passing.  Aimed at grades 5-8, this is an in-depth view of Mandela's life for young people.

In addition to these, there are several graphic novels on Mandela, including:  Nelson Mandela:  The Authorized Comic Book (2009) from the Nelson Mandela Foundation; Nelson Mandela:  The Unconquerable Soul, by Lewis Helfand, and manga-style Nelson Mandela (Great Figures in History series) from Y-Kids.

For middle school and high school students, as well as adults, I recommend:

Mandela:  An Illustrated Autobiography (Little Brown, 1996), an abundantly illustrated, abridged version (at a very manageable 200 pages) of Mandela's famous autobiography Long Walk to Freedom.

On a lighter note, families will enjoy sharing Nelson Mandela's Favorite African Folktales, personally selected by Mandela.  The stories come from all over Africa and are handsomely illustrated by a variety of artists.

I was fortunate enough to visit the beautiful country of South Africa two years ago and join all Mandela's countrymen in remembering and celebrating a great human being.  Rest in peace, Madiba.

Nonfiction Monday Book Review: Nelson Mandela, by Kadir Nelson (Katherine Tegen Books, 2013)

Recommended for all ages

With Mandela apparently on his deathbed, it's an appropriate time to take a look at this moving new picture book biography of the iconic South African figure by celebrated African-American author/illustrator Kadir Nelson. Nelson's magnificent paintings complement the poetic text, which begins by evoking Mandela's bucolic boyhood in the South African bush. At the tender age of 9, he was sent away to continue his schooling, the only one in his family to be chosen for Western formal schooling. His intellect was apparent even at an early age, and we see Nelson (a name given to him by British teachers) growing into a fine young man, a lawyer for those who couldn't defend themselves. Kadir Nelson describes the cruel policies of apartheid in simple terms suitable to a young audience, in a lyrical text that resembles free verse. The outlines of Mandela's life are all here--Mandela protesting with his fist raised in the air, Mandela tried and imprisoned, his people fighting for his release over the long years of jail, his triumphant return and election to president. But as usual with Kadir Nelson's work, it is the illustrations which overwhelm us with their quiet power. Highly recommended for adults as well as children.

For more on Mandela for young people, check out his own picture book autobiography, Nelson Mandela:  Long Walk to Freedom (Flash Point, 2009).  For older children and adults, I would also recommend the abridged version of Mandela's own autobiography, Mandela:  An Illustrated Autobiography (Little Brown, 1996), a fascinating and accessible version of his much longer autobiography published in 1994.  

Book Review: Laugh with the Moon, by Shana Burg (Random House, 2012)

Recommended for ages 9-14.

Having recently returned from my first trip to Africa, I was eager to read this new novel by author Shana Burg which takes place in Malawi.  Thirteen-year old Clare has just suffered one of the worst losses a child can imagine--her mother has died, leaving her family consisting of just her and her father, a doctor who seems to care about everyone else more than Clare.  At least that's the way she feels when he up and moves the two of them to rural Malawi for several months, where he will be working at the local hospital and she will attend the local village school.

But this novel is more than a "fish out of water" story as Clare struggles to adapt to a completely foreign environment and lifestyle, where she has no cell phone coverage, must wear a totally unfashionable school uniform, and live literally in the middle of the jungle, with no condos, buses, or restaurants.  She's so angry with her dad that she's giving him the silent treatment.  But eventually the people of Malawi break through her broken heart, helping her to heal.

Burg, who has worked in Malawi herself with Save the Children, does a terrific job capturing the many wonders of Africa--the spirit of the people, the beauties of the landscape and animals, and the crushing poverty.  Young girls will identify with Clare trying to fit in with the local girls--gossiping about boys and who likes whom seems to be a universally popular occupation--as well as her sorrows and achievements during her trip.  And they'll be amazed at how the children in the local school manage with hardly any textbooks (which must be taken for safekeeping from school every day so they won't be stolen), paper, desks, or other ordinary school supplies that we take for granted, even sculpting letters out of termite mounds.  Clare, like everyone else who visits Africa, I suspect, is the not the same person when she leaves.

This novel manages to combine humor (naughty monkeys and pet chickens, in particular) with the poignancy of loss in a way which is appealing to the target audience.  Burg also manages to teach many lessons about Africa in a subtle manner, without seeming didactic.

author Shana Burg in Malawi

An author's note explains about the author's trip to Africa to investigate conditions in schools in Malawi and also discusses the challenges of medical care in this very poor country.  She also includes a recipe for a Malawi treat and a glossary of Chichewa words that appear in the text.  I would have liked to see a map of Africa which would have situated Malawi for the young readers, and possibly a list of nonprofits that accept contributions for medical or school projects, in the case that young people are inspired to help out for these very worthy causes as part of the back matter.

This would be a great book to add to school and public library collections--it's a contemporary story in an exotic setting that should definitely appeal to tween readers.

