Is it far to Zanzibar?

Picture Book # 6

AUTHOR: Nikki Grimes 

TITLE: Is It Far To Zanzibar?

ILLUSTRATOR: Betsey Lewin

GENRE: Fiction Picture Book of Poems

THEME: Zanzibar

DATE OF PUBLICATION: 2000 by Harper Collins Publishers

This book is a collection of 13 poems all about life in Tanzania and it captivates you with the beautiful scenery and sounds. While reading this book you can almost see and smell all the wonders of Africa.  The first poem “Down the road a bit” entices us to explore this exotic new place.  By the time you have read this book to the end, you have picked coffee beans, had a lion chase you up a tree and best of all you have shared a bus with chickens and goats!  The illustrations are colorful and cheerful.  The glossary and map at the end of the book are useful and can be used in a social studies lesson.

“Walk down the road a bit, cousin.
Walk down the road a bit.
The place you're seeking, I will help you to find.”