Mama Panya is making pancakes tonight, and on the way to market, her son Adika invites all their friends. Mama wonders how many pancakes she can make, but everyone brings milk, butter, plantains, fish, spices and it’s a feast under the baobab tree. A sparkling story that expresses Kenyan village life based on sharing, beautifully illustrated. (Picture book)

Stranded on a coral reef in eastern Kenya, a baby hippo (Owen) is rescued and taken to an animal sanctuary. At Heller Park, Owen snuggles up with a 130 year-old giant tortoise, called Mzee. This is the story of their endearing friendship, illustrated with super photographs (Picture book)

Older kids will enjoy the easy reader: Best Friends: The True Story of Owen & Mzee

What’s Pinduli (a shy hyena) to do when she’s teased about her big ears, straggly mane and stripy fur by animals of the savanna? The last laugh’s on Dog, Lion, Zebra, Fennec Fox, Vulture and Owl. Irresistible illustrations and fun facts about hyenas and African animals.(Picture book)

A Kenyan folktale retold, the grass is brown and the cows are hungry, but the rain won’t fall on Kapiti Plain. A clever herdsman fashions an arrow to shoot the cloud and drop the rain. Delightful rhyming text, colorfully illustrated. (Picture book)

Experience the rhythms of life centered on the ancient baobab tree – colorful birds make their nests, caterpillars and grasshoppers eat the leaves, fruit bats lap up flower nectar, elephants munch the bark. Super illustrations. (Picture book)

Before you visit the game parks, check out what the elephants, zebras, giraffes, lions, hyenas, baboons, leopards and are doing day and night, plus other fascinating animals that gather at the water holes. Gorgeous color photographs. (Picture book)

It’s a hot sizzling day, but thirsty vervet monkeys wait to take their turn at the water hole, letting the yawning hippos, grazing zebras, thundering elephants and galumpfing giraffes go first, until the sun sinks, and evening arrives. (Picture book)

Annie and Jack are whirled to the plains of Kenya, right in the middle of a zebra migration crossing the Mara River. Searching to solve the riddle of something sweet and gold, they encounter hyenas, elephants, lions, and a Maasai warrior. (Easy reader)

“I love you more than the warrior loves to leap, more than the bush baby loves the moon, more than the elder loves his stories.” A Maasai father tells his son how he’ll care for him, teach him, and how much he loves him. Vibrant watercolor illustrations shimmer on each page. (Picture book)

Captivating childhood memories of Joseph Lemasolai Lekuton, growing up today in a nomadic Maasai tribe, where cows are a way of life, clothing is a nanga and beads, and hunting lions with spears is every warrior’s challenge. Joseph is a super storyteller, bringing traditional Maasai culture to us. (Chapter book)