Ayobami and the Names of the Animals

(Paperback)

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Description

Ayobami is an African girl who dreams of going to school. After war comes to an end, she can finally return to the schoolhouse. But in order to do so, she has to take a dangerous path through the jungle. Armed only with a piece of paper and a worn-out pencil, she embarks on a hazardous journey to fulfill her unweaving desire to learn and write.
This is a tale about the importance of education, the difficulties that many children have to overcome to go to school, and the perseverance and enthusiasm of those who want to learn.
Guided Reading Level: N, Lexile Level: 550L
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Reviews

A story, warmly illustrated, about the importance of education, which denounces the difficulties that many children have, especially in continents like Africa, to get to school. The protagonist fights with the perseverance and overflowing enthusiasm of those who long to learn and keep curiosity alive. Canal Lector

"With the feel of an Aesops fable, this story is both empowering and reflective of the joy school can bring to children whose lives have been disrupted by war. Beautiful illustrations in graphite, watercolor, and colored pencil lend an ethereal, magical quality to this unnamed place, where dangerous creatures have endearing faces, and letters of the alphabet flutter around Ayobami like protective stardust." Booklist

"() Younger children will likely relate to and enjoy Ayobamis perseverance to attend class. The framework of naming animals will also likely appeal to early elementary schoolaged children, particularly as they themselves are learning aboutand how to write the names ofvarious animals () A solid purchase for elementary school libraries." School Library Journal

A marvelous tale of one girls passion for reading, writing, and learning. Kirkus Reviews

In this beautiful gem about a girl who wants to learn to read, letters burst forth from imagery done in cut-paper collage and a rainbow of color, each page telling its own story with a quiet, understated voice. B.C. (New York Times)

Author Bio

Mara del Pilar Lpez vila (Cartagena, Spain 1969) is an award-winning writer of childrens stories. Her passion for children's literature began when she was very young, and at the age of nine, she was already writing children's stories. In December 2010, she was awarded the third position in the Joaqun Sama Awards for Educational Innovation in the category A More Civic and Caring Cchool, for the project entitled, Use of Waste Materials. She has published Ayobami and the Names of Animals (2017), winner of the International Latino Book Awards in 2018, and The Kite of Dreams (2019) with Cuento de Luz. vila is married and the mother of 3 children. She has a Ph.D. in Veterinary Medicine, currently working as a Biology and Geology teacher at a high school in Cceres. She is also the director of the Teatro Paraso. Mar Azabalis a graduate in Geography, specializing in Administration and archive conservation. Her real dream was to create stories through drawing and illustration. She currently lives in Toledo, Spain, and spends her time teaching illustration courses for children, creating stories and enjoying raising her little child. In 2018, he illustrated the picture bookAyobami and the Names of the Animals(Cuento de luz, 2018), which won the Silver Medal at the 2018 Moonbeam Childrens Book Awards and Gold Medal at the International Latino Book Awards.