HOME!

Onyefulu celebrates light, color and the people of Mali in this and three other themed suites of bright photos of common items or activities.

The book offers one or two full-page views of each of a dozen subjects, from a row of outdoor “Chairs,” a “Pestle and Mortar” and a ceramic “Water Pot” to a “Sleeping Mat.” Clothes (978-1-84780-264-4) offers images of Western-style “Trousers” and a traditional printed “Bogolan Dress.” Most of the photos in Food (978-1-84780-265-1) pair fresh with cooked or otherwise prepared views of grains, fruits and fish—all of which, aside from a regional snack called “Farini” made of fried millet, are eaten, if not relished (see: “Okra”), by children on either side of the Atlantic. The groups of children in Play (978-1-84780-267-5) are all engaged in games from the universal likes of “Hide and Seek” and “Cat’s Cradle” to “Waly,” played on a board with pebbles, and a girls’ copycat game called “A ay.” The photographer adds explanatory notes, either in her warm introductory remarks or accompanying the large one- or two-word captions on each spread.

The pictures, aglow with light and life, are snapshots of daily life that is both similar and different to our own. (Informational picture book. 3-7)