Songs in the Shade of the Cashew and Coconut Trees
From West Africa to the Caribbean, Book 1
Age range 3 to 7
**Children's Africana Book Award Winner**
An enchanting collection of 12 traditional songs that pays homage to the rich cultural heritage and multilingual communities of West Africa and the Caribbean.
Stories about children playing in the schoolyard at recess, sisters braiding each other's hair at the beach, and parents dancing and singing late into the night mesh together thanks to the music. A wide array of styles – nursery rhymes from Gabon, lullabies from Cape Verde, rumbas from the Congo, work songs from Jamaica – are all performed exquisitely by men, women, and children in more than thirteen languages. Luminous artwork and homegrown instruments, such as the djembe, cavaquinho and Peul flute, round off this wonderful celebration of history, language, and culture.
Lyrics appear transcribed in their original language and translated to English followed by a world map and extensive notes describing the cultural background of each song.
The book also includes a QR code to access the songs online.
After studying design in Paris at the Duperré School and illustration in Strasbourg at the Arts Déco School, Julie Gueyfier began creating children’s books. Over the past 15 years, she has produced no less than 30 picture books for several well-established publishing houses in France, including Rue du Monde, Le Seuil, Sarbacane, Milan and Nathan. Jean-Christophe Hoarau has worked with musicians like Richard Galliano and Georges Moustaki, and he's been awarded many times the Grand Prix Charles-Cros in France. Nathalie Soussana has written several musicals and created the Parents’ Choice Gold Award-winning albums Songs in the Shade of the Cashew and Cocounut Trees and Songs from the Garden of Eden.
