Co-written by Eric Walters and Godfrey Nkongolo, Light a Candle weaves non-fiction with fiction to tell the story of a boy coming of age in the shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro.
The son of the village's chief climbs the mountain against his father’s wishes to fulfill a request of the country’s first leader, Julius Nyerere, to light a candle on the top of the mountain and unify the mainland of Tanganyika and the islands of Zanzibar as one country, the United Republic of Tanzania.
This bilingual book includes full text in both English and Swahili.
Forest of Reading Silver Birch Express Award | 2020 | Nominated
Bank Street College of Education Children's Book Committee Best Children's Books of the Year | 2019 | Commended
CCBC Best Books for Kids & Teens | 2020 | Commended
“This beautifully illustrated bilingual picture book combines simple language with complex ideas about freedom, peace, and independence...Would work well as an addition to any home, school, or classroom library, or as part of a writing unit working with themes of bravery, wisdom, and determination. Highly Recommended.”