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Most Helpful Customer Reviews:
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 This book was recommended to me, November 07, 2014
By TheHappyLibrarian (New York, NY)
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This book was recommended to me, and it is a great story. The book arrived promptly, in near-perfect condition. I am very pleased.
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Five Stars, July 16, 2014
By Karma (Karma)
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My daughter LOVES this book!
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 Wouldn't most kids prefer a chicken to a quarter?, August 12, 2006
By in the beginning was the word (Libertyville, IL)
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Using a universal childhood experience, Penda Diakité introduces children to daily life and culture in Mali, Africa. Young Amina and her family travel to Africa each summer to visit family and, during one trip, Amina has a loose tooth. According to Amina's father, "if you lose a tooth in Africa and put it under a gourd, you will get a chicken from the African Tooth Fairy!" And that's exactly what happens. Along the way, readers visit the family compound and meet Amina's Grandmother N'na, who gives the children a blessing each morning, and Amina's Aunt Kadja, who makes Amina's favorite meal of "rice and onion sauce with African eggplants and tiny noodles," and Amina's cousins who play tègeré tillon, which the glossary tells us is a singing and clapping game. Each two-page spread offers one full page of illustration with rich, strong color and a thematic border. The author, who wrote the story at age 8 and was 14 at its time of publication, based the story on her sister's real-life experience of losing a tooth and receiving a chicken. Illustrations are by an acclaimed illustrator (and father of the author and her sister) who hails from Mali and now lives in Oregon. This lovely book deftly combines a common everyday theme with a peek into what will be a different, and perhaps new, culture for most readers. Along with the story, the book offers a glossary, the lyrics to Grandma N'na's good night song, and the recipe for Aunt Kadja's rice and onion dish.
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