Ifeoma Onyefulu

I liked this book because of the real-life images, directly relating to Deron’s life. I feel like the text in the book is very short, almost like it is choppy. I feel like for a young child, the choppy sense of writing is helpful for children who are learning to read fluently. I do not think that the book flows well from page to page. The characters are well believed, as we read about a little boy names Deron who has his first day of nursery school. Deron’s mom is very believable, show more because she is very worrisome, just as any other mother would be when their child is going to school for the first time. I think this book is engaging, for example, I am eager to learn how his first day at nursery school goes. show less

“One Big Family” is a multicultural text that follows the life of a young boy living in Nigeria. The overall message of this story was to get across how differently children in other countries live while at the same time highlighting that children are children and very alike in many aspects. The pictures and narrative in this story were strongest aspects that helped support the message the author was trying to get across. By using a personal, first person narrative and real life pictures show more of the characters and village it was easy as a reader to connect and fully understand the life of a child in Nigeria. By seeing real pictures of the boy’s everyday life I was able to easily compare my memories of growing up. I could look at the way he did his chores and played with friends and compare them to mine. The use of first person narration really made me feel as if I was a part of the story and helped me in fully understanding some of the customs and traditions of this village. One of my favorite parts of this book was how the book used words in Nigerian with their pronunciation after and included a world map with Nigeria highlighted. This was another way the author helped to understand their culture and make the book very educational. show less

I really appreciated this book. The book contains real life photographs from Africa. The use of these real life photographs helps the reader to literally see what it is like. There are photos of each member of the girl’s life. The book is written in first person by a young girl named Obioma. She describes what life is like in her family and the accomplishments of her Ogbo. Ogbo means age group and the group has a role in the community’s life. Everyone has an Ogbo in this village. The show more girl describes how each Ogbo works, grows, and plays together. This book was descriptibve and informative. show less

I liked this book, and learned a lot from it. Although fiction books can be wonderful additions to a text set regarding a certain culture, I believe that nonfiction informational books must also be included. Well written, engaging books like this one will both inform the reader and prompt them to ask questions and want to know more about the topic.
This book is engaging to students because it revolves around topics that the students will be able to connect to: family, friends, and leisure show more time. This book’s message is slightly different from those of many multicultural books, it emphasizes and celebrates the differences between the african culture and american culture. For example, the book begins by noting differences, “In Awkozu, every child belongs to an igbo, together with all the other children born within a five-year period. Fat or thin, rich or poor, it does not matter. Everyone has a friend; no one is born alone”. This is very different from how Americans view a family unit, and the author makes this difference positive.
There were some elements of this nonfiction book that also made it an excellent learning tool. I noticed that the author was sure to use the language of the people, Swahili, instead of translations. One feature that I believe helps make the book both interesting and accessible is the inclusions of pronunciation guides for each Swahili word. Additionally, the author used photographs that they had taken themselves, which helped to prove that they were a knowledgable source for this book. show less