Kofi and His Magic

Angelou, Maya

ISBN 10: 037592566X ISBN 13: 9780375925665

Publisher: Crown Books for Young Readers, 2003

Synopsis

With full-color photographs. Now in paperback, My Painted House, My Friendly Chicken, and Me is the enchanting story of an eight-year-old girl named Thandi, her village, her mischievous brother, her best friend--a chicken--and the remarkable mural art that is produced by the Ndebele women. With over seventy photographs of the reclusive Ndebele women and their breathtaking paintings, My Painted House, My Friendly Chicken, and Me documents the passing of traditions from parent to child while introducing young readers to a new culture through a new friend. "Angelou's prose, like the art, is unlike what you've seen before" (Chicago Tribune). "Poet Angelou's impish narrative and Margaret Courtney-Clarke's ravishing photos create an entrancing vision...." (Entertainment Weekly). To be published simultaneously with Kofi and His Magic, a new hardcover collaborative effort by Angelou and Courtney-Clarke.  
From the Hardcover edition.

About this title

About the Author:

Maya Angelou, a world-renowned, award-winning author and poet, is a critically acclaimed author who has been hailed as one of the great voices of contemporary literature.

Margaret Courtney-Clarke is an internationally published photojournalist and author of Ndebele: The Art of an African Tribe.
From the Trade Paperback edition.

From Booklist:

Ages 6^-9. As in the poet and photographer's My Painted House, My Friendly Chicken, and Me (1995), this second picture-book collaboration about Africa has great photographs but a disappointing text. The narrator is Kofi, a seven-year-old West African boy who uses "magic" to move from his hometown to a jitney, then to a place "up north. Kofi, whose magic comes from closing his eyes and opening his mind, is an engaging tour guide, but the lack of specifics about the setting is perplexing. What country does Kofi live in? What language does he speak? And the story line about magic is a flop. However, if you want to know what West Africa looks like, take a look at the vibrantly striking photographs. You'll see a bustling marketplace, powerful men and women decorated in their richest gold, and people of all ages wearing colorful kente cloth. Although there isn't much of a story here, this is a positive and realistic visual portrait. Julie Corsaro

About this edition

• Publisher: Crown Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 037592566X
• ISBN 13: 9780375925665
• Binding: Library Binding
• Number of pages: 48
• Illustrator: Courtney-Clarke Margaret