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]

I did a post earlier this year with activities and ideas for teaching the alphabet, but a lot or learning letters and recognizing them just has to do with seeing them and working with them a lot.

That means coloring, tracing, identifying things that start with different letters and more.

One way to reinforce the letters is through little activity books like these cute printable alphabet books from Life Over Cs.

These are available for free when you subscribe to her newsletter, and I’d say that’s well worth it if you have a little one (or a group of little ones!) working on the alphabet and letter recognition.

Each mini book includes a collection of things that start with that letter to color, color and read with words that start with the letter, tracing the letter, finding the letter in a grid and other coloring pages with objects that start with that letter.

These little books are super useful reinforcing the different letters and giving kids different activities related to the letters.

If you do a letter of the day or letter of the week you can use a new book for each one, and then keep the copies in your reading center or in a basket where kids can look at them again.

And of course you can add in all the other letter activities you like, go on a scavenger hunt for items that start with that letter, read alphabet books, practice writing letters in rice or with pompoms or playdough or whatever sensory activities you like.

You can grab the free printables when you enter you email address at Life Over Cs, and check out her other great alphabet resources and activities while you are over there.

Do you have favorite activities for teaching letters to kids? I’d love to hear about them!

[Photo: Life Over Cs]

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