on loan

My love for the library is strong and true. The girls and I attended the Main Branch's famous story hour this past week, and afterward browsed the children's section. This, of course, meant that I racked my brain as to what great children's book I had been wanting to get, but dangit, I just can't remember right now...while Ella performed a puppet show (which really meant her holding puppets and singing "Who's ready for the puppet shooooooooooow??")... and Sadie flitted from one spot to the next, landing in the middle of the floor and flipping through all eight copies of the same Christmas book.

As I was collecting children, bags and books, one book caught my eye. It had obviously been left behind by another browser, so I picked it up and added it to our pile. I'm so glad I did. We All Went On Safari: A Counting Journey through Tanzania is a beautifully illustrated book that gives a surprisingly in-depth look to the Massai people of Tanzania, the country's animals and grasslands. You can even learn names and numbers in Swahili! The first read through, I was unsure of the pronunciations of some of the names, but the back of the book has pronunciation guides and additional facts about the inhabitants of Tanzania.

This book prompted the first lesson on our new globe that actually took us out of the United States! I highly recommend this read not just for families with children learning to count, but anyone who wants to know a bit more about another part of our world. We have read it through many times, and it's one of those books that may find a permanent spot in the Osenga library.