“Kidnapped at the age of 11 from his home in Benin, Africa, Olaudah Equiano spent the next 11 years as a slave in England, the U.S., and the West Indies, until he was able to buy his freedom.“

11岁被贩卖为奴隶，11年辗转后重获自由，一种不可想象的人生。

"We will build our school," she says. "This is our first lesson."

我们的日常是他人的愿望，远在地球那一端的孩子们在一砖一瓦地搭建自己的教室。

“A lyrical song of Swahili life.”

一词一世界，通过几个斯瓦希里语小词，窥探东非民俗风情。

“Long ago, high in the mountains of Ethiopia, where purple shadows fill the valleys and heavy mists hug the hillsides, the bees arrived in Lalibela.”

山谷里紫雾弥漫，蜜蜂来了。小姑娘誓言要成为最好的采蜂人。

“While the sheep grazed, he would play his shepherd’s flute and watch the birds and dream of flying.”

打破了往常平静而艰苦的生活，男孩被骗受困，他能逃回妈妈的怀抱么？

“In an African village live seven brothers who make life miserable with their constant fighting. When their father dies, he leaves an unusual will: by sundown, the brothers must make gold out of seven spools of thread or they will be turned out as beggars.”

一个非洲的节日，七个兄弟的传说。

       “This is the cloud

all heavy with rain

That shadowed the ground

       on Kapiti Plain”

一首轻快的歌谣，吟唱出肯尼亚大草原的明暗色调。

“Wangari lives under an umbrella of green trees in the shadow of Mount Kenya in Africa.”

拯救故土的绿树，她获得了2004年诺贝尔和平奖。

“A mere nine months have passed since the September 11 attacks, and hearts are raw as these legendary Maasai warriors offer their gift to a grieving people half a world away.”

我猜你不知道911事件后肯尼亚的这份礼物。

“Who shall I name to rule after me when I die?” King Leopard said one day to his beloved daughter.

如果你是百兽之王，你会选择最强壮的还是最聪慧的来接替王位？

“Malawi is a tiny nation in south-eastern Africa. On a map, it appears like a flatworm burrowing its way through Zambia, Mozambique, and Tanzania, looking for a little room.”

一个聪明敢干的马拉维男孩回忆录，讲述自己为家乡建造风车发电，引水灌溉的故事。

“I shall make a galimoto,” Kondi told his brother, Ufulu.

在马拉维的齐切瓦语中，Galimoto是“车”的意思。现在还有孩子会自己做玩具么？

“Sometimes the sky tastes like meat stew， sometimes like roasted corn, and sometimes like ripe pineapple.”

天很高，很远，是因为……害怕人们吃它？

“Strut two steps, peck at a bug.

  Bop three hops, flick at a fly.”

伴随着非洲鼓的节奏，来读这个尼日利亚传说。

“When Agasshya hears a group of tourists and their guide coming through the forest, he defends helpless Mararo Agasshya roars, he screams, he shreds the forest, and he charges the invaders.”

卢旺达和乌干达森林中的大猩猩感染了人类病菌，看科学家们如何制出疫苗。

“My gogo is very, very old. When I asked her how old she is, she says, “I am older than this township. When I was born, there were no cars or airplanes.” When I asked her if she is older than Tata Nelson Mandela, she laughs and says, “Mandela is a young man compared to me!”

从一个不同的视角，看南非历史上那次重要的选举。

“In memory of two small children who died far away from their mother…and to Mary, their Mma, who worked in Jo’burg.”

硬生生的打击常常来自现实与生活。

“The history, the land, and the determination of a band of refugees to care for each other are vividly evoked in this important work.”

历史上的的苏丹遭遇干旱和内战，读一读那些艰辛的童年故事。

“The rain didn’t come this year. There is almost no food. Sahay didn’t think life could get worse. But now, her uncle is rushing her through the night, away from the only home she’s ever known—out of Ethiopia, forever.”

一个是基督教孤女，一个是犹太教盲女，同样背井离乡逃往苏丹，如何为伴？

“Long ago, this morning,

  the sun rose

  above the hill

  above our house,

  spilling light over the hills of the Congo

  and the lake with the beautiful name,

  Tanganyika,

  like a song.

  Lala salama, little one.”

绝美的图画，柔美的文字，读着读着心就沉静下来。睡吧，宝贝。

"I emptied my secret money box, arranged the coins in piles and the piles in rows…”

存了很久钢镚儿，为一次蓄谋已久的兴奋和失落。

“If you were to visit the small western Uganda, and if you were to take a left at the crossroads and follow a narrow dirt path between two tall banana groves, you would come to the home of a girl named Beatrice.”

靠着卖山羊奶赚来的钱，她用来买书。

“A young orphan named Akana Jimmy longed for a chance to thank Ryan in person for this gift of life --- clean water.”

喝水不忘挖井人，因水结缘的两个少年。

“One morning a mosquito saw an iguana drinking at a waterhole. The mosquito said, “Iguana, you will never believe what I saw yesterday.”

蚊子的嗡嗡絮语，引得丛林一片慌乱。

“In 1893, she arrived in West Africa, where she encountered giant Xying insects, crocodiles, hippos, and brutal heat.”

30岁那年，她来到了小时候读的书中描述的那片非洲热带雨林。

“Africa is many things…The peoples of Africa are many things, too.”

有关神奇西非的故事说也说不完。

“Born on a crocodile farm in Zambia's untamed South Luangwa Valley, the puppy seemed different from his littermates. Too quiet. Unresponsive. Terriers are usually full of energy and bouncing off walls. But not this one. Nobody wanted him.”

赞比亚一只心在荒野丛林的小猎犬，走过的路比你都多呢。

“Outside she splashes cold water on her face. Her mother spoons up hot porridge for breakfast.”

清晨是小姑娘最爱的时光，因为，她要穿过平原，踏过河床，听遍鸟鸣，徒步2个小时去上学。

“The tale of Mufaro's two daughters, two beautiful girls who react in different ways to the king's search for a wife.”

一个非洲国王选妻的古老传说。

“A charming, original adventure story about losing a first tooth while visiting family in Mali.”

在非洲马里掉的那一颗牙，埋在了12岁小姑娘的记忆深处。