The Spider Weaver

The Spider Weaver
A Legend of the Kente Cloth

by Margaret Musgrove
illustrated by Julia Cairns

Ages 4-8

The Blue Sky Press
(an Imprint of Scholastic Inc.)

Anyone who has laid eyes on the striking pattern of fabric known worldwide as the Kente (ken-tee) cloth, interwoven with brightly colored strips, cannot easily forget it. Kente cloth is native to the Akan people of Ghana and Ivory Coast.

How did this wonderful Kente cloth come about? Legend has it that long long time ago, a spider created an intricate and elegant web that inspired the weavers to emulate the beauty and create a unique fabric fit for royalty.

Nana Koragu and Nana Ameyaw were skilled weavers who mostly wove nwen-ntoma (nnwen-un-toe-ma) - a simple cloth - that everyone from kings to the common people wore. Late one night, while returning home with their catch, they happened upon something that seemed to them like a small miracle: a spider web with such wondrous design that has never been seen.

The story goes on to tell us how Ameyaw and Koragu watch The Master Web Weaver - a lovely large yellow-and-black spider - in awe, as the spider shows them a special dance that is both regal and graceful, teaching them, inspiring them to create their own weave.

Ameyaw and Koragu, excited about this gift from the spider, redesign their looms, dye the threads in bright colors and develop many new patterns, naming the new woven cloth kente-nwen-ntoma, now known simply as kente cloth.

The illustrations are bursting with color much like the kente cloth, showing scenes from the village life - a nursing goat, a playing child, women pounding on the mortar/pestle, a calabash filled with water... as well as showcasing the lush vegetation of the nearby forest with the monkeys watching from the trees and elephants foraging peacefully...

The book does not attempt to explain the process of kente cloth weaving, but, there is an interesting description of the origins of the kente cloth, as well as the significance of the specific patterns used in contemporary kente cloths. The afterword offers a simple pronunciation guide for some of the words the story.

[This post written especially for Saffron Tree's CROCUS 2010]

Wangari's Trees of Peace

Wangari's Trees of Peace
A True Story from Africa

by Jeanette Winter

Ages 4-8

"The Earth was naked.
For me the mission was to try to cover it with green."
- Wangari Maathai, Environmentalist and winner of Nobel Peace Prize (2004)


What is peace? It is a hard concept for my five year old to fathom. Peace is living in harmony with oneself, one's neighbors, one's environment. Peace is acting kindly towards all beings, respectful and nurturing, not destroying mindlessly. Not acting violently wreaking damage that we can't repair, but acting with love, tolerance, and empathy.

In African tradition, a tree is a symbol of peace.

The book is about the life of Wangari Maathai, a brilliant student from Kenya who won the Kennedy Scholarship to pursue her studies in America, returned to Kenya to attend University of Nairobi, and became the first woman from East Africa to earn a Ph.D. 

When she returned to Kenya, Wangari was shocked to see the lush green trees destroyed to give way to new buildings. The effects of deforestation were drastic enough to jolt her into action. In 1977, on World Environment Day, she started the Green Belt Movement Kenya, with a simple goal of getting the greenery back in her backyard by planting nine seedlings.

She enlisted women from her community, village, to plant more seedlings, started a nursery, even paid women if their seedlings survived and established themselves for over three months. For many of these women, this is the first salary they earned, for doing what they normally would have done.

The clear-cutting leading to desertification, bringing along with it erosion and lack of firewood, made life more challenging and tedious, especially for women who had to walk miles to gather a few sticks of firewood for daily needs.

Soon the word spread like wind traveling through leaves, and women in other villages, towns and cities were planting seedlings fighting against the continued cutting. Wangari tries to protect these mighty trees and gets put in jail for being a troublemaker. She doesn't wilt, she stands tall.

Her fight against the denuding of Earth inspires many others to spring to action. Soon the greenery is restored enough to make a difference all over Kenya. The world hears of Wangari's relentless campaign to bring the green back to Kenya, to reestablish the symbol of peace that was indiscriminately ravaged.

The illustrations are stark, colorful and complement the text well. And the book itself is published in recycled paper.

While the story of her life is simplified in this presentation, the fact that one person can make a difference, can effect a dramatic change, comes across loud and clear. She did not have to plant all the thousands of trees herself, but, through her actions, leadership, vision, dedication and perseverance, she managed to inspire others to take charge and do the needful, do the right thing.

 "Who was cutting down the trees?" was her first question and it was hard for the five year old to understand who exactly the "government men" were and why they could cut down trees when Wangari tried to protect the trees.

However, the page showing Wangari beaten by the policeman and thrown in jail did disturb my daughter a bit, especially the drops of blood trickling from her forehead. When I showed Ana a picture of Wangari Maathai on the web and told her about her still living in Africa, she naïvely wondered if that beating left a scar. But, a subsequent discussion managed to ease her mind enough to get past it and reconcile it by stating that the policeman should have apologized to her for being so mean and hurtful, and promised never to do that again.

The Author's Note mentions that true to her passion, the first act Wangari did when she heard about winning the Nobel Peace Prize was to plant a Nandi flame tree at the base of Mount Kenya.

On this International Day of Peace (Sept 21), as we ask ourselves, "what does peace mean to me?" and explore this topic with our kids, we can share one aspect of it via Wangari Maathai's life and her words in her acceptance speech:

"We are called to assist the Earth to heal her wounds and in the process heal our own - indeed, to embrace the whole creation in all its diversity, beauty and wonder". 

[Cross-posted at Saffron Tree]