Author & Illustrators
What first strikes you about this picture book are the beautiful and unusual illustrations – simple shapes and evocative colours that move from browns to greens, always muted and rich. They conjure a bare and barren landscape that is slowly transformed into a vibrant and plentiful rainforest.
The story is told in the first person and so as readers, we never know the name of the little girl in the story, suggesting it could be any one of us. The powerful beginning tells us that “they said I couldn’t change the world” and this hopeful story says to both the girl in the story and to the reader that maybe you might. The little girl explains that in the place she was born there is now just desert, where once there were rivers and trees. One day she finds a seed and plants the seed in the dried up river bed. Despite the protestations of those around her telling her that the seed will never grow, she continues to protect and nurture the seed until it grows into an amazing fruit tree – and so producing more seeds that can be planted.
There is a powerful picture in the story that shows the roots of the trees reaching far below the little village, deep into the old river bed. It seems to suggest the power of the natural world, its depths and wonder. The deep roots then enabled water to be transported to the trees leaves, producing steam and then clouds and so rain, once again filling the river. As the child grows up, she shows that we can never be complacent, as one of the trees is blown down in a storm. Another young child produces a seed and so continues the cycle of care for the forest so that the forest in turn, might care for those that live there.
The illustrator dedicates the book to her great grandmother, one of the indigenous people of Brazil and the story is clearly a plea for us all to think about our treatment of the planet and not to give up when the scale of the environmental challenge facing us seems so huge.
Afiya has fine black skin, big brown eyes and a white cotton dress. She wears this dress every day and washes it at night so that it’s ready for the morning. A Story About Afiya depicts the almost magical experiences that a beloved item of clothing brings to its young owner. In this beautiful picture book, the title character’s white dress becomes a canvas for the experiences that she has each day. Glorious sunflowers, delicate butterflies and fierce tigers all become imprinted onto her dress.
The words by celebrated Jamaican poet James Berry OBE are a celebration of childhood and memory. Afiya’s dress collects the natural wonders that she sees and passes each day- flowers, fish, stones. It encourages children to think about what amazing features of the natural world they would collect if they had clothing like Afiya. This could be used to inspire nature walks, sketchbook work and descriptive poetry so that the children can capture their favourite aspects of nature as Afiya’s dress does.
Anna Cunha’s artwork reflects the focus on colour and pattern within Berry’s poetic writing. The soft pastel background creates a magical almost wistful atmosphere, perfect to showcase the passing of days as shown by the images on Afiya’s dress. There is much to inspire focused art lessons in this book. Anna Cunha uses pattern beautifully, capturing pigeons in flying formation, stretches of fish-filled sea, falling Autumn leaves and piles of towering boulders. Pupils could explore using repeated shapes and colours through printmaking.
A Story About Afiya is a beautiful book about the wonder and magic of noticing and celebrating what we find around us. The gentle use of magic realism helps readers to identify what is magical and special about their own natural surroundings.
Nominated for “Favourite Books of 2020” by: Alison Leach (founder of BooksForTopics)
Alison says, “A beautiful picturebook about the wonder and magic of noticing and celebrating what we find around us. Afiya’s dress becomes a blank canvas for the experiences that she has each day. Glorious sunflowers, delicate butterflies and fierce tigers all become imprinted onto her dress The gentle use of magic realism helps readers to identify what is magical about their own natural surroundings and explores how a beloved item of clothing brings joy to its young owner.”
Anita loves the small, beautiful village in the Dominican Republic where she lives. She spends her days exploring the island, imagining herself as a valiant, brave princessa as she watches the ‘dragons’ (aeroplanes) fly overhead. One day she finds that she must say goodbye to her beloved Abuela and her treasured island and travel with her family to a new home far away. As she walks into the unknown and to new adventures, she needs all the courage she can muster to come face to face with, and ride inside the dragon herself.
This is a story of leaving the place you call home, facing your fears and embarking on new adventures.
review
Year group(s) the book is most suitable for:
Year group(s) the book is most suitable for:
Does the book contain anything that teachers would wish to know about before recommending in class (strong language, sensitive topics etc.)?
Does the book contain anything that teachers would wish to know about before recommending in class (strong language, sensitive topics etc.)?
Would you recommend the book for use in primary schools?
yes
Curriculum links (if relevant)
Curriculum links (if relevant)
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