African Picture Books
An RA Book List created in partnership with Patty Sommer
Starting From Home by Patty Sommer
Twenty years ago, we packed ten cardboard boxes full of necessities {as best we knew}, and boarded a plane to move to Ghana, West Africa. Though I have been a bookworm my whole life, I did not pack many books. Books are heavy, and I could just get new ones when we arrived in our new home.
Growing up in a home with bookshelves everywhere, having a library card from the time I could sign my name, and having a mother who ran a small private school library, I could not imagine a place without books. Books were as normal to me as breathing.
On arriving, it did not take long for me to realize that maybe I had been mistaken. The people who were helping us settle told us of the ONE bookshop they knew of in our city of two million people.
It consisted of two small rooms with some new and used books. At least it was something. Every time we went to town, I would scan the hand-painted signs lining the edges of the roads and fronts of buildings for anything that mentioned books. We tried lots, but found little.
In time we visited the capital city and hunted for books there. We found a few more options, but this time I was shocked by the fact that all the books I was finding were mostly old cast-offs from America and Europe. It just seemed to make sense that we should be able to find books about this country we had moved to, her history and her peoples. We spent months hunting and enquiring and searching to find a dictionary in our new language. We spent even longer looking for books written in our new language, but were sadly disappointed.
When my first daughter was born, a friend gifted us three beautiful books. Each story was set some place in Africa. We had been gifted a great treasure! These were the types of books I had been hunting for. Just as I had special books from my childhood, my children would, too; books that would reflect the place where they were growing up, books that would tell them the stories of the past, and books that would help them understand the world around them.
The longer I live here and the deeper we go into the culture (our calling requires us to be amateur anthropologists), the more I have realized what it means to live in an oral culture, where illiteracy is a way of life. It means that unless someone shares the stories, they will be lost.
In time, I realized that these books had to be not just for my children’s sake, but for all the children’s sake. So, our library was born. We collect whatever good books we can find, focusing on West Africa, but happily adding anything from the continent as a whole. Africa is made up of 54 countries (at the moment), with thousands of ethnic groups, cultures, and languages, and yet any African will tell you that we share many similarities.
I remember watching my girls’ faces light up the first time I read them a story that didn’t have maple trees and pines, but mango trees and plumeria, and that did not have robins singing outside the window, but the trilling songs of the wagtail. It sounded like home. And when I offer a handful of books to a child who has come to get new books from me, and he sees one that has a familiar looking face or place on the front, a grin spreads across his face, and he chooses that one. It is easiest to start the journey into great books from home.
This collection of living picture books and early readers serves as a beautiful cultural introduction to the many regions of Africa. The stories reflect a wide range of countries and traditions, offering children a rich and respectful glimpse into everyday life, folktales, and celebrations across the continent. We created this list in partnership with Patty Sommer, who homeschools her girls using the Charlotte Mason method while serving God in Ghana with her husband, John—the author of Zao’s Tales. Patty was sharing her favorite books on Instagram, and we agreed to combine our lists in one place for the Reshelving Alexandria community- please enjoy!
📌 Printable Resource
If you’re a paid member (thank you!), you can download printables for this list here.
