Anna Hibiscus

This series is gaining great attention in the literary world. Join Anna on her adventures in Africa. For ages 5-9. $5.99 each or $19.99 for the set. Click here to order.

A recent review of this wonderful series:

Anna Hibiscus

Seven Impossible Things – Kirkus Reviews (April 8, 2011) http://www.kirkusreviews.com/blog/childrens/seven- impossible-things-anna-hibiscus-back/

“Anna Hibiscus lives in Africa. Amazing Africa.” This is how most chapters begin, the introductory information making it so that you could pick up any story at any point, though they’re all interconnected, and follow. Anna’s life is very different from that of the typical American suburban family: She lives inside a big compound with her Canadian mother and African father; her grandmother and grandfather; her aunties and uncles; lots of cousins; and her twin baby brothers, Double and Trouble. While most Americans merely appreciate on a theoretical level the notion of a village raising a child, Anna’s family lives it: “It is not good to be alone,” she hears her family whispering to her mother on one particularly stressful day in Book 1. “We have to help each other. A husband and three children is too much for one woman alone.”

Though her life in Africa is culturally different (and children will learn about daily, suburban African home life), what makes these books work is the universality of Anna’s inner world, one full of exclamation marks and joy. (“Anna Hibiscus started to sing. First her heart, and then her mouth joined in” are my two favorite lines.) She lives with a loving (sometimes frustrating) family; she longs for adventure (to see snow in Canada, where her maternal grandmother lives); she feels pride when she conquers her fears (Granny Canada’s dog with the pointy teeth in Book 4, not to mention singing in front of her entire school and a visiting president in Book 2); and, by paying attention to the world around her and with a bit of nudging from her family, she learns about social justice (sharing her allotted amount of water with the poor, parched girls on the street during the time of the harmattan winds in Book 3).

3Books 1 and 2, released in 2010, escaped my attention then. With last month’s release of Books 3 and 4, I’ve finally found them. And I highly recommend them. Like Anna, both my heart and my mouth join in. These are funny, delightfully child-centered stories. I hope we are treated to more of Anna’s adventures.