Amadi, a confident Igbo boy who is good with numbers, has decided that he will be a businessman. He doesn’t understand his mother’s insistence that he learn to read. One day, while strolling the marketplace in his village, he spies a picture he cannot comprehend. If he could only read the words under the picture perhaps he could understand..... Thus is the tale of Amadi's Snowman
by Katia Novet Saint-Lot with illustrations by Dimitrea Tokunbo.Though the central message of Amadi's Snowman
is one of the joys of reading, I was especially thoughtful of a personal experience as I read this colorful tale: In 1994, I moved from the Midwestern United States to sunny South Florida. I was still in the good ole U.S.A. so I underestimated the cultural differences. I have many stories of diversity, but one that stands out was the first day the thermometer plummeted below 60 degrees. My students showed up for class in parkas and mittens while I was still in a dress with a light sweater. I laughed and asked, “How many of you have ever been in the snow?” Out of 33 third graders, only 4 raised their hand. So, to me, Amadi's Snowman is more than just a reading-is-a-wonder send up; it’s a multicultural look at how others view the same world.With colorful illustrations that serve the setting well, Amadi's Snowman
is recommended for elementary classrooms and libraries, as well as for inclusion with units on diversity, the powers & joys of reading and African studies.
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Genre: Picture Book. Age: 4-8. Pages: 32.
Themes: Multicultural, Determination, Family.
Publisher: Tilbury House. Date: May 2008.ISBN-10: 0884482987 / ISBN-13: 978-0884482987
Buy Amadi's Snowman Here
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© 2007-2009 Cheryl Vanatti for:www.ReadingRumpus.com
