Next Stop--Zanzibar Road! - Hardcover

Niki Daly is the award-winning author and illustrator of many books for children. He lives in Kleinmond, a small seaside town in Western Cape, South Africa, and often finds inspiration for his stories in African peoples and cultures.

The animal characters from Welcome to Zanzibar Road (2006) go to the busy market in this picture book, which is divided into chapters, set in an African village. Elephant Mama Jumbo puts on her “flippy-floppy, flappy-slippy, this-way-that-way pompom hat,” and the bright, lively watercolors show her in the taxi and then with a giraffe (in sunglasses and high heels), a rhino, and other animal characters at the bustling stalls. She bargains pawpaw (papaya) for Old Granny Baboon’s wooden beads, and then she swaps the beads for a mirror. Elephant saves the day when the taxi tire gets a puncture and she blows in air with her big trunk. Kids will enjoy the animal farce, as well as the silly sounds of the words and the warm sense of community. Preschool-Grade 3, --Hazel Rochman