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A review by mat_tobin
An African Princess by Anne Wilson, Lyra Edmonds
4.0
I wasn't keen on reading this and although I think the writing needs some work, the story itself and Anne Wilson's artwork is wonderful. There is a very clever interplay here between text and image and I think that this offers an engaging and fruitful discussion with children around identity and stereotypes.
The story is one in which Lyra wishes to understand her African heritage. Having heard that she is descended from a line of princesses, she is bullied at school for her pomposity and begins to question her mother's words. In order to support her, the family visit her aunt in the Caribbean and discover the truth.
What I found deeply powerful were the intrinsic statements make (or not) by Anne Wilson and her art. The bullies are both black and white and Lyra's father is white too. None of this is mentioned in the text and can lead to interesting discussions about presumptive stereotypes.
The story is one in which Lyra wishes to understand her African heritage. Having heard that she is descended from a line of princesses, she is bullied at school for her pomposity and begins to question her mother's words. In order to support her, the family visit her aunt in the Caribbean and discover the truth.
What I found deeply powerful were the intrinsic statements make (or not) by Anne Wilson and her art. The bullies are both black and white and Lyra's father is white too. None of this is mentioned in the text and can lead to interesting discussions about presumptive stereotypes.