Rate this book

Good Luck, Anna Hibiscus! (2009)

by Atinuke(Favorite Author)

4.46 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

1406315087 (ISBN13: 9781406315080)

languge

English

genre

Middle Grade & Children's

publisher

Walker & Company

series

Anna Hibiscus

review 1: I like how the books in this series all build upon one another; each book references chapters from the other books and there's a continuous storyline in the first three of Anna heading off to Canada to visit her maternal grandmother and see snow for the first time. Based on the cover of the fourth book, it culminates in her actually reaching that snowy landscape! My kids are very excited for Anna to actually reach Canada and play in the snow, so they enjoyed the scenes of Anna trying to buy cold-weather clothes, which is not the easiest thing to do in Africa! Each chapter does stand on its own though, which makes these great bedtime reading, especially when we can't get to them each and every night. The chapters are a tad long for my kids' age group, but I really like ... morehow there are some great lessons about self-esteem on a personal level and global awareness on a societal level interwoven throughout each story. These are great books!
review 2: This charming series features easy to read, realistic fiction short stories about Anna Hibiscus, an earnest and funny little girl growing up in "Africa. Amazing Africa." She lives with her parents, her extended family, and her two baby twin brothers who simply go by the names, "Double" and "Trouble." In this set of adventures, the onset of harmattan, or the dry season, means that the whole family must learn to conserve water. After carefully saving their water, they are able to keep their garden going... until big-hearted Anna realizes that there are poorer folk living in town who need the water more. In the next story, Double and Trouble more than earn their names when they dip into the candy supply, and leave Anna Hibiscus to take the blame. Finally, in preparation for her upcoming trip to visit her Canadian grandmother, Anna's well-meaning family take her shopping for "oyinbo" clothes to wear in the cold weather. Anna's mother is an oyinbo, or foreigner with white skin, and the whole family wants to make sure that Anna looks good and stays warm for her big trip abroad. While the book never explicitly states what country Anna Hibiscus lives in, or how old she is, I have to assume that she is probably a first-grader, and writer Atinuke says she was inspired by her own childhood growing up in Nigeria. The appealing illustrations which decorate nearly every page and large type make for a comfortable read for readers new to chapter books. I will put this series into the hands of children who are hungry for stories with black characters that are not set during the Civil War, or the 1960's. Lucky for us, warm, relateable, and unique, Anna Hibiscus is certain to take her rightful place beside Junie B. Jones, Clementine, Ruby Lu, Ramona and other classic early middle-grade fiction. less

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