Related articles

• Focus on Malawi with Books for All Ages (timesunion.com)

Book Review: Promise the Night, by Michaela Maccoll (Chronicle Books, 2011)

Recommended for ages 8-12.


Release date:  January 4, 2012

This new historical fiction title is inspired by the life of aviatrix Beryl Markham, the first woman pilot to fly solo across the Atlantic from East to West (considered more challenging than flying East because of prevailing winds).  Novelist Michaela Maccoll intersperses the story of Beryl's historic 1936 voyage with Beryl's life as a ten-year old growing up in what is now Kenya, where she lived with her English father on a horse ranch, her mother having abandoned them years before.  Her life as a child is filled with endless adventures--attacks by leopards, forbidden treks into the forest with a boy from the local tribe, Kibbi, who becomes her friend and teaches her to wrestle and track and hunt animals.  Indeed, she is virtually adopted by the native tribe who take her in as one of their own, allowing her to train to be a "warrior" despite her sex and accepting her as an honorary member of the Nandi tribe.

The novel jumps back and forth between the youthful Beryl's adventures both at home and later in boarding school and a variety of diary entries, fictitious press articles and interviews about her cross-Atlantic flight.  I found the parts in Africa much more engaging and vivid than the snippets about her flight; the two themes don't really seem to be tied together, since we don't learn about the beginnings of her interests in flight in the sections in which Beryl is a child.  However, Maccoll paints an appealing picture of an adventurous spirit who can't resist a dare, a girl who is more comfortable in boys' clothing and who longs to be a hunter of lions rather than a proper young English lady.  It's a good choice for those looking for a colorful adventure story that could appeal to girls as well as boys.

Those interested in learning more about the real Beryl can check out her memoir, West With the Night (North Point Press, 1982), which was praised by none other than Ernest Hemingway, who remarked about Markham's writing, "she can write rings around all of us who consider ourselves as writers,"
or the young adult biography Beryl Markham:  Never Turn Back, by Catherine Gourley (Red Wheel, 1997).

In addition, Maccoll includes an author's note providing further details on the real Beryl's life as well as additional suggestions for further reading.

Beryl Markham

Disclosure:  Review copy provided by publisher.

Blog Tour and Giveaway: Stones for My Father, by Trilby Kent (Tundra, 2011)

Recommended for ages 10 and up.


I am delighted to participate in Tundra Books' blog tour for a moving new novel for young people set during South Africa's Boer War, Stones for My Father.  Written by novelist Trilby Kent, who was born in Canada but currently lives in London, this book is her second published novel for young people.

One of the reasons I enjoy historical fiction so much is that it can take you to a place and time you've never experienced.  In this case the backdrop for the story is the Boer War, which was disastrous for the British, who are driving the Boers from their farms.  We experience this chaotic time through the eyes of Corlie Roux, a skinny young girl living with her stern mother and younger siblings in the Transvaal.  Most of the Afrikaner men and young boys are off fighting the British, but Corlie's father is already in the graveyard, having died of consumption.  Corlie's only friend seems to be Sipho, an African boy who is her matie, or playmate, and who teaches her the ways of the bush, telling stories together and fishing and tracking animals with her.

But when she and Sipho see the English "khakis" nearby, Corlie and her family flee to the laager, groups of Boers hiding out in the bush.  On their journey, Corlie watches helplessly by as she sees their family farm burned by the British.  While foraging for food, Corlie and her brother meet a kind Canadian soldier--a Khaki, but one who provides them with some precious meat.  They finally meet up with the laager after a trek of many days across the veld, but their safe haven is short lived.  Soon discovered by British soldiers, Corlie and all the others are forced to surrender, then sent to a "voluntary refugee camp," which more resembles an internment camp, where the conditions are harsh indeed, with scarce food, water, or other resources for the thousands of women and children imprisoned there.  Corlie and her family are "undesirables"--those whose menfolk were still fighting the British, and were given the lowest rations.  Soon the children are "numb with boredom," and worse yet, are falling ill to typhoid and other diseases brought on by malnutrition and unsanitary conditions at the camp.  Corlie's soon fighting for her life, and her self-worth, discovering a secret about her father that we could only guess at as we read her story, and a secret that reunites her with the kind Canadian whose destiny becomes intertwined with Corlie's.

Kent does a wonderful job evoking the African bush, with "days...so hot that even raindrops would sizzle as they hit the dry earth."  She also captures very effectively the inhumanity of war, with the hardships it creates on ordinary civilians, particularly innocent women and children, in her depiction of the "refugee camp."  The book includes a very brief epilogue with some historical information; for U.S. readers, most of whom have no familiarity with this period in history, some additional background might have been helpful.  I would have enjoyed seeing something more detailed to set this story in better historical context.

GIVEAWAY:  Tundra Books has kindly provided me with a review copy which I am giving away to one of my readers.  In order to enter, please leave a comment below with your e-mail address so I can contact you if you are the winner!  A winner will be selected by random number generator on May 8.