Auntie Zuba's Magical Wedding
A children's board book set in Kigali, Rwanda · Ages 3 to 10
Isaro and Juru are flying to Rwanda for their aunt's wedding, to meet a family they have only ever seen on a screen.
They arrive to a house full of relatives who already know their names. They are dressed in Imishanana for the first time and told to stand still while someone pins the fabric. They watch the Gusaba ceremony, where two families sit across from each other and the marriage is agreed out loud. They learn the Amaraba dance badly, then a little better. And when it is time to fly home, they discover the strange ache of missing people they only just met.
This is the book I wanted for my own children. Not a general story about Africa, but one country, one family, one ceremony, told properly.
Your child will meet: a Rwandan wedding from the inside, traditional Imishanana dress, Amaraba dancing, and a family reunion across a continent.
Good for: bedtime, classrooms and libraries, diaspora families keeping a language and a place alive, and anyone buying a gift that will not look like every other gift.
The details
| Reading age | 3 to 10 |
| Read-aloud time | About 7 minutes |
| Format | Board book, matte finish |
| Size | 24 x 20 cm (9.45 x 7.87 in) |
| Pages | 12 |
| ISBN-13 | 9789997799005 |
| Publisher | Imagine We Rwanda |
| Illustrator | Reuben Niyonkuru |
| Language | English |
| Price | $19.99 USD / $21.99 CAD |
Reading this in Canada? The Amazon link takes you to amazon.ca automatically.
Teaching this book? The free Educator Guide has discussion questions, cultural notes and three activity sheets for both titles. Get it on the Teachers page.
Collect the series
Every book is a passport. Rwanda in Auntie Zuba's Magical Wedding, Ghana in Isaro and Juru's Big Trip to Accra, and more countries to come.