Jambo Means Hello: A Swahili Alphabet Book

illustrated by Tom Feelings, written by Muriel Feelings, and published by Dial

The book cover of "Jambo Means Hello: A Swahili Alphabet Book" by Muriel Feelings, pictures by Tom Feelings features a Swahili girl dancing under the hot sun. In the distance, there is a line of men with spears. The Randolph Caldecott Medal has been affixed to the lower right corner.

About

A different mood and place are realistically yet idealistically created by Tom Feelings in Jambo Means Hello. The text is a straightforward, brief explanation of the Swahili word chosen for each of the twenty-four letters. The illustrations, double-page spreads, create a picture of village life in East Africa, where Swahili is the language of 45 million people. If "learning a language opens up many things to us," as Muriel Feelings states in her introducing, her husband's paintings also enlarge the world of the person who looks at them. An idealistic world it may be, but the qualities of simplicity, beauty, warmth, and dignity interpreted in the paintings are surely present in African life and will subtly but definitely influence all who take the time to enjoy Jambo Means Hello.

Awards Won

Title Year
Randolph Caldecott Medal
The Caldecott Medal was named in honor of nineteenth-century English illustrator Randolph Caldecott and is intended to create more abundant and joyful life in pictures for children. It is awarded to the most distinguished American picture book for children published in the United States during the year, and shall be awarded to the artist whether or not he be author of the text.
 1975 - Honor(s)