Kwanzaa Books

This story is not only wonderful, it's educational too. The kids love it.

A rich and eloquent collection of poetry, proverbs and praisesongs which provides insight into the wisdom of the Afican American holiday Kwanzaa. Through exploration of the progressive and true meanings of Kwanzaa's seven principles, the Nguzo Saba, Values of the African American Family: The Kwanzaa Canons pays homage to the positive impact these values have had upon the contemporary African American family. A spirituality nurturing work for all ages. -- from book's back cover

This is one of the finest books I have read on the subject of a Kwanza celebration. It is a how-to book that will give anyone interested in learning the many aspects of Kwanza, the tools to prepare and enjoy a memorable and festive occasion.

In fact, this book not only discusses other Kwanza events but has many timely and tasty recipes that will make the advanced and beginner cook take notice.

This is one of the most important books I have read to date and I would suggest that anyone wanting to know the true meaning and cultural message of Kwanza, read this book.

For the past three years, I have celebrating Zwanzaa with family and friends. This year we decided to have more participation from our communities. I purchased the book "How to Plan a Zwanzaa Celebration for family, community and public events. After reading the book, I bought ten copies as gifts for family and friends. We are now studying and practicing the seven principles of Zwanzaa.My God children attended the celebration this year and to my surprise retained quite a bit of information. My eleven year old God Son was so impressed, he wants to do a book report on Zwanzaa for Black History Month and asked if I would prepare all the food in the book for his classmates. I told him we would talk. How to Plan a Zwanzaa Celebration is not just for adults but the children are reading it. I know it really helped us to have a successful Zwanzaa.

I hope that everyone who celebrates Kwanzaa will research where it comes from, and let me give you a hint, its not africa. THe man who invented this holiday in the 60's was a criminal, a racist and a liar.

The Gumbs family knows their Kwanza and shares wonderfully! This is an amazing and enlightening little book on how to celebrate Kwanza with your children and (if you're still together) spouse. There are recipes (including one for an excellent spiced rum chicken) and ideas for party games (Coffee-pot suprise is our family's favorite). I highly recommend this book if you are looking to educate yourself in this misunderstood holiday.

This is one of the finest books I have read on the subject of a Kwanza celebration. It is a how-to book that will give anyone interested in learning the many aspects of Kwanza the tools to prepare and enjoy a memorable and festive occasion.

In fact, this book not only discusses other Kwanza events but has many timely and tasty recipes that will make the advanced and beginner cook take notice.

This is one of the most important books I have read to date and I would suggest that anyone wanting to know the true meaning and cultural message of Kwanza, read this book!

Maybe it's the cookie aspect, but my son (just turned 5) really likes this Rookie Reader book. The story, as you can gather from the title, is about Messy Bessey and the Holidays. It involves making cookies for her friends and neighbors and this time the mess she makes is in the kitchen.

The book touches briefly on the holidays of Chanukah, Christmas, and Kwanzaa. To that end, Bessey and her mom make cookies in different shapes which they then share out. An example of text follows.

Menorahs, candles, fruits, and bells
are signs of the holidays.

All over, people celebrated
in many different ways.

Christmas,
Kwanzaa,
and Chanukah,
no matter what the reason,
here's a gift from Bess to you
to celebrate the season.

The book then ends with a recipe for sugar cookies. [My son likes the book so much he makes me read the recipe. Go figure--lol]

Four Stars. Can't beat a Primer that promotes cleaning up after oneself. This Messy Bessey is about the winter time holidays. The vocabulary is rather harder in this book than other Bessey's because of the holiday words themselves and it is listed as 2.3 on the Accelerated Reading scale. Or in other words, this book is suitable for a child reading at the second grade level. Harder words include: community, celebrate, hillside, shepherds, wonderful, and working. 123 different words.

~review by Pam T.~

Maybe it's the cookie aspect, but my son (just turned 5) really likes this Rookie Reader book. The story, as you can gather from the title, is about Messy Bessey and the Holidays. It involves making cookies for her friends and neighbors and this time the mess she makes is in the kitchen.

The book touches briefly on the holidays of Chanukah, Christmas, and Kwanzaa. To that end, Bessey and her mom make cookies in different shapes which they then share out. An example of text follows.

Menorahs, candles, fruits, and bells
are signs of the holidays.

All over, people celebrated
in many different ways.

Christmas,
Kwanzaa,
and Chanukah,
no matter what the reason,
here's a gift from Bess to you
to celebrate the season.

The book then ends with a recipe for sugar cookies. [My son likes the book so much he makes me read the recipe. Go figure--lol]

Four Stars. Can't beat a Primer that promotes cleaning up after oneself. This Messy Bessey is about the winter time holidays. The vocabulary is rather harder in this book than other Bessey's because of the holiday words themselves and it is listed as 2.3 on the Accelerated Reading scale. Or in other words, this book is suitable for a child reading at the [...]level. Harder words include: community, celebrate, hillside, shepherds, wonderful, and working. 123 different words.

