Where's Jamela? - Softcover

Niki Daly has won many awards for his exuberant work. His groundbreaking Not So fast Songololo (1986), winner of a U.S Parent's Choice Award, paved the way for post-apartheid South African children's books. Since then, he has been published across the globe and has visited and presented talks in several countries. Among his many Frances Lincoln books, Once Upon a Time was an Honor Winner in the U.S. Children's Africana Book Awards of 2004. Jamela's Dress — first in the Jamela series — was another milestone book, chosen by the ALA as a Notable Children's Book and by Booklist as one of the Top 10 African American Picture Books of 2000, and winning both the Children's Literature Choice Award and the Parent's Choice Silver Award. Daly lives with his wife, the illustrator Jude Daly, in Mowbray, a bustling Cape Town suburb.

PreSchool-Grade 2–Readers can almost hear the happy sound of Mama's bangle bracelets jingling as she pumps her fist with joy when she finds out that she has secured a new job–and with it, a new place to live. However, young Jamela isn't happy at the prospect of leaving all of the things she loves best: her squeaky front gate, her friends, and the evening star that she can see from her bed. Moving-day mishaps abound, and when a grumpy Jamela takes refuge in a packing container, she precipitates an upset that involves visits to numerous neighbors, affording youngsters a full view of her winsome world. A lovely generosity of spirit on the part of the adults in her life allows Jamela to redeem herself, regain her dignity, and settle in to "her new room in her new home–under the same old sky." A glossary of the South African words that so effectively flavor this treatment of a familiar theme is appended. Daly's warm, easy watercolors are full of motion, and convey both the unique sun-seared heat of the South African setting and the universality of common human experience. The endpapers are alive with Jamela's crayon drawings of her new house. With his gift for respecting children and the child in each of us, Daly offers a reassuring reminder that the love of family and the warmth of friendship (and even stars) move right along with us, no matter where we go.–Kathy Krasniewicz, Perrot Library, Old Greenwich, CT
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