Book Review: The Kwanzaa Story

Kwanzaa is a modern holiday that was designed deliberately to provide African Americans in the United States (and Blacks around the world) a deeper connection to African culture. The first celebration began on Dec. 26, 1966, and was inspired by the harvest celebrations in Africa, which happen at the end of the year.

South Africa in particular provided inspiration with the weeklong Umkoshi celebration, which marked the harvest and honored ancestors and community leaders.

Kwanzaa’s history and its spread around the world is explored in the book The Kwanzaa Story by Alliah L. Agostini and illustrated by Olivia Smith H.

The book describes how Black people in the United States in the 1960s began to stand up for their rights, including in the Watts Rebellion in 1965. Following that uprising, which is just a small part of the history of rebellion and resistance of Black people throughout American history, activists sought to ensure that Black people knew their history and felt a connection to their ancestral homeland.

In California Ron Everett had started a group called US that taught children and adults Black culture. Turning away from traditional American holidays, Kwanzaa was developed to celebrate community and culture.

The book goes through the meaning of each day of the celebration and talks about the symbols that are used during Kwanzaa. This is a great overview for kids of any background who might want to know more about where Kwanzaa came from and how it is celebrated.

It describes how the holiday has spread from one community in Los Angeles to a weeklong event that’s participated in by tens of millions of people in the United States and around the world.

In addition to the facts about Kwanzaa, the book includes a Black history timeline and a note about other Black American cultural holidays, as well as a note from the author about their family’s history with Kwanzaa.

While the book is written with Black children as the intended audience, children of all backgrounds can benefit from learning the history behind Kwanzaa as more than just a list of values, but also as a cultural celebration that’s an important part of Black history. The book is recommended for ages 6-9 years, but could also be beneficial for older kids who do not know this history.

About the book: 32 pages, hardcover paper over boards. Published 2025 by ‎ becker&mayer! kids. Suggested retail price $18.99

Kwanzaa Activities for Kids [Lesson Plans]

Holiday Roundup: Celebrate Kwanzaa! [Edible Crafts]

Kwanzaa Printables and Other Resources [Lesson Plans]

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Kwanzaa Activities for Kids

Shark Week generally happens in July, but any time is a good time to learn more about sharks.

First, start with some fun whale facts like these from Kids Craft Room. Here I learned about the dwarf lantern shark, which is the smallest shark and only grows to about 6-8 inches (about 15-20 cm) long. It also emits light. How cool is that?

Natural Beach Living has some great printable shark information guides, where kids can learn about different kinds of sharks, match the facts to the pictures, or print out doubles and do a shark memory game.

Living Life an Learning has some great shark activity pages including the parts of a shark, types of sharks, a crossword puzzle and more. Also check out their parts of a shark and word scramble download, and a life cycle worksheet.

Learn about how sharks float with this great activity from JDaniel4’s Mom.

Need more facts about sharks? This fact pact from The WOLFe PACK on Teacher Pay Teachers includes fact sheets, a printable flip book, informational text, vocabulary, comprehension questions and more.

Living Montessori Now has a great collection of shark themed activities with a Montessori inspired twist. You’ll find a shark roll and cover, shark phonics and lots more shark activities Deb has collected from all over the Internet.

Remember the “Sharknado” movie? A Few Shortcuts turned the combination of sharks and tornadoes into a fun science activity. You’ll need a bottle connector for this project but otherwise should have everything you need on hand. Use their template to make your sharks out of aluminum foil. So fun!

You can also do some shark themed coloring with these coloring pages from Encouraging Moms at Home. Or make a cool 3D shark with this template from korkotak. And there are tons of different shark crafts collected in this post from Kids Activities Blog.

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