African kingdoms and empires from Ashanti to Zulu

¶ … Ashanti to Zulu has been hailed as one of the best alphabet books ever written but while it may be good, there are 4 reasons it doesn't do justice to all the praises it has garnered.

Reason

The book reinforces stereotypes. The kids who would want to something new and enlightening about the African culture might find nothing new because the book is disappointingly poor in its ability to dispel stereotypes and instead reinforces them.

Reason

There is not much discernible difference between tribes. To an insider, there may be differences that they can pick between each tribe but to an outsider, all paintings and all tribes appeared the same with the exception of headdresses. However the writer did try to make an effort to accentuate differences, sadly they did not come across too well.

Reason

There may be some research but nothing new or interesting or even deep was found. The book only provides generalized overview of all the tribes like when describing Jie tribe, the author writes: "men. . . roam with their cattle while the women do the farming," and this looks far too generalized a view.

Reason 4:

The book has too many pictures and all have certain sameness with the same kind of items in each like a man, woman, child and animal. With no distinction from one to another, obviously each picture looks the same and while work is beautiful it doesn't offer anything refreshingly new or different.

Conclusion:

The book itself has been given a lot of regard and praise but it does have some flaws which make it far less effective than what most reviewers would have us believe. For one the book is not exactly something kids would love because while there are colors, there is not much distinction for them to be able to understand that each tribe is different and that each tribal way offers something new to the African culture. To a child, it may all appear to be African culture since no discernible differences were seen. Also generalizations make the details less memorable and are hence easily forgotten. It is only when something so unique new and different is offered that one can remember it long after the book has been put down. However that aspect is completely missing from this book and hence no one really needs to pick up this book hoping they would get a real insight into the African tribes because essentially there is none.