Let's Travel to Africa, with a variety of Books

Books Set in Africa 

 Included in this list are adventure stories, historical novels, autobiographies, life stories of growing up in 

Africa, fictional accounts, folktales, and youth books for a sampling of books set in the continent of Africa. 

The List: (brief book summaries follow the list of titles)
King Solomon's Mines by H. Rider Haggard
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
The African Queen by C S Forester
What is the What: The Autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng by Dave Eggers
Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela
Congo by Michael Crichton
The Ladies No. 1 Detective Agency Series by Alexander McCall Smith
The Flame Trees of Thika by Elspeth Grant
Amelia Peabody Series by Elizabeth Peters (Archaeological mysteries- Egypt)
Out of Africa by Karen Blixen
Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay
Cutting for Stone by Abraham Vergese
A Bend in the River by V.S. Naipaul
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
Don't Lets Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood by Alexandra Fuller
The Butterfly Lion (youth) by Michael Morpugo
Listening for Lions (youth) by Gloria Whelan
Why Mosquitos Buzz in People's Ears by Verna Aardema (Folktale)
Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters (youth) by John Steptoe
The Elephant's Child by Rudyard Kipling (youth) 

King Solomon's Mines by H. Rider Haggard- This was first published in Blackwoods magazine in 1899

 as a series of stories. A group of adventurers set off in an unexplored region of Africa to find the missing

 brother of one of the men in the group. Allan Quartermain Series. Contains common beliefs of 19th 

century Europeans.

 Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad- A Narrated voyage up the Congo river inspired by Conrad's 

experiences as a steamer captain in Africa, written from his travel journals. (Imperialism/violence)
The African Queen by C S Forester- (also a movie adaptation with Humphrey Bogart) WW1 Africa, 

travel down the Nile River.
What is the What: The Autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng by Dave Eggers- About the lost boys 

of Sudan 2006.
Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela- 1994 His early life, coming of age, 

education and years in prison. 

 Congo by Michael Crichton- 1980 Science Fiction novel investigating mysterious deaths in the ruins of

 a lost city in the tropical rain forest. 

 The Ladies No. 1 Detective Agency Series by Alexander McCall Smith- Set in Botswana, Precious 

Ramotswe sets up a detective agency, solves mysteries and muses about life, charming series, the 

author spent his childhood in Botswana.
The Flame Trees of Thika by Elspeth Grant- An English Couple decide to set up a coffee plantation in 

Kenya, memoirs of their daughter growing up. Also a British television series.
Out of Africa by Karen Blixen- Memoir by Danish author telling of the 17 years she lived in Kenya, 

then called British East Africa, also a 1985 movie.
Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton- Story of a Zulu pastor and his son, set in a background of 

racial injustice. 

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver- a Baptist minister, his wife and four daughters move to 

the Belgian Congo in 1959, an emotional tale of morals and responsibility.
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe- Okwonko, a warrior in a Nigerian clan tries to come to terms 

with his father's less than stellar legacy, historical fiction.
The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay- The story of an illegitimate child in South Africa and raised 

by black Africans in a remote mountain village 1930's.
Cutting for Stone by Abraham Vergese- An epic novel about an Ethiopian born Indian-American 

doctor. Love, betrayal, compassion, etc. 

A Bend in the River by V.S. Naipaul- Set in central Africa, describes a personal journey and a journey

 in uncharted regions of an Indian who goes to Africa to run a business, post-colonial black Africa.
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi- Ghana, slave trade, an old African belief that death of a slave allows the 

person to return back to Africa. 

 Don't Lets Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood by Alexandra Fuller- A memoir of her 

family as white Rhodesian farmers after the Bush War in 1980.
 The Butterfly Lion (youth) by Michael Morpugo- Inspired by the lions of Timbavati, a WW1 soldier 

saves some circus animals...
Listening for Lions (youth) by Gloria Whelan- Historical fiction, British East Africa, Kikuyu and 

Masai Tribes an orphaned girl becomes involved in an inheritance predicament.
Why Mosquitos Buzz in People's Ears by Verna Aardema (Folktale)- A mosquito brags to the animals 

in the jungle, Caldecott medal winner 1976, unique primitive artwork enhances the tale.
Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters (Folktale) by John Steptoe- An African Cinderella story, set in Zimbabwe.

The Elephant's Child (youth) by Rudyard Kipling (youth)- A tale, great for reading out loud, about the 

insatiable curiosity of a young elephant and how he gets a trunk for a nose, one of the wonderful 

animal stories written for children by Kipling, setting the Mapungubwe River on the border of 

Botswana and South Africa. “The Great Gray Green Greasy Limpopo River, all set about with fever trees.”

Who is Haddy? Dinos in New Jersey...

