My seven year old nephew and I read this book one rainy day and we both thought that it was great. The colors and the story were well thought out and we would like to find other books like it.

This children's book offers an inviting glimpse into West African traditions. From "A is for Africa" to "I is for Indigo", the author Ifeoma Onyefulu uses important aspects of West African life to represent each letter of the alphabet. The book is appropriate for kids of all ages. My daughter is one year old, so I simplify the book by reading just the first sentence of each page, such as "V is for village". The text continues to describe that "V is for the village, where many people live together, sharing the same traditions and beliefs. The old people in the village teach the young ones the old customs, as they were once taught themselves." The photographs in this book are not only beautiful, but very representative of West Africa. Every child interested in Africa should have this book! I am looking forward to reading Ifeoma Onyefulu's other children's books.

Fine for 3-8 year-olds, as the title indicates, this is a good counting book that exposes childern to Nigerian culture.

Wait, it's not boring. The author keeps the factual information to a minimum, just giving interesting tidbits of a different culture, so your little ones should find it compelling while mastering their counting.

My toddler daughter and I discovered this book on display at a special African exhibit of the Iowa Children's Museum. In a state with precious little diversity, the children were so curious about Emeka's African village world - so different from Iowa farms. After looking at the pictures of village life, my daughter wrapped herself in brightly-colored African fabrics and danced around shaking the sheker - just like she saw in Emeka's Gift.

When I selected this book I was looking for a book I could share with young children, ages 5 years and up, to give them a glimpse of Nigeria, its people and culture. I liked the photographs which accurately depicted various professions/lifestyles in Nigeria and some of them provide wonderful ideas for story book extensions. For example, the photograph of the grandmother making a traditional outfit could be complemented by presenting to the children a few yards of woven fabric that is typically used in Nigeria for such outfits. Other professional roles we see Nigerians in are: BAKER, DOCTOR, WOOD CARVER/CARPENTER, LAWYER, POTTER, BLACKSMITH and FINALLY THE TRADITIONAL NATIVE DOCTOR or HERBALIST who gives us an excellent botanist lesson on plants and their healing properties. All in all, it paints Nigerians as an industrious people, which is what we are.

There are many children's books inroducing the child to varous shapes: Circle, Triangle, Square, etc. This book does the same thing but extends the imagination to look for shapes in things around us. For example, if you cut a paw-paw into half you will see a "star" shape; a plaintain is a "crescent" shape; some leaves are "heart" shape. The photograhs in the book are rich and colorful and give you an accurate depiction of life in a Nigerian village and the things that happen in daily life as well as the things you will find around you.