~review by Pam T.~

Short stories with good color illustrations. Pictures are fair - easy to read, with good informantion in the 5 to 8 year old age group. Short 1 character settings around Christmas, Kwanzaa, Chanukah, and New Years. I would recommend this one to K through the 2nd grade levels

For those of you who have complained about Black History being
confined to the shortest and coldest month of the year, he is an opportunity to practice what you have preached. "365 Days of Kwanzaa" provides an easy to follow format to practice Kwanzaa and celebrate Black History all of the time.

I recommend it highly.

This book is Great!! I hope it starts a trend toward a new consciousness! The incorporation of historical and contemporary figures with the principles of Kwanzaa seems simple, but yet genius. It's a must buy for African Americans who wish to move to a higher level of consciousness and self awareness.

Jordan has suffered significant losses in his short thirteen years of life. His father's strength, grandmother's firmness and siblings' love has pulled him through. Now he is ready to face the greatest challenge of all; coming into manhood.

Kwanzaa is a few months away and the support and wisdom of his father to lead him on his path is gone. His father died leaving him alone to figure out how to become a man. Kwanzaa is the setting and background for this tale of a young boy going through transitions. Taking on the responsibility in caring for his brother and sister, facing peer pressure at school and unsure of himself, Jordan faces the possibility of falling into a pit where he will never emerge. Will he be able to tackle the winds of change slapping him?

The story shows us the love, pain and joy of community that bands together during Kwanzaa to help this young boy go through his rite of passage into manhood. You empathize with this teenager who has so much on his shoulders and feels there is no way out. Share this fable with your family and children as they learn the process of what it means to become an adult. As Kwanzaa rapidly comes upon us, its principles lay a foundation for what one can become. This is an excellent book for the holiday and throughout the year.

This was on of the most toutching books i have ever read. It is about a boy who is loosing all his family members and is struggling to keep going. Well one day his friend starts talking him into things and he knows it is wrong. Then on day he leaves the house and something happens, his house catches on fire and the one thing that is retrived from the fire is a piece of cloth. His father wanted him to have itand he was not sure what it meant but it meant something to him.

A little book with a BIG impact. After reading this book, I look forward to celebrating Kwanzaa this year. Mr. James does an excellent job of explaing the seven principles of Kwanzaa, and how African Americans can benefit by implementing these principles into our lives. The examples he uses in each chapter is the icing on the cake. This book inspires you to be a better person, and forces you to look at the world around you in a different light. I look forward to reading more work by G.W.James. Peace and Blessings my brother.

I really appreciate the way Mr. James has broken down the Principles of Kwanzaa. It is very comprehensive and easy to understand. It has helped me in my yearly celebration and my daily application of the principles. I have been looking for something like this for years. Thank you, Mr. James.

The writings in this book were straight from the heart. I found relation to many poems. The poems written by Alexander S. Wiggins were very real. I could see and feel the very things he wrote about. This book is not only is a collection of poems...it's a collection of people's hearts, souls, spirits, dreams, and lives.

Alway moving forward. I really think this Poem and many others within this Book are energectic and timely. They capture the frame work of a people who have struggled for all they have. This book depicts a part of that struggle in it's poetry and highlights the principles and practices of Kwanzaa very well. So many of us are making excuses about why we can't get ahead but our forefathers never stopped "Like the Waters of the Sea, Never stand still, Like life created to eternally be, never stand still, Like rocks on a hill, the avalanche, In the midst of storm, a trees branch, Like ships upon the ocean, atoms in perpetual motion, keep a focused mind and strong will, Never , ever stand still. The Poets..Alvin S. Wiggins,and Althea Pendergrass compliment Mr. Tripp Quite well. The chemistry is resident in the diversity of their backgrounds and the merging of their commonality. I recommend you buy and read it and share the emotions of their experiences as they are your own.

I absolutely loved this book from begginning to end. I loved all 3 sisters in their own way...they were each different...but they all were beautiful sisters. All i can say is BUY IT...you wont be disappointed!!!

The product was shipped in a timely manner like promised. I am very pleased.

Thank you,
V

I read The Other Woman and LOVED it. Eric Jerome Dickey created an intelligent, compelling and suspenseful erotic novel with a sympathetic albeit flawed heroine and a plot that is both intricate and intriguing. So I looked forward to reading this one, Naughty or Nice, because it is also told from the woman's point of view. I enjoyed this novel. I like Dickey's writing style and his ability to add interesting twists at the end. The problem I had with this novel is that two of its main female characters are underdeveloped in favor of one heroine whose storyline is almost identical to the one in The Other Woman. But more on that later. The three McBroom sisters are facing personal dilemmas. Livvy has discovered that her husband had an affair and that his mistress is having his baby. Heartbroken and angry, she decides to engage in an indiscretion of her own without taking much consideration of the consequences. Frankie, the oldest, is tired of being single and playing the field, so she goes into a dating frenzy using an online dating service. But she's unable to get over a man from her past -- the one person who had made her feel things she'd never felt for a man. And Tommie, Livvy and Frankie's stepsister, is a young poet with quite a painful past. Will her sexy neighbor, a single father, help her leave it all behind?

