Under the Same Sun by Sharon Robinson (review)

A family of nine in Tanzania is anxiously preparing for their Auntie Sharon and Bibi (grandmother) to visit from America, and after the pair arrives, there’s joyous celebration and trips to the market for the next few days. With Bibi’s birthday coming up, there’s also a mysterious drive to the mountains that ends in a surprise safari trip, crossing the gorgeous savannah and spotting wildlife. The last day of the safari brings the group past Bagamoyo, the ruins of a slave-trading post, which prompts reflections on the family’s history during a walk on the beach before a heartfelt farewell. The text of this story, based on Robinson’s own life as Auntie Sharon, is both protracted and busy in trying to pack in details of a genealogy rooted in the slave trade in addition to the extended visit. Still, this is a compelling story that may challenge popular notions of African family life, while the adventure in the grassland will appeal to animal lovers. Ford’s photorealistic oil and acrylic illustrations provide an authentic cultural landscape both in the city and on the savannah with their eye for detail and expert use of perspective, although the characters’ expressions are sometimes a bit stiff. The large trim size and crispness of the illustrations would lend this to sharing with a particularly patient storytime audience or a classroom interested in different kinds of families or life in other parts of the world.