Africa, Amazing Africa: Country by Country

My Amazing Adventures

by Atinuke, Mouni Feddag (Illustrator)

Discover the exhilarating diversity of the African continent in storyteller Atinuke's kaleidoscopic nonfiction guide to the people, flora, and fauna of all fifty-five countries.

A Nigerian storyteller explores the continent of Africa country by country: its geography, peoples, animals, history, resources, and cultural diversity. The book is divided into five distinct sections--South, East, West, Central, and North--and each country is showcased on its own bright, energetic page brimming with friendly facts on science, industry, food, sports, music, wildlife, landscape features, even snippets of local languages. The richest king, the tallest sand dunes, and the planet's largest waterfall all make appearances along with drummers, cocoa growers, inventors, balancing stones, salt lakes, high-tech cities, and nomads who use GPS! Atinuke's lively and comprehensive introduction to all fifty-five African countries--a celebration scaled to dazzle and delight even very young readers--evokes the continent's unique blend of modern and traditional. Complete with colorful maps, an index, and richly patterned and textured illustrations by debut children's book artist Mouni Feddag, Africa, Amazing Africa is both a beautiful gift book and an essential classroom and social studies resource.

Genres: Nonfiction, Africa, Picture Books, Geography, Childrens, Middle Grade, History

80 pages, Hardcover

First published October 26, 2019

About the author

Atinuke is a Nigerian-born author who started her career doing traditional oral storytelling. Her books include a Boston Globe–Horn Book Honor Winner, a Notable Book for a Global Society, a Cybils Award Winner, and an Africana Award Winner. She lives in Wales.

Reviews

[Hank · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was amazing! A good combination of fun facts for kids and more in depth facts for adults. A couple things I found interesting that I did not know....Peri,peri sauce originates in Mozambique and Rastafarianism originates in Ethiopia.

[♥ Sandi ❣ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars

Needing books on the country Lesotho, I was at a disadvantage. My library system only had two - and this middle grade book was one of them. However I was surprised to find that even though Lesotho only had one page in this book it was filled with one liners about the country, the people and their customs. Worth its trouble to retrieve from the library.

[Martha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am an adult with no children and I absolutely flipping LOVED this book - it's never too late to learn people! I loved discovering little facts about each country (e.g. 99% of Egyptians live in only 3% of the land because there's so much desert, and I now know where Timbuktu actually is!), and the colourful illustrations just brought so much joy. Would highly recommend it to anyone, no matter what age!

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing Atinuke! And Feddag does a wonderful job, too.

I love the details that do indeed inspire further research, and the ones the reference other concerns that young people are already thinking about. For example:

Chad includes the line "Language is like nature--it evolves."
Equatorial Guinea exports oil, which is used "to create gas and plastic."
Mauritania still has slavery.
Morocco's medinas have a certain careful topography probably unnoticed by 99% of white tourists.

I sincerely do recommend this for everyone, not just kids and families.
If your library doesn't have it yet, request it... if not for your sake, at least for families!

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this! I wish the publisher would make a series of it. My girls and I had such a good time reading it, and it really helped open our world views.

Quick tangent: my daughters love Jenifer Lopez. One of her songs includes this list of places: "Brazil, Morocco, London to Ibiza; Straight to LA, New York, Vegas to Africa." It drives me crazy. Pick a thing, cities, countries? Morocco is in Africa, it's basically listed twice. But mostly, Africa is a huge, diverse place. Lumping a whole continent into some homogenous dance party after thought irks me. This book is a great way to dispel that kind of glossing over by highlighting the unique, interesting, troubling and beautiful aspects of dozens of countries in short, digestable, entries. I knew I wanted to visit Tanzania and Seychelles and Egypt and Morocco, but now there's a half-dozen other places I had no idea were on my list. I highly recommend it.

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I eventually hope to write a more detailed review of this wonderful book but for now want to add my star rating and highly recommend this to those seeking to explain to young people that Africa is a not a country, it is a continent made up of many (diverse) countries. Of course, no overview with this much breadth will have sufficient depth to fully represent each country, but Atinuke fully acknowledges this in her forward and I feel she does a good job, on the whole and I think children will come away with a good understanding and, hopefully, a desire to learn more about individual countries and cultures represented.

[Marathon County Public Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

The colorful Africa, Amazing Africa by Atinuke is a fun way to get familiar with African geography. Atinuke and Mouni Feddag present each African country with a short description and illustrations. Southern, eastern, western, central, and northern countries are grouped regionally with a hand-drawn map for reference. The wording is concise and straightforward, but also playful, much like Atinuke’s series of books about Anna Hibiscus. Each section I read made me curious to learn more!

