Hooray for Anna Hibiscus!

by
Atinuke

illustrated by

Lauren Tobia

Kane Miller, September 2010, 112 pp.
ISBN: 978-1-935279-74-7

Genre: Early Chapter
Subgenres: African Stories
Reviewed: 1/9/2011

Reviewed by: Conan Tigard

Book Cover

Your Hair, Anna Hibiscus

"But what about your hair?" asked Chocolate, worried.

"I don't care."

The aunties opened their mouths wide-wide.

"Leave her," said Grandmother. "She will learn."

I will, thought Anna happily. I will learn how to do my hair properly without all that pulling and tugging and yanking. Anna Hibiscus was very proud of herself.

That night, before eating, Anna loosened her thick braids and put her hair into two neat pompoms. She tied the pompoms with ribbons. It took about two minutes, and Anna Hibiscus felt very pretty, and very, very happy.

At bedtime. Anna Hibiscus refused to take out the pompoms and put the thick braids back in.

"Leave her," said Grandmother again.

The next morning, Anna Hibiscus's pompoms were squashed and full of knots.

Anna Hibiscus went to her mother and father's room. She put her father's softening oil on her hair and tried to brush out the knots with her mother's soft brush. The brush stuck fast. Anna had to pull the brush to get it out of her hair. She had to pull it hard. "Ow!" Anna shaped the knotty pompoms with her fingers and went downstairs.

Grandfather sent her back upstairs. "You can't go to church like that," he said.

Anna found a pretty head tie to cover her squashed and knotty pompoms.

"Tomorrow is school," said Cousin Clarity. "You can't go to school with your hair in a head tie. It's not allowed."

On Monday morning, Anna Hibiscus took out the squashed and knotty pompoms and tried to smooth her hair with her hands before she went downstairs. Little cousins looked at her sticking-up-and-out hair with big eyes. Big cousins looked with worried eyes. Anna's mother, aunties and uncles and grandmother looked away.

Nobody offered to help Anna Hibiscus, and Anna Hibiscus did not ask for anybody's help. No more pulling and tugging and yanking from them. No thank you!

At school the other children laughed at Anna Hibiscus's hair, but Anna Hibiscus pretended not to care.

Anna's hair grew worse and worse. Every night more and more knots jumped into her hair, and every morning it was more and more impossible to comb.

Synopsis

Anna Hibiscus is a young African girl that lives with her very large family in Africa. Her father is from Africa while her mother is from Canada. In the wonderful land of Africa, Anna has many adventures and learns some lessons along the way.

The book is divided up into four short stories. Each story is approximately 27 pages long. The following is a brief synopsis of each short story:

Anna 'biscus Sing - Anna spends her days at home with her cousins and she loves to sing. She makes up songs and sings all day long. One day, her father tells her that it is time for her to start going to school. She is sad, but still finds time to sing while outside at recess. Back in the classroom, the teacher asks if anyone can sing and one of the students said that Anna can sing. Anna learns that she will be singing in front of many people in the National Stadium to welcome a visiting president. Anna is a bit nervous.

Your Hair, Anna Hibiscus - Because of the tight, curly hair Anna and her family has, everyone must spend a lot of time combing and oiling their hair. Every week, Anna spends hours having her hair braided and weaved, which means that she spends those painful hours getting her hair pulled, head squeezed, and scalp yanked. She hates it. So, one Saturday, when her Aunt Joly shows up to fix everyone's hair, Anna sneaks outside and hides in the car. She doesn't get her hair taken care of, which is something she will soon regret . . . but not right away.

Anna Hibiscus and the New Generator - One of the treats that Anna looks forward to is when the power goes out at night. That is the time when candles are lit, all the children gather around Grandmother, and she tells stories to them in the dark. Anna loves it. But one day, Anna's father and uncles buy a generator. The next time the lights go out at night, the generator kicks on and they have lights . . . but the noise from the generator is very disruptive. There also isn't any story-time from Grandmother. Anna and others do not like the new generator. Even the goat outside doesn't like it.

The Other Side of the City - Anna spends some her time looking out of their gate, across the lagoon, and has always wanted to take a ferry to the other side of the city. Anna asked her aunts and uncles if they would take her over there, but no one will. They explain to her that it is not a bad place, but a place where the poorer people live. Anna's grandfather decides that it is time for Anna to see for herself what they are talking about. Anna expects to see people just like her so she wears her best pink dress. Anna is in for a big surprise.

Hooray for Anna Hibiscus! is the second book in the Anna Hibiscus series. It is written by Atinuke and illustrated by Lauren Tobia. This series is intended for early chapter readers aged 4 to 6.

Review

Hooray for Anna Hibiscus! is another exciting chapter in the life of a young African girl. Anna Hibiscus has a lot of lessons to learn, as she is still quite young. She has a positive outlook on life and is very interested in everything that is going on around her.

I really enjoyed the story about Anna not wanting her hair fixed. Sometimes the things we have to do in life can hurt a little, and Anna decided to take things into her own hands. After all, parents don't know what is best for their child, do they? Well, at least kids don't think so. They seem to forget that parents were once children also. So, Anna learns a hard lesson with this story.

I like that Anna learns lessons in most of the stories. I also enjoy that these short stories take place in Africa. Early Chapter Readers in the United States probably don't know much about Africa, except what they have seen in Disney's Lion King, which didn't have any people in it anyway. So, reading the Anna Hibiscus books will give them a brief glance into a world and culture that they know nothing about.

Atinuke does a wonderful job of breathing life into short stories about a normal African girl who lives in a extraordinary place. Early Chapter Readers will see a girl who plays outside, sings, and plays with her cousins. She doesn't have a video game system, cell phone, mp3 player, or any electronic gadgets, yet she still finds things to do and is not bored. The artwork by Lauren Tobia is perfect for this story and messes wonderfully with the writing of Atinuke.

Overall, Hooray for Anna Hibiscus! is another great book in a series that is turning out to be quite a fun read. Early Chapter Readers will find themselves highly entertained by this series and will find themselves reading these books over and over again. I look forward to seeing what kind of adventures Anna has next in Good Luck Anna Hibiscus! I hope that she finally gets to visit her other grandmother in Canada and see snow for the first time.

I rated this book an 8 out of 10.