      Did you know that the first dinosaur skeleton unearthed in the USA was found in the state of New Jersey? Neither did I, until a few days ago, and I grew up there. Hadrosaurus Foulkii, named after the man who excavated it was, at the time of it's unearthing in 1858, the first and most complete skeleton of a dinosaur to be found in the US. The bones were mounted and put on display by 1868 in Philadelphia. The discovery and excavation has since been described as a watershed moment for the science of Paleontology, turning what was once known as a rich man's hobby of collecting fossils into a field of science worthy of study. Since its find, the Hadrosaurus has been eclipsed by more exciting finds elsewhere in the world and the original site was largely forgotten and used as dumping ground for trash. 

     In 1984, a boy scout (Christopher Brees)searching for a community project for his eagle award, learned about the discovery of the Hadrosaur and decided to try and find the original site again. He studied old maps to rediscover the site, cleaned up the area, and was able to turn it into a small commemorative park (now a historic landmark), where artifacts can still be found today.

In the 1830's, a man named John Hopkins had land located near the town of Haddonfield, NJ, on which there were marl pits, this is where the bones were found. A marl pit is a place where clay, silt, and sand have collected over time, the weathered particles aggregate together and are compressed to form new rock. This new rock (marl) is mined for use in agriculture as a soil additive and fertilizer for acidic soil. As the marl pit was mined, fossils and prehistoric bones were found and mostly thought of as conversation pieces. These particular bones were actually found in 1838 and the significance was not realized at the time. 

     In the 1850's William Foulke, who was interested in fossils, heard about the bones and was invited to see them. He wound up excavating the bones from the pit and the skeleton was eventually mounted and put on display. No other dinosaur has ever been found to match the unique one that was excavated from that pit. Foulke had the bones taken to the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and they remain there today. Sadly, the skull of the dinosaur was never found. At first an artist made a conception of what the skull might look like and that conception has been modified over time as scientists learn more about the species. 

     When the skeleton was first mounted, it was put in an upright position reminiscent of a T-Rex, but that has also been modified using additional knowledge, to more of a quadruped style. Scientists don't know for sure about the actual way it moved, but have made educated guesses and there are a few different theories about how it moved, walked and ate. The discovery of the bones set off a frenzy of fossil hunting in the Garden State and from the period of about 1850-1870, most American dinosaur skeletons came from the little ol' state of NJ! This time period of the late 1800's is also known as the “Bone Wars”, characterized as a competition between two preeminent American paleontologists Edward Drinker Cope (of the Philadelphia Academy of Science, Drexel University), and Othniel C. Marsh (of Yale). 

      In prehistoric times the southern half of the state was submerged. The northern part of the state was above water and connected to the sea, with many marshy areas leading into it. Mastodons, large crocodiles and even giant shark remains have been discovered in the state. Mastodon remains have been found in Sussex County, NJ, and a giant shark specimen called Squalicorax was found with part of its last meal still in the stomach- it did not eat McDonalds, it had another Hadrosaur in there! Other fossil species found in New Jersey include Enchcodus (the sabertooth herring), many specimens of Diplurus (a coelacanth fish), Deinosuchus (a 30 ft long prehistoric crocodile), Icarosaurus (a reptile resembling a flying lizard), Driptosaurus (tearing lizard, a type of Tyrannosaur but not the T. Rex), and the Hadrosaurus already mentioned. The Hadrosaur was about 25 feet long and 10 feet high, it was a vegetarian- eating plants, stems, twigs, and leaves with its specialized teeth. In prehistoric times it roamed the forests and swamps along New Jersey's seacoast. After shutdowns from coronavirus have eased, here are some places to learn about dinosaurs and see their bones near where the Hadrosaur was originally found:       

Haddonfield, N J- location of the discovery of Hadrosaur commemorative park and plaque
Rutgers University Geology Museum-New Brunswick, NJ      

Dinosaur Den at Morris Museum- Morristown, NJ  

Garden State Discovery Museum- Cherry Hill, NJ   

New Jersey State Museum- Trenton, NJ    

American Museum of Natural History- New York City    

Academy of Natural Sciences- Philadelphia, PA     

Field Station Dinosaurs (with anamatronic dinosaurs) -Leonia, NJ   

Fossil Park at Rowan University (dig site) Sewell, NJ    

Sources: 

www.thoughtco.com/dinosaurs-and-prehistoric-animals-new-jersey-1092088   https://mommyuniversitynj.com   

https://njmonthly.com    

www.haddonfieldnj.org    

www.jerseyfamilyfun.com   

Pictures:

postcard pictures of dinosaurs from: www.geocaching.com    

skeleton picture from: youdontknowjersey.com    

Hadrosaur plaque sign from https://southjerseyadventures.wordpress.com   

scale image from: www.haddonfieldnj.org