A sweet story of a rabbit who learns the tenants of Kwanza through a short adventure. It teaches the basic ideas of kwanza while also addressing the feelings children have during holidays like excitement, disappointment, and love.

Li’l Rabbit is the youngest and he feels that he has nothing to give to his family. Karumu is coming up, which is a meal during Kwanzaa, and his nanna is sick and his mom is too busy to cook. Li’l Rabbit’s mom yells at him saying he should be thinking about his nanna and not food. He goes searching for gifts to give his nana, explaining to all his friends how she’s sick. When he returns home with nothing, he opens the door and all his friends were there to spend time with his nanna. She tells him the best gift of all was to spend time with all their friends. The overall message was that materialistic gifts aren't as important as giving thought and love to your loved ones. Also, the different animals coming together to celebrate Karamu can represent different races, religions, and ethnicities coming together to spread love and happiness. This shows children that anyone can celebrate Kwanzaa, and give them more of an open perspective on different culture's traditions. I thought that the book would be a great book for children to read because it shows how love, affection, and compassion are the greatest gifts of all. As he went searching for a gift for his Nanna, each animal helped look because they loved his Nanna as well. They all surprised her and showed up with food and gifts, which is a good lesson for children: Treat others how you would like to be treated. Nanna was caring and giving to the community, so when she was sick, the community gave back to her.
The pictures were interesting and engaging for children because they had a various amount of different animals dressed up in clothes. On one page, the squirrel is reading a book called "Best Trees to Climb" while sitting on a branch. On some pages, the pictures perfectly described the text, but on other pages the pictures weren't representing the text. For example, on the page where L'il Rabbit is jumping down the pond, it shows him jumping into air, not a pond. I think that for a children's book, they should've drawn the pictures to match what is happening in the scene. I did think that the pictures were vibrant and attention grabbing, the illustrator used bold colors on each page. ( )

Summary:
Lil rabbit is too small to help out with most of the Kwanzaa traditions. This makes him so sad. He is also sad because his Granna is sick and that means he cannot cook for Karamu. He looks for something that will make Granna feel better. Along the way he finds a lot of people his Granna has helped before and they all want to pitch in. They all meet up at Lil Rabbit's house to celebrate together. This book also has the Seven Principles in the back.

Personal Reaction:
I liked this book because it shows the character caring for his family and family is really important to me.

Classroom Extension:
1. This would be an excellent lesson on other culture's holidays.
2. Also a lesson on the foods and traditions they have and what kind of music is associated with this holiday.

Summary:
This historical book is also a multicultural book, but I picked it for historical because of the traditions that are talked about throughout. Li'l Rabbit is too small to help out with most of the Kwanzaa traditions which makes him really sad. He is also sad because his Granna is sick and that means she won't be able to cook for Karamu. He goes off in search of something to make Granna feel better. He runs into a lot of people that his Granna has helped out and they all want to do something to help. They all end up meeting up at Li'l Rabbit's family's house to celebrate with them. I chose this book for historical because of the way it laid out the Seven Principles in the back.

Personal Reaction:
I thought this was a cute story that expressed that treating others the way you want to be treated is obviously the right thing to do but it can also be an incentive to have people that care for you and want to help make you better. I really liked how the book laid out the principles in the back because it allowed me to learn a lot about Kwanzaa.

Classroom Extension Ideas:
1. This would be a good book to read during the time of Kwanzaa, especially if anyone in the class celebrates it to help the rest of the class understand that Christmas isn't the only holiday.
2. Allow us to celebrate with the music and dancing that they use.
3. Treating others the way you want to be treated.

Li'l Rabbit's grandmother is sick and won't be able to make the Karamu (feast) for Kwanzaa. Tired of always being told he's too little to help with any of the Kwanzaa traditions, Li'l Rabbit decides to go off on his own to find something special for Granna Rabbit. Along the way, he runs into lots of other animals in the neighborhood that Granna has helped out over the year. In the end, everyone pulls together to make the best Karamu for Granna Rabbit, and Li'l Rabbit's efforts are rewarded when Granna says she has faith in him.

I really like this book for incorporating Kwanzaa traditions and principles (as well as some nods to African folklore) into a well-polished story that doesn't come across as preachy or overly factual. (However, a full-page spread at the end provides a more detailed explanation of the seven principles of Kwanzaa and puts the character's actions into this context.) It's particularly appealing for its audience of youngsters because Li'l Rabbit feels too young to accomplish anything yet his work is what results in a wonderful evening for everyone in the neighborhood - a truly inspiring turn of events. The illustrations are also creative and engaging, pulling the viewer's eye into each page.

The downside is that this book does seem to drag a little here and there in the middle. There's lots of repetition, which kids do love, but at times it just seems like you're reading the same thing over and over again with nothing happening (until it all comes together in the end). In my experience, repetition works best when it's short and something the kids can start to anticipate and repeat on their own. Still, all in all, this is a fun Kwanzaa-themed book to share with little ones. ( )