The Seven Days of Kwanzaa

by Angela Shelf Medearis

A kid-friendly guide to the history and customs of Kwanzaa. This informative and fun guide to the holiday of Kwanzaa by Black author Angela Shelf Medearis provides information about parties, recipes for African-inspired dishes, instructions for craft projects, and brief biographies of individuals who are connected to the holiday and its history.

Genres: History, Holiday, Nonfiction

112 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

Reviews

[Rebekah Waggoner]

Informational
4th-6th

I really liked reading this book and learning about both the history and traditions of Kwanzaa. The author of this book did a great job overall giving an overview on what and how Kwanzaa started. I loved how it talked about the traditions and explained them. I feel this is an important part of learning because it makes the readers diverse and see different things than they are used to. Along with that I love how they included some recipes that families could try together, it is always fun getting to try new foods with your family. I feel that this could be a way to get parents involved in students learning. All in all this is a great resource for students and teachers as well.

[Samarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Informational
4th-6th

I really liked reading this book and learning about both the history and traditions of Kwanzaa. This book did a great job overall giving an overview on what and how Kwanzaa started. I loved how it talked about the traditions a lot. I feel this is an important part of learning because it makes the readers diverse and see different things than they are used to. Along with that I love how they included some recipes that families could try together. I feel that this could be a way to get parents involved in students learning. All in all this is a great resource for students and teachers as well.

[Bernadette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative, entertaining Kwanzaa primer. Excellent for use with children.

[Jaime Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very good overview of the Kwanzaa holiday, geared towards children. It had a good element of the history behind the celebration. And then an even greater amount of information surrounding the various traditions. My favorite part of the book is that it included recipes and how to instructions for several traditional menu items and activities. So if you wanted to host your own Kwanzaa celebration, you'd know how.

I will say that some of this was lost on my 5-year-old. I didn't realize how this book was written when I bought it, so a lot went over her head. But it will remain in our collection and I believe it will be a fantastic resource for her when she's a little older and can better understand the history aspect.

[Juliette Ghee-Pratt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Surprisingly, the history of Kwanzaa was enlightening, it's an annual celebration that begins on December 26th until January 1st that is spent with family and friends. I thought that this was a religious base holiday. Kwanzaa was created by a professor of Black Studies, to unite and rebuild a community after a brutal riot broke out in Los Angeles. As a result over 3000 people were arrested and many were injured and killed. To celebrate the family use several items for their festivities, 7 candles that stands for one of the seven principles of Kwanzaa, a bowl of fruit and vegetables, a straw mat, and a unity cup just to name a few. This is a great book to learn more about ethnic heritage. I give this book a 5/5 because it was very informative.