Disclosure: I received this book in exchange for an honest review.
Songs in the Shade of the Cashew and Coconut Tree, Lullabies and Nursery Rhymes from West Africa and the Caribbean is a musical picture books with songs collected by Nathalie Soussana and musical arrangements by Jean-Christophe Hoarau. This picture book is beautifully illustrated by Judith Gueyfier and published by The Secret Mountain Publishing.
Summary
This musical picture book is a compilation of 23 songs representing the beauty and elegance of various parts of the African Diaspora.
The first section of the book contains small snippets of song lyrics draped over masterfully crafted illustrations. The illustrations are vibrant and very engaging.
The middle sections begins with a map of the numerous countries represented. It also has various short historical and education pieces describing the music, diverse languages, and the shared history of African and the Caribbean.
The final section consists of all of the lyrics to each song in their native language and translated to English. There is also a brief description of the very interesting facts regarding the song. Also, occasionally biographical information regarding the musician is included.
My Review
I would highly recommend this book, especially people from the African diaspora. I love learning new cultural information and new languages and this book contains both of these elements. Personally, I would love to teach my children my “native” language from Africa, however that is not likely considering I do not know the exact location. However, this book allows me to give them just a teeny tiny bit of language learning of the various languages Ancestry.com has determined my ancestors were taken from. That makes this big a great resource in our diverse language learning.
My favorite part of the book was the language used to describe slavery as human trafficking. This re-characterization of this horrific history makes it extremely relative to our modern times.
The music is wonderful and fun to listen to as well. It is very soothing and relaxing. It really can put you in a good mood. My 1 year old really has enjoyed listening to it. He is learning how to dance, so it is cute to watch him wiggle along with the tunes. Also, it is great that a digital download is included so I can take the music on the go when we are not listening in the car.
Make sure to get a copy of the musical picture book here ! The Secret Mountain also carries way more musical picture books for a numerous musical genres and different languages. You can take a peek inside this book in the video below.
