Postcards

African history from the inside out! Jenny Robson has written many novels about Africa today and some of an Africa in the future. In Granite, she goes back in time to the vast stone question mark which is Great Zimbabwe (here called Zimba Remabwe). Its mighty king sends travelers north to contact the Christians who were said to build cathedrals. So this is medieval Africa reaching out. Mokomba, an African boy, recalls what happened on that strange journey. At the request of his friend, the Egyptian Shafiq, their joint memories are written down. A voyage into discovery with much to be feared, returning not with riches but with something else. In these pages could indeed lie the story of the collapse of a kingdom – but we can never be sure. Granite is an exciting story, though also a sad one. It will reward thoughtful readers who enjoy puzzling over the mysteries of history.

Jay Heale



Granite
Jenny Robson
Cape Town: Tafelberg,
2015. 134 pp.
ISBN: 978-0-624-07309-3
Fiction; ages 11+

The Building tells the story of Mr. Levin, a clockmaker who arrives in Bogotá, Colombia, in the late 1930s and buys a little shop in the first floor of a small building. There he works and lives for the next 50 years, as the neighborhood and the city change around him. When a young boy moves to the second floor of the building and finds a family of mice in the storage room below the stairs, it will give Mr. Levin the opportunity to not only teach the kid a valuable lesson about caring and living with other people, but also make a new friend in the process.
While the story sounds very simple, the real protagonist of the book is the city itself. Rabanal’s detailed illustrations, reminiscent of Hergé’s The Adventures of Tintin, give the reader a panoramic view of the city and its inhabitants, from the cars on the street to the building itself. The use of grays and sepias at the beginning, and soft colors once the boy and his family arrive, give the book a nostalgic look that complements perfectly Buitrago’s sparse and often poetic text, creating a fascinating visual and literary experience.

Andrés Montañés-Lleras



El edificio (The Building)
Jairo Buitrago
Illustrated by Daniel Rabanal
Bogotá: Babel Libros,
2014. 52 pp.
ISBN: 978-958-8841-67-0
Picture book; ages 8+

Young Anna lives in the Jamaican countryside where families have to carry water from the springs daily. Anna is excited to accompany her brothers and sisters as they complete this task each day; however, unlike her siblings, she cannot yet carry her water container on her head. Amid her fear of being chased by the neighbor’s cows as the family walks back and forth through the fields each day, and her determination to be just like her siblings, Anna perseveres. She soon learns to balance her water container on her head without spilling water, and realizes she does not need to be fearful of the cows. Laura James artistically highlights the beautiful Jamaican countryside with vibrant colors indicative of the Caribbean. National pride is enhanced with integration of the country’s flag and national bird, the Doctor Bird (swallow tail humming bird). The striking illustrations will enthrall young readers. Overall, this picture book evokes a nostalgic reminiscing of Jamaica.

Ruth McKoy Lowery



Anna Carries Water
Olive Senior
Illustrated by Laura James
Vancouver, Canada:
Tradewind Books, 2013
(published in the USA 2014). Unp.
ISBN: 9781896580609
Picture book; ages 4-7

The Water Urn is a novel for children and young adults set in a quintessential Iranian village of fifty years ago. In the schoolhouse of this village, the water urn is an indispensable fixture; it provides drinking water, and water gives refreshment and life. When the urn gets cracked, Mr. Samadi, the schoolmaster, must go through endless trials and tribulations in order to arrange for its repair. A schoolboy named Ghanbari takes pride in his father’s ability to fix water urns, and the dynamic of a father and son relationship gets woven into the predicament. Each situation regarding the repair of...