Poster from the Boston University African Studies Center

Resources and strategies for challenging stereotypes and teaching about African countries

This list is based on books reviewed and recommended by Africa Access. Visit their website for a detailed database with critiques of hundreds of children's books and texts on Africa. Also, check out their annual Children’s Africana Book Award.

An excellent reading for teachers and parents to discuss is I Didn't Know There Were Cities in Africa! (Teaching Tolerance, Fall 2008). Submitted by Teaching for Change in collaboration with Africa Access, this article critiques the stereotypes in popular children's books and films, helps educators reflect on their own classroom, and provides a list of recommended titles.

Organizations and Articles

Africa Access: Literature recommendations, student research projects, and a detailed database with critiques of hundreds of children's books and texts on Africa. Coordinates the annual Children’s Africana Book Award.

African Studies K-12 Outreach Programs: University based programs which provide resources and professional development for teachers.

H-AfrTeach: A discussion list which provides a forum on teaching about Africa at all educational levels.

Masifunde Sonke Book Project: An education initiative of South Africa Partners promotes children’s literature from the new South Africa. For each book purchased in the United States, South Africa Partners donates a second copy of the same book to a rural or township school in South Africa.

What Do We Want Children to Learn About Africa? This short article by Margy Burns Knight shares disturbing examples of how contemporary resources for children, including a National Geographic classroom poster, exotify Africans. The article includes the outline for a professional development activity.

Resources and strategies for challenging stereotypes and teaching about African countries

Elementary

Africa Is Not a Country*

By Margy Burns Knight, Jim Knight, Anne Sibley O'Brien (Illustrator)

By Obi Onyefulu

By Atinuke, Angela Brooksbank

By Stephanie Stuve-Bodeen, Aaron Boyd

By Atinuke, Angela Brooksbank

The Best Beekeeper of Lalibela: A Tale from Africa*

By Cristina Kessler

By Sylviane A. Diouf, Shane W. Evans (Illustrator)

By Mary Hoffman, Caroline Binch (Illustrator)

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind*

By William Kamkwamba, Bryan Mealer, Elizabeth Zunon (Illustrator)

By Mubina Hassanali Kirmani

By Atinuke and Angela Brooksbank (Illustrator)

By Elinor Batezat Sisulu, Sharon Wilson (Illustrator)

By Desmond Tutu, A. G. Ford (Illustrator)

By Karen Lynn Williams, Catherine Stock (Illustrator)

By Ifeoma Onyefulu

Grandpa Cacao: A Tale of Chocolate, from Farm to Family *

By Elizabeth Zunon

By Susan L. Roth, Karen Leggett Abouraya

By Adrienne Wright

By Kathryn Erskine, Charly Palmer (Illustrator)

By Eric Walters, Eva Campbell (Illustrator)

By Karen Lynn Williams, Khadra Mohammed, Catherine Stock (Illustrator)

By Tololwa M. Mollel

Nana Akua Goes to School *

By Tricia Elam Walker and April Harrison (Illustrator)

Abridged By Chris Van Wyk, Paddy Bouma (Illustrator)

Nile Crossing *

By Katy Beebe and Sally Wern Comport (Illustrator)

By Miranda Paul

By Marilyn Nelson, Artists of the Kuru Art Project in Botsw (Illustrator)

By Beverley Naidoo, Prodeepta Das (Illustrator)

By Jen Johnson, Sonia Sadler (Illustrator)

Sing to the Moon*

By Nansubuga Nagadya Isdahl, Sandra Van Doorn (Illustrator)

By Nansubuga Isdahl, Sandra Van Doorn

By Nathalie Soussana, Jean-Christophe Hoarau (Another primary creator), Judith Gueyfier (Illustrator)

Too Small Tola*

By Atinuke

Wangari Maathai: The Woman Who Planted a Million Trees*

By Franck Pravot

When I Get Older: The Story Behind "Wavin' Flag"*

By K'Naan with Sol Guy, Rudy Gutierrez (Illustrator)

By Monique Duncan

By Wanuri Kahiu, Manuela Adreani

Middle

By Monica Edinger, Robert Byrd (Illustrator)

By Adwoa Badoe

Crossing the Stream *

By Elizabeth-Irene Baitie

By Ann Cameron

By Meja Mwangi

By Anna Cottrell, Agbotadua Togbi Kumassah

By Leah Henderson

Orange for the Sunsets*

By Tina Athaide

By Beverley Naidoo

By Andrea Davis Pinkney

By Patricia Mckissack

By D T Niane

By Kwame Mbalia

When Morning Comes*

By Arushi Raina

The World Beneath*

By Janice Warman

Young Adult

By Trevor R. Getz, Liz Clarke

By Nnedi Okorafor

By Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

By Elizabeth Stewart, Martha Newbigging (Illustrator)

By Beverley Naidoo

Children of Blood and Bone (Children of Orisha #1)*

By Tomi Adeyemi

By Na'ima B. Robert

By Taiye Selasi

By Kwei Quartey