“A” is for Africa by Ifeoma Onyefulu
Africa, Amazing Africa: Country by Country by Atinuke
Anansesem: The Adventures of Kweku Ananse, the Most Cunning Spider that Ever Lived by Abyna-Ansaa Adjei
Anansi the Spider: A Tale from the Ashanti by Gerald McDermott
Animal Village by Nelda LaTee
Anna Hibiscus Series by Atinuke (early chapter books)
Anna Hibiscus Song by Atinuke
Ashanti to Zulu: African Traditions by Margaret Musgrove
At the Crossroads by Rachel Isadora
At the Same Moment, Around the World by Clotilde Perrin
Api and the Boy Stranger : a Village Creation Tale by Patricia Roddy
B is for Baby by Atinuke
Baby Goes to Market by Atinuke
Beatrice’s Goat by Page McBrier
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba
Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain: A Nandi Tale by Verna Aardema
The Butter Man by Elizabeth Alalou; Ali Alalou
The Canoe’s Story by Meshack Asare
Catch that Chicken! by Atinuke
Chirchir is Singing by Kelly Cunnane
Chinye : a West African folk tale by Obi Onyefulu; Evie Safarewicz
The Coming of Night: A Yoruba Creation Myth from West Africa by James Riordan
Crocodile and Hen : a Bakongo folktale by Joan M. Lexau; Doug Cushman
Deep in the Sahara by Kelly Cunnane
Double Trouble for Anna Hibiscus by Atinuke
“E” Is for Ethiopia by Ashenafi Gudeta; Ataklti Mulu
Emmanuel’s Dream: The True Story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah by Laurie Ann Thomas
The First Music by Dylan Pritchett
Fly, Eagle, Fly: An African Tale by Christopher Gregorowski
14 Cows for America by Carmen Agra Deedy
The Fortune-Tellers by Lloyd Alexander
Galimoto by Karen Lynn Williams
Grandpa Cacao: A Tale of Chocolate, from Farm to Family by Elizabeth Zunon
The Herd Boy by Niki Daly
Honey…Honey…Lion! A story from Africa by Jan Brett
The Honey Hunters by Francesca Martin
How Stories Spread Around the World by Rogério Andrade Barbosa
The Hunter and the Ebony Tree by Nelda LaTeef
I Just Wanted to Say Good Night by Rachel Isadora
If You Lived Here: Houses of the World by Giles Laroche
Jafta series by Hugh Lewin
Jambo Means Hello: Swahili Alphabet Book by Muriel L. Feelings
Jamela's Dress by Niki Daly
Jock of the Bushveld by J. Percy FitzPatrick
Juma and the Honey Guide: An African Story by Robin Bernard
Kathy Knowles Early Readers by Kathy Knowles
Kakalambalala : an African tale by Jan Mogensen
Kente for a King by Kathy Knowles
Koku the Cockerel by Franka Maria Andoh
Lion Lights: My Invention that Made Peace with the Lions by Richard Turere
Mama Miti: Wangari Maathai and the Trees of Kenya by Donna Jo Napoli; Kadir Nelson
Mama's Amazing Cover Cloth by Ruby Yayra Goka
Mogo’s Flute by Hilda Van Stockum
Moja Means One: Swahili Counting Book by Muriel Feelings; Tom Feelings
Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters by John Steptoe
My Rows and Piles of Coins by Tololwa Mollel
The No. 1 Car Spotter Series by Atinuke (early chapter books)
Nya's Long Walk: A Step at a Time by Linda Sue Park; Brian Pinkney
Off to the Sweet Shores of Africa by Uzo Unobagha
On a Road in Africa by Kim Doner
On My Father’s Shoulders by Niki Daly
One Plastic Bag: Isatou Ceesay and the Recycling Women of the Gambia by Miranda Paul
Old Mikamba Had a Farm by Rachel Isadora
Over the Green Hills by Rachel Isadora
Owen & Mzee: The True Story of a Remarkable Friendship by Isabella Hatkoff
Papa, Do You Love Me? by Barbara M. Joosse; Barbara Lavallee
Planting the Trees of Kenya: The Story of Wangari Maathai by Claire A. Nivola
Red Shoes by Karen English; Ebony Glenn
S is for South Africa by Beverly Naidoo
Shaka: King of Zulus by Diane Stanley
A South African Night by Rachel Isadora
Sosu's Call By Meshack Asare
Sulwe by Lupita Nyong'o
Sundiata: Lion King of Mail by David Wisniewski
The Talking Baobab Tree by Nelda LaTeef
This is the Tree by Miriam Moss
Tortoise Crowns the Elephant by Letta Schatz
Tree of Life : the World of the African Baobab by Barbara Bash
The Twelve Dancing Princesses by Rachel Isadora
The Village of Round and Square Houses by Ann Grifalconi
The Water Princess by Susan Verde; Georgie Badiel
![Where Are You Going, Manyoni? [Book]](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!bJI2!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb2073d9e-b66b-4158-88cd-13f02faeeaa2_492x648.jpeg "Where Are You Going, Manyoni? [Book]")
Where Are You Going, Manyoni? by Catherine Stock
Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears by Verna Aardema
Yatandou by Gloria Whelan
Zamani Goes to Market by Muriel L. Feelings; Tom Feelings
📌 Printable Resource
If you’re a paid member (thank you!), you can download printables for this list here.
Support the Sommer Family in Ghana
If you’d like to thank Patty for her generous contribution to this resource or support the Sommer family’s ongoing service work in Ghana, you can send a gift via PayPal to: johninghana@yahoo.com
Every contribution helps their family continue serving and sharing their gifts with communities both near and far.
