Feelings, M. (1971). Moja means one. New York, NY: Dial books for young readers.
  Learning is an adventure for all students.  They get so much satisfaction from learning something new.  As a kindergarten teacher, the first several weeks of math with my students is spent on number recognition and the comparing of numbers (1-10).  I always like to make connections to real life, and one of my favorite books to use is "Ten Black Dots."  The students love this because they can make connections and they get to read a fun book.  With that said, something that I have been striving to do is use more books and to make multicultural connections during instruction time.  Upon much research, I found this fabulous book to add to next years collection.

"Moja Means One: Swahili Counting Book" teaches the numbers 1-10 in the Swahili language.  The illustrations in the story depict the life of Africans.  It is a great story because it gives an introduction to the author and the Swahili language and gives some background of the African culture.

The folk art in the story is amazing; it truly gives readers a glance of the characters lifestyles.  The gray, black and white colors are used to compliment the stories setting.

This will be a book that I tie into my math instruction to make a multicultural connection.

"Moja Means One: Swahili Counting Book" is a recipient of the Caldecott Honor.