This informative book is a reminder of how large the world really is. I recommend reading it with Serengeti: Plains of Grass by Leslie Bulion and Planting the Trees of Kenya: The Story of Wangari Maathai by Claire A. Nivola.

Elizabeth L. / Marathon County Public Library
Find this book in our library catalog.

[Thomas Ray · Rating 1 out of 5]

Africa, Amazing Africa: Country by Country, text by Atinuke, illustrated by Mouni Feddag, 2019, 75pp., 11.5" tall x 10" wide x 9/16" thick (29.3cm tall x 25.4cm wide x 14mm thick), ISBN 9781536205374, Dewey 960

56 countries, plus religions, hairstyles, football. see also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Africa

Generally a paragraph and a caption per country: bland generalities.

[Brenda Kahn]

This whirlwind tour of the continent of Africa is filled with vivid, energetic illustrations and selected facts about each of the 55 countries. Its usefulness is less as a resource for the vast continent and more as an impressive impressionistic lesson.

[Carly Burns · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this gorgeously laid out essay the author, Atinuke, goes country by country detailing remarkable qualities. Each page more riveting than the last, transporting you to another part of the world. A juxtaposition of modernity and rugged pastoral countryside. While reading its pages, one often reflects on what it means to be part of a country. Albeit, there are differences in resources, landscapes, and governing bodies, we are all not so different individually. We all crave comfortably and safety for our loved ones, to pursue a passion that brings meaning to our lives, and the soothing sensation of a good soup.

A place that once felt so foreign, so extrinsic, now transcends to feelings of familiarity and understanding. This book is recommended for the curious and open-minded people who may not know too much of this great continent, no matter what Sydney Beth has to say.

[Libby · Rating 5 out of 5]

How to celebrate a continent? By focusing on each of its unique pieces. That's exactly what Atinuke has done in this delightful book. Every country in Africa has it's own page with one or two interesting highlights. So many of the books about Africa focus on the cultures of the past, exotic animals, and the problems of the present. What sets this book apart is that it starts from a contemporary perspective, which for most countries means mentioning modern skyscrapers alongside rural, traditional villages. Animals, conservation, contemporary problems do get mentions, but the focus is on celebrating what's wonderful about each country. This isn't a book for kids doing research; this is for the step before research, activating the curiosity of kids (and adults). Highly recommended!

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative and accessible, this is a great intro to the major African countries at the time of printing. The illustrations add to the appeal. This is an ideal jumping off place to decide what else you want to know about the different African countries.

[Jenifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This brightly illustrated picture book gives a really great overview of the continent of Africa, its regions and a quick couple of paragraphs describing each country and how the land features, classes of people, products and animals differ from each other in wonderful ways.

This started at just the right place for me in my knowledge about Africa; The Basics! Politically sensitive and inclusive. I loved. it.

[Aneesa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Learned a lot, and a lot more still to learn.

[Hannah]

Obviously this can't be everything, and yet because it's essentially the only book of its kind, it's kind of frustrating that it's not. But I do think it has a charm to it, and I learned a shit ton of stuff I had no idea about, so it is of course filling a real gap.

[Allison A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great geography and culture kids book about Africa, written by an African. For older kids or adults. I love how each country is briefly touched sharing simply, yet capturing the complexity, diversity and uniqueness of each African country without playing on stereotypes. Where modern and tradition meet and co-exist.

[Haley · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice general, small introduction to all the countries of Africa for children. However, the author does put their own opinions into this book, which I think would be better suited to be more of a non-fiction reference.

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely fantastic!

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aaaand now I want to go to the Seychelles. Or Mozambique. Or Namibia, and let me tell you, NOTHING has ever made me want to go to Namibia before.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a 3.5 for me. Filled with colorful maps and striking mixed media illustrations of more than 50 countries on the African continent, it offers young readers a solid introduction to those places, which are divided here according to countries in Southern Africa, East Africa, West Africa, Central Africa, and North Africa, and with a reminder that situations are often changing, and the information is current when the book was published. It's wonderful to have a book for young readers that contains greetings in various languages, describes the industry and natural resources as well as exports, and popular pastimes and foods. So often various countries in Africa are acknowledged only as Africa with no distinction made between the different regions. After reading this book, readers will realize the fallacy of doing so. There might no one better suited than Atinuke to write this book since she is known for her children's books about Nigeria and clearly has great enthusiasm for many of these places. Often, there seems to be a division between very wealthy individuals and those who are struggling for a living, and the author even points out that some of the world's favorite foods--cocoa and coffee--owe a debt to this area. It should not come as a surprise that such a large continent has so much to offer, and that life differs depending on which country is being discussed. She also acknowledges the role climate change is having on some of these countries. The writing style is engaging, and readers will finish the book, which also has a helpful index, ready to book a flight to at least one of these countries. (Well, ready to do so when the pandemic finally comes to an end.) Nevertheless, this large book with a page devoted to each country will be a useful addition for social studies classrooms.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Atinuke’s books, so I couldn’t wait to read this one! While perhaps a little too long for young children and maybe not enough information for older children to use for class projects and whatnot, this book was perfect for *me*: an ignorant American who never learned much about other countries at the mediocre public school I went to.

