Yatandou book review by Brianna

Title of the Book: Yatandou 

Author Name: Gloria Whelan + Peter Sylvada 

Reviewer's Name: Brianna 

Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press 

Date of Publication: 2007 

Rating: 1-5 Stars ⭐⭐⭐

The picture book, Yanadou by Gloria Whelan, is about a young Mali girl named Yatandou who desires to not follow in the footsteps of her mother or the other women in the village. She wants to play with her goats and go to school like her brothers. In the end, a woman came from another part of Mali to educate people and overall make their lives easier. The main message of the book is to never give up on your hopes and ideals, and, maybe, one day it will be reached. Whelan used descriptive words that allowed one to imagine themselves in the story. Paired with the beautiful oil paintings conveyed a calming effect. The emotions of the people in paintings were one of a person presented with everyday life, perfect for upper elementary school students slowly moving on from picture books. The book said it is donating a few of its profits to a non-profit organization said to put classrooms in many villages along the continent of Africa. Fitting the caring IB learner profile perfectly. 

The author is writing from the perspective of a girl Mali, though she is a white American woman. She visited Mali but still refers to the country as ‘Africa’ and talks about Mali women so ‘hard-working’ to achieve bare necessities. These are major stereotypes presented about Africans are prevalent throughout the book. This caricature of a young ‘African’ girl, living in such a ‘harsh environment’ shows that she knows very little about what she is talking about. Most Africans live in a variety of different types of cultures and many classes. There are major cities in many countries in Africa that function very similarly to any other cities around the world. This lack of showing in many classes gives way to the ignorance of the book. It doesn’t help that the illustrator is also white, allowing me to ask the question, were Mali women involved in the writing process of this picture book for impressionable children? Children who probably know very little about the continent besides the stereotypes presented around America.