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African Icons

Ten People Who Shaped History

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African Icons

By: Tracey Baptiste
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About this listen

In this expansive collection of history, meet ten real-life kings, queens, inventors, scholars, and visionaries who lived in Africa thousands of years ago and changed the world.

Black history begins thousands of years ago with the many cultures and people of the African continent. Through portraits of ten heroic figures, bestselling author Tracey Baptiste takes readers on an empowering, energetic journey through time to meet some of the great leaders and thinkers whose vision built nations and shaped the course of history:

  • Menes: Creator of Dynasties
  • Merneith: A Queen Erased
  • Imhotep: From Peasant to God
  • Aesop: The Wisest Man in the Ancient World
  • Hannibal Barca: Unparalleled Military Strategist
  • Terence: North African Playwright
  • Amanirenas: Warrior, Diplomat, Queen
  • Tin Hinan: Founder of a City on the Dunes
  • Mansa Musa: The Richest Man of All Time
  • Queen Idia: Kingmaker

Illustrator Hillary D. Wilson's brilliant portraits accompany each profile, along with vivid, information-filled landscapes, maps, and graphics for readers to pore over and return to again and again. This rich and thrilling work, which celebrates Black excellence and provides an essential correction to Eurocentric tellings of history, will enthrall readers of all ages.

“In African Icons, Baptiste engages in the hard work of unveiling the myths about the African continent to young readers . . . This is a great beginner’s guide to pre-colonial Africa.” —Ibram X. Kendi, National Book Award-winning author of Stamped from the Beginning and How to Be an Antiracist

Ancient Civilizations Geography & Cultures History Nonfiction Africa Ancient History Royalty

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Critic reviews

A New York Public Library 2021 Best Book for Kids
A 2021 Kids' Indie Next Pick
A Kirkus and SLJ Best Book of 2021
"In African Icons: Ten People Who Shaped History, Baptiste engages in the hard work of unveiling the myths about the African continent to young readers. She pieces together the stories of ten people in a continent that fueled the world. This is a great beginner’s guide to pre-colonial Africa."—Ibram X. Kendi, National Book Award-winning author of Stamped from the Beginning and How to Be an Antiracist
* "Baptiste sheds light on the rich and complex pre-enslavement history of the African continent . . . A spellbinding collection . . . An impeccably researched revelation that fills a too wide gap in collections; it’s unfair how long it’s taken for these histories to be made public to young readers.”—SLJ, starred review
* “What Baptiste accomplishes in only 139 pages of narrative is near miraculous. She lifts the veil intentionally cast over African history, granting readers a veritable feast of information and inspiration . . . Wilson’s portraits of each figure exude such beauty, strength, power, and, above all, dignity as to be nearly breathtaking. Each one gazes out at readers with a regal confidence that’s sure to inspire them to gaze back . . . Black readers of any age will see themselves reflected in the amazing lives chronicled, many of whom may be new to readers. Non-Black readers will get a window into the marvelous history of a continent oft overlooked and relegated to a single narrative. Refreshingly free of generalizations, this impressively researched work was clearly a massive undertaking (as evidenced by the source notes), presenting figures from multiple parts of the continent in the truth of their cultural and historical richness. The result is empowering, necessary, and required reading for all. Game changing.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review
* “Riveting . . . A rich account of innovative, oft-untold breakthroughs that took place in Africa before European colonization . . . Lush full-color art, depicting African luminaries and kingdoms in all of their glory. Concise and well researched, this robust, historically accurate timeline of the ‘great [African] continent and its people’ will serve as an invaluable resource for years to come.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review
"Readers will be fascinated by the lives of these icons and gain a real appreciation of Africa’s underrepresented place in world history."—Booklist
“Historical African leaders are introduced in thrilling accounts of their lives; each entry is accompanied by an eye-catching full-color (speculative) portrait.”—Horn Book
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