This book contains a concise and intriguing paragraph or two about each country. The language is upbeat but honest. For instance, the importance of fair trade products, problems with poaching and climate change is mentioned, as well as slavery in Mauritania. But the beauty of the land, people’s efforts to make changes and their amazing achievements are also included.

I had to flip back and forth to the map since I know so little about geography. Some of the smaller countries are hard to spot! While I enjoyed the illustrations, I might have preferred actual photos of the countries, but perhaps it’s better to not try to capture an entire country in just one picture anyway.

My favorite fact that I learned in here that made me stop, google it, and text other people about it was about the honeyguide. Did you know that there is a bird in Gambia (West Africa) called a honeyguide that literally has adapted to talk with people?!!! It leads people to where a beehive is so the people can crack it open and then the people get the honey and the bird gets the larvae and wax. And hunters use a special call to let the birds know that they want to go get honey and then the birds are like, “you son of a b——, I’m in!” So cool! You can hear the call the hunters use in this article on Audubon: https://www.audubon.org/news/meet-gre...

[Go · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had no idea how diverse Africa is. Each country has a few short paragraphs that are packed with information about their uniqueness. It’s a quick way to learn about this continent for young and older readers.

“Some African countries are incredibly modern, with cutting-edge hospitals and high-rise cities and fancy sports cars. Other countries are old-fashioned, with people herding camels and goats, and walking miles to collect water… Africa has always been a mixture of ancient traditions and innovations.“

Interesting: Almost half the people on the continent are young people— We have the youngest population on the planet! Malawi experimented with ethanol to fuel cars very cheaply. Okapi is a unique animal in the Congo—it is a cross between a giraffe, a horse, and a zebra. I was the most shocked to read that slavery still exists in Mauritania. How is that even possible? “Another of Namibia‘s deserts used to sparkle not with salt but with diamonds, which you could collect just by running your hands through the sand!” Wow. “There are more pyramids in Sudan than there are in Egypt.”

I was especially interested to search Liberia as I have a nephew serving a mission there. It is the oldest democratic nation. It was never conquered by Europeans—they had kidnapped others and forced them to work in America, Europe, and in the Caribbean in slavery. Years later a group returned to Africa and started their own country—Liberia, whose name means “Land of Freedom.” They have a special handshake in that country: The finger-snap handshake. I bet my nephew will enjoy that. A famous footballer George Weah became president in 2018.

[Eve Costarelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wowza! This book has it all! This travel book takes you all over the vast continent of Africa, from A to Z sharing the geography, peoples, animals, history, resources, and cultural diversity. Each country (yes, Africa is made up of 54 countries!) is accompanied by beautiful illustrations and bits of information about anything from food to hairstyles to industry to the flora and fauna of each region. There are even snippets of local languages which I find absolutely thrilling! This book aims to both fascinate and educate and it delivers 100%! This book will take the young readers on an adventure of a lifetime and will give young adventurers the opportunity to dive into the deepest recess of Africa, opening up a whole new world, answering questions and creating new ones. I adore the detailed illustrations. They bring so much life to the flow of this non-fiction book that has a very comfortable way in which it delivers it’s information-it is a non-fiction book that reads like fiction. It’s just engrossing for adults and children alike. This book is both the perfect gift for your own little knowledge craver and also, your school’s library, as it should be available as a school resource.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes, the book is amazing and so, as the title shouts, so is Africa! Along with all the other books, I've been reading this new one by Atinuke and illustrated by Mouni Feddag. According to the book flap, Atinuke is Nigerian-born, started her career as an oral storyteller of tales from the African continent. Mouni Feddag has illustrated for varied clients like Anthropologie. This is her first book for children. Along with other books I'm reading, I've been reading and admiring this one a few pages at a time. It includes all fifty-five countries, Atinuke's way of story-telling, and Feddag's bright colors of unique places and each country's extraordinary people and things. Atinuke writes in the intro that she wised to create a place where she can share the exciting things she knows about Africa. She shares about the geography, animals, people's general way of living (from cities to huts), varying religions, and main parts of history. Feddag seems to choose a little from that text to show it in her work. You'll find a helpful intro, table-of-contents, beautiful maps, and index, and a list of additional sources. It's terrific. If teachers wish to have a unit about Africa, this will make an "amazing" beginning.
Thanks to Candlewick Press for this copy!

