Title: Masai and I

Author: Virginia Kroll

Illustrator/Photographer: Nancy Carpenter

Publisher and Year: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1992

Number of pages: 27 pgs

Tags: Olivia Simkins, Culture, Realistic Fiction, 2-3, Picture Book

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Analysis:

This book is about a little girl named Linda who learns about East African culture at school. The culture she learns about are proud, tall people called the Masai. When she goes home, she then compared her life to that of a Masai and talks about how different her life would be if she were to be a part of their culture.

This text could function as a window for some students because it allows the readers to learn about a new culture. The book does an excellent job of showing the comparison of life here in the United States and the life of the Masaian people. It shows just how different the two cultures are and yet how they are the same. Throughout the book it talks about the different ways the Masaian culture may complete a task and then goes on to explain how Linda and her family may complete it as well. For example, Linda talks about how her little brother goes to the faucet to get water but if they were living in East Africa her brother would have to walk long distances to a water hole and bring back the water in a giant gourd. In doing this, the writer does a good job about representing the comparison of different cultures.

Through out this book the illustrations seem to have thin lines to represent speed and movement to show Linda moving through time. In one of the images in the book it shows Linda looking out the window as she thinks about how different life would be if she lived in East Africa. This shows progression or growth of the character. It shows that Linda is enhancing her knowledge about this culture and growing as she learns these new things. It also shows how they do things and how different it is compared to Linda’s culture in the United States.