Kofi and His Magic

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.

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