Naughty or Nice has its poignant and laugh-out-loud moments. Dickey describes the book as "light," for he usually writes darker stuff. In all probability, this book is lighter than most of his other efforts. It is supposed to be a holiday-themed book, and though it is set during the Christmas season, the aforementioned holiday is not the main focus. I enjoyed this book, but I have some problems with it. Frankie and Tommie are underdeveloped. Their stories seemed more interesting than Livvy's, and I would have liked to read more about them, especially Tommie. She had the most fascinating personality and the most compelling back story, and her relationship with Blue is wonderful, yet she is tossed aside in favor of Livvy. I felt that the author rushed through Tommie and Frankie's resolutions, making me wonder why he'd decided to write about three women if he had intended to devote so much of the novel to just one of them. Livvy reminds me a great deal of the nameless heroine in The Other Woman. She faces something similar, though not as dark, and hers is the weakest storyline in the novel. I don't mind the sex. I love erotica. I write erotica. But her sex scenes with Carpe strike me as forced and I would have liked Dickey to fill those pages with Tommie or Frankie. Oh, well. I liked this novel. Dickey has a unique style and I will be picking up his other books in the near future.

I'm not always crazy about EJD's writing style, but I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I don't know how he does it, but he is good at writing from a woman's perspective.

When I read a synopsis of the book, I didn't think I was going to like, but I purchased it anyways because I tend to like Eric J. Dickey's work. After reading the first two or so chapters of the book, I was hooked. It is so surprising how Dickey can capture the reality of what we experience as females dealing with the different dramas of women. If you love the movie "Waiting to Exhale" you will like this book. I pictured that movie while reading this book! As always, kudos to Eric Jerome Dickey!

Karenga is at his best in distilling his rationale for establishing the holiday and in laying out the genesis of the logic for Kwanzaa's symbols and rituals. This is truly both a spiritually moving and intellectually stimulating book. My family and I have practiced the holiday in our home and with friends for 22 years, and we re-read Karenga's book every year and take something new into our annual celebrations. For the novice, the book does not offer much to teach you how to be more creative with your celebration of the holiday, but I would start with Karenga to understand the soul of Kwanzaa, and then try one of the other Kwanzaa titles to further explore how best to evolve and enhance your own celebration. Another Karenga title I would recommend is, "Selections from the Husia".

This book was excellent at describing the origin of Kwanzaa and how it should be celebrated. My family and I have celebrated Kwanzaa for 10 years and found this to be the best book I have read on the subject. The seven principles of Kwanzaa is great to teach chidren of any age. These principles inspired me and my husband to start our own business (...)
Enjoy the book and enjoy celebrating the Kwanzaa celebration.

If you're searching for the most definitive text on the African American holiday of Kwanzaa, look no further! Dr. Maulana Karenga, the creator of this beautiful holiday, has written a very readable text for children and wonderful resource for parents, educators and all of us that want to celebrate the holiday correctly.

Dr. Karenga covers the essentials of Kwanzaa which includes the holiday's origins, the fundamental activities, its symbols, the essential values, greetings, Swahili pronounciations, decorating tips and much, much more.

What I personally appreciate about Kwanzaa: A Celebration of Family, Community and Culture is its stress on values and the Nguzo Saba, the Seven Principles. These are the essential pillars of the holiday. Those principles are: Umoja (Unity), Kujichagulia (Self-Determination), Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility), Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics), Nia (Purpose), Kuumba (Creativity) and Imani (Faith). We're taught to celebrate a different principle every day from December 26 to January 1.

I suggest a copy of the book for your library and one for a very special friend. Be a part of the world African community that celebrates this beautiful, cultural holiday! Thirty million Africans worldwide can't be wrong!

Malaika Tawasufi

This is THE Kwanzaa Book. Every Black family should have a copy of this book in thier library.

Maulana Karenga's most recent work on the celebration of Kwanzaa he created in 1966, is simply the best work on the holiday. In fact, of the three books that Dr. Karenga has written, this text is the authoritative work on the history, origins and practices of Kwanzaa. Dr. Karenga created his cultural nationalist philosophy, Kawaida (tradition in Kiswhalli), in 1965, along with his organization US and is one of the leading Afrocentric writers today. He has 2 Ph.D.'s and is arguably the most important African-American intellectual of our era. Dr. Karenga's Kawaida philosophy and Nguzo Saba (7 principles) have influenced the development of independent Black schools, rites of passage programs, social service programs using the 7 principles, Afrocentric thought and practice, development of African wedding ceremonies--Akika, naming ceremonies--Akika and funerals--Maziko,the creation of independent Black organizations utilizing aspects of his philosophy and Black Studies programs on college campuses all use his other definitive text, Black Studies. In a word, Maulana Karenga is the most important "independent" thinker in modern African American intellecual history.

Keep Pushing and Kwanzaa Yenu Iwe Na Heri!