Afia’s Book Review

The purpose of the assignment was to find a children’s book aimed at children in grades K-5. This was a challenge because the stipulations of that goal included an international writer requirement. What I found when I was searching for an appropriate book to use for this review was that this was going to be an uneasy feat. Many of the books that I was able to search for had international themes but failed to reach the other requirements. Many of the books I was seeing fit many of the criterion of this project but failed to reach very necessary requirements of the project. Some of the books I searched for and found, featured African authors, that wrote books set in African countries. The problem with those books were that the authors that immigrated from Africa and now lived in the United States. After much more searching, I was able to find an African themed children’s book, written by a Ghanaian, that currently lived in Ghana.

The children’s book that I am reviewing is entitled “The Cross Drums by author Meshack Asare. Meshack Asare is a well written author from the country of Ghana. He lives based in Ghana and he is Ghanaian by birth. When I look into this author’s portfolio of books, I can tell that he writes books that are made for children that share experiences related to life in African countries. The book “The Cross Drums” is a fictional story about two boys who overcome ancient animosities and show their world that feuds are often times futile.

The book begins with one of the main characters, who’s name is “Meliga” sitting under the shade of a cashew tree. The author uses vivid imagery to describe what life is like in the main characters respective parts of the village. There are many descriptive words that I believe are meant to provoke a child reader to visualize the story while reading it. There are pictures scattered irregularly throughout the story. The pictures in the chapters of the stories are purposely plain and undetailed. They are sketched and shaded outlines of the characters and the plots of the story.
The author uses transitions very beautifully in this story. The story’s arch is such that a reader is able to both see how the two villages live within the borders of the animosity of their ancestors. One can also see through the writing that the villagers from both sides uphold the rivalry through pride and blatant ignorance. They are moved to violence towards each other because of their inability to question their own individual actions. This is shown in the book as the two boys begin to unconsciously cross these village created boundaries through their child lead humanity and curiosity. The two boys from the opposing villages become friends just because they like playing with one another. They don’t even question the dander of becoming so intertwined in each other’s lives until it is to late and their love for each other as friends becomes indestructible. There is a man called a “Hermit” who helps Meliga understand the origin of the rivalry and the chaos it has caused the two villages. Like some of the other stories we have read this year, adults are seen as an obstacle or problem. In this story, it is the adults that cannot see past their own hatred and violence. Bila, the other boy in the story is caught playing with Meliga by his uncle and is instructed to pour poison into the piece of river that is on the side of the opposing village. There is fighting that breaks out and the two boys are led into a hiding spot by the hermit. He gives them both drums and they use the drums to bring the villages together because the adults cannot resist the sweet music that the drums together make. In this story, it is the adults own physical fighting that leads to the events where more violence through river poisoning cannot even take place. In the end the village chiefs understand that in order to dance they must put their animosity down.
In this story author uses magic and setting to bridge the gaps that may be present in the story otherwise. I believe that because this is a children’s book the author tried to intertwine life lessons and imagery to help readers create connections between the story’s content and their own lives. The Hermit disappeared after he gave the boys the cross drums. The drums however became a symbol of the unity of the villages, even after both boys became chiefs in the future. They created the rule that the cross drums could never be played separately as an homage to the man who helped them create unity in their villages.

All in all, I would recommend this book for youth in third grade and higher. This book is full of imagery, lessons and interesting plot twist that will certainly keep a young reader’s attention.

Citation:

Asare, M. (2008). The cross drums. Accra: Sub-Saharan Publishers.