[Christie Kaaland · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an important book (and I don't say that often). Every school library should own this book. In simple straightforward descriptions, Atinuke provides young readers (and adults!) accessible understanding of modern Africa. A clear and apologetic ("I could not squeeze everything that I know and love about Africa into this book. There is room to say only two or three things about each country.") breaking down of stereotypes about African countries, but each country's uniqueness and contributions to the world, at large, are highlighted. Young readers and old will be fascinated by facts about geography, animals, industry, and religion of individual countries, caped in a light touch of environmental warning.
Who knew:
*Ethiopia what is one of the first Christian countries in the world - maybe THE first?
*The climate in Algeria is just like that of California?
*The Sahara international film festival is the only film festival in the world that takes place in a refugee camp?
*The cousin to Scotland's Loch Ness monster, Mokele-Mbembe, lives in the Republic in the Congo in Lake Tele?
*There are more than 600 species of butterflies in the Central African Republic?

All this and more!

[Global Literature in Libraries Initiative]

This nonfiction book for readers age 6 and up won multiple awards at the 2020 Information Book Awards. Through vibrant illustrations by Mouni Feddag, winner of the Hans Maid Prize for Book Illustration, Atinuke takes readers on a colorful and fact-filled journey to all 55 countries of the continent from Algeria to Angola and Senegal to Somalia. The book contains an informative introduction and the countries are grouped by region (Southern Africa, East Africa, West Africa, Central Africa and North Africa). A special introductory page for each part of the continent contains a list of countries, facts and greetings from the languages of the people who reside there. There are also special pages about religions, hairstyles and Africa’s favorite sport: football!

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To read the full review, go to our website!
https://glli-us.org/2021/05/26/worldk...

[Margaret Boling · Rating 5 out of 5]

4/4/2022 ~ I am so pleased to see the Nigerian storyteller, Atinuke, getting more recognition. This book of the geography of the African continent is delightful. Each nation is allotted a single page. There is a brief summary of the country in a traditional font (Times, Calibri, etc.). There are "fun facts" in a hand-writing style font. Each page also has a painted illustration representing a cultural aspect of the nation.

If you are looking for a book about Africa in a traditional nonfiction format (photos, captions, timelines, square mileage, etc., this book isn't for you. However, it will invite further study and give readers a very brief intro to each African nation.

I will definitely be adding this book to my elementary library collection.

A note about copyright: This book was originally published in 2019 by a smaller press and then picked up by Candlewick in 2021.

[Hanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

The illustrations in this book are absolutely dazzling!! I LOVE some bright colored artwork and I was blown away by the beauty of these illustrations. The book was really well organized and talked about overarching similarities in the different regions as well as 2-3 interesting things about each country. This book is intended for children and it does a phenomenal job introducing a very diverse continent to young readers. It generally has a very positive and celebratory tone (in one or two places it mentions child labor or ongoing slavery, but in general it celebrates the beauty of Africa). As an adult, I was kinda craving more specific dates and facts…but it definitely left me wanting more and curious to round out my knowledge. I would highly recommend this book.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a wonderful introduction to the continent of Africa by way of its 55 countries. Each country is briefly introduced with a paragraph of fascinating information, bright illustrations, and short lists of accompanying facts. As an adult reader I learned so much! Younger readers will be able to achieve one country at a time, or choose to read about many of these amazing places.
Tie-in with social studies units about continents, discussions about diversity, Black history month, geography, and more!
Highly recommended for middle and upper elementary grades. Also excellent for lower grades with adult assistance.

[Gretchen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful book and such a great resource that I want for my classroom! I admit to being less than proficient in all the different cultures, countries, and climates of Africa and that is a disservice to my students. When I found this resource I was very excited to pair it with one or two other books that I felt gave an honest and detailed look at the whole continent. I know this will be helpful for all my students as well as me as I reread it a few times learning more about the wonderful history and modern wonders that can be shared and researched from this continent.