BEATRICE’S DREAM, A STORY OF KIBERA SLUM

BEATRICE’S DREAM, A STORY OF KIBERA SLUM by Karen Lynn Williams, photographs by Wendy Stone, published by Francis Lincoln Children’s Books, 2011  a photo-essay nonfiction biography picture book, an IBBY Outstanding International Books 2012.

Jambo!  Hello from Beatrice, an orphan, who lives in one of the toughest, poorest slums of Africa in Kibera, Kenya.  “Near the railway track you can look out over the slum and see it stretching on and on to where the earth meets the sky.”

Beatrice has a dream.  She wants to become a nurse and help other children who are ill or hurt. She knows that the way to get out of the slums and become a nurse is to study hard at school.

Beatrice’s school is made of tin. “When the wind blows, the loose tin on the roof crackles and pops.  Ping. Ping.”  Beatrice walks to school every morning, six days out of seven, and is proud and excited that she will soon graduate from her school and attend boarding school in Nairobi.  It’s her dream –and she is making it happen.

The words and photographs bring you to a muddy crowded slum but they also show you the people’s hope and courage. Beatrice’s warm smile and penetrating eyes reassure you that even if Beatrice’s school has few books and many students, she will make her dream a reality.  This is a wonderful book to share with any child.

Karen Lynn Williams worked with the Peace Corps in Malawi, Africa, the setting for When Africa Was Home, and has also lived and worked in Haiti – the setting for Circles of Hope.  Photographer, Wendy Stone, first traveled to Africa over 20 years ago on assignment for the Rockefeller Foundation.  She continued to return to cover wars, droughts and famines, working with UN agencies including UNHCR, WPF, UNICEF and HABITAT.

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