Bonyo Bonyo

Bonyo Bonyo, by Vanita Oelchlager, is a straightforward biography, told in the first person, with the voice echoing the oral tradition that once passed stories through generations. Bonyo was a Kenyan child from humble beginnings whose intrinsic determination and faith led him to embrace education as a vehicle for personal and, ultimately, professional growth. Without sentiment or sermonizing, the narrative traces Bonyo’s journey from his penurious and sometimes tragic childhood through the various doors that education opened for him, including college and medical school in the United States. He keeps his childhood vow to return to Africa to attend to the medical needs of his people, something his own family had not had the benefit of.

The colors in this book are luscious, for lack of a better superlative. (It is illustrated by Kristin Blackwood and Mike Blanc). Bonyo Bonyo is 42 pages long (there is a lot of text, so older early readers will be able to handle it independently), and available from Vanita Books.