by Rhonda Mitchell

A cloth can’t talk – can it? Yes – with a little imagination. And especially if you are an imaginative child.

Amber is part of an Afro-American family: Mom, Daddy and – wait for it – Aunt Phoebe. She’s the jewel of the family in Amber’s eyes. “She has things. Things and things and things…” “A junk pile” Daddy calls it. But to the little girl it’s a treasure trove reflecting her aunt’s jaunts around the world. Aunt Phoebe regales her with stories about these journeys, whilst Amber sips hot coffee, her eyes aglow and her ears wide open.

The cloth in question is part of the treasure. Spread out, it’s “…a long magic carpet (running) like a white river across the floor.” It is actually a Ghanaian adinkra cloth.

The story it tells unfolds from its hand-printed and embroidered designs. It tells of the Ashanti people and was only worn by royalty. Her aunt proudly informs her that she “feels like an Ashanti princess” when she wears it. Yes, it was an item of clothing in the old days.

Apparently the colours are symbolic: white for joy, yellow for riches, blue for love, but red for sadness, death or war. Despite his pretended disdain, Daddy likes to listen, too. Some symbols are, like hieroglyphics, words: “Except God, I fear none.” “I offend no-one without cause.”

They joke about what sort of cloth each of them should wear: a serious design for Daddy, a “mess” for amber’s baby brother. Aunt Phoebe promises Amber that the cloth shall be hers when she is older.

A superbly illustrated and fascinating story.

By Angela Johnson

If you’re white, you’re alright;
If you’re brown, just stick aroun’;
But if you’re black, keep back, keep back, keep back!
---- Sung by Americans fighting against racism.

Most people are aware of the evils of slavery but often give little thought to the details and the implications, children least of all perhaps. It consisted of the merciless kidnapping, cruel transportation and bitter exploitation of Africans by Europeans, mainly English and Spanish, to pursue a trade based on the law of the jungle: night is right. Huge fortunes were made, shared by the monarchy in each country.

This human cargo was unloaded in America, sold to the highest bidder for whom they did backbreaking work from morn until sunset for a bare living. They were imprisoned in their place of work and subject to every demand of their owners. Disobedience was met by savage corporal punishment, Women were often used for sexual purposes by their masters.

By Chris Smith. Illustrations by Aurelia Fronty

A picture book for children – of all ages from 8 to 80. It’s a moral tale but not a dull lecture.

Solomon the Wise, king of Israel, has a story to tell. The moral it contains is not shouted at you and needs no laboured explanation. Two brothers have brought their problem to the great adviser – for advice.

But before he can respond, they start a noisy quarrel about who should inherit the land left behind by their late father. One, probably the elder, claims his “legal rights”. The other protests loudly at this “injustice”.

The wise one silences them, holds their attention and tells them this story that has been handed down by word of mouth for centuries.

by Mark Alan Stamaty

Tales of war and destruction are many: loss of precious life and of things people hold dear.
This is the true story of one woman's incredible (and incredibly successful) rescue, from the flames of war, most of the books, “more precious to her than gold”, from a world famous library, at the cost of her health and almost of her life.