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Don’t Spill the Milk

Beautiful, bright folk-art illustrations capture the reader right off the bat, setting the scene for this simple tale set in West Africa.  The story tells of a young girl who is trying to bring a bowl of milk to her father who is watching over his sheep in the grasslands.  The journey from her home to the grasslands takes her through over dunes, across a river, up a mountain, past camels, a parade, and a herd of giraffes.  All along the way she is concentrating hard not to spill any milk, and then just as she arrives, a mango falls and lands in the bowl, splashing the milk all over.  Disappointed that she has failed in her task, her father comforts her, by explaining that the bowl held not only milk, but all her love, and that didn’t spill.  They share the mango, leaving some for her to carry back to her mother, with all her father’s love.  Together, the text and illustrations evoke a far-away land, so different in so many ways for American school children, yet the efforts of a child to do something to show her love for her father are universal.