Manyoni lives on the African veldt and this book follows her on her walk to school one morning. She passes baobob trees and bushpigs and the fever tree pan and a herd of impalas and red sandstone koppies and meets up with her friend Tula.

The illustrations are all double pages and sometimes it’s hard to find tiny little Manyoni in her blue dress in the immensity of the veldt, and watch out because you might stumble across an elephant along the way, but they reach the school and their teacher Mrs. Dube in enough time to run and play with their friends before class begins.

At the end of the book there is a glossary of African words and a picture index identifying all the animals Manyoni passes on her walk. A wonderful invitation into a different world, but not so different that your child won’t understand going to school is something we all do. It’s just our neighborhoods that are different.

Book Review Monday Chatter Catherine Stock Where are you going Manyoni