Elementary through middle school kids will find this a fine visual survey of the traditions, crafts and beliefs of African peoples throughout the continent. A wealth of photos and illustrations are packed into a guide which includes plenty of crafts pictures to capture the attention of young readers. The visual approach creates an involving title indeed.
This title boasts the same fabulous layout, interesting photographs, and fascinating facts that have made the series so popular. But it also has many of the same drawbacks, such as poor depiction of relative size in the photos and topics that are too broad to be covered in one volume. Africa is populated by so many groups that they can't all be addressed in depth here. The book's organization results in a lack of continuity as it moves through discussions of social life and customs with minimal references to place and group names. This problem is compounded by the fact that much of the information is given in broad generalities. Only one small map of the continent is provided, and readers may find it dizzying going back and forth to figure out where they are.
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