MY FIRST KWANZAA BOOK
by Deborah M. Newton Chocolate & illustrated by Cal Massey
A pedestrian introduction, including a child's narrative account of special activities plus definitions of special Swahili terms and the Seven Principles. The text's repetitive structure adds an air of happy ritual that's reinforced by the traditional costumes, candlelighting, and smiles and hugs in the illustrations; but Massey's human figures are generic rather than individual, while the family's activities neither exemplify nor explain the Principle assigned to each day. A supplementary purchase; both Chocolate's own Kwanzaa (1990) and Porter's Kwanzaa (1991) provide livelier coverage for beginners. (Nonfiction/Picture book. 6-8)