Imani in the Belly

With similarities to the story of Jonah and the whale in the Bible, this book retells a Swahili folktale. Grief stricken when her children are swallowed by Simba, the "king of beasts", Imani is instructed in a dream by her mother to "gather your faith and go after the beast". Imani too, is swallowed, but helps her children and others to escape by starting a fire in the beast's belly. Written by Deborah Newton Chocolate, illustrated by Minnesota's Alex Boies, this won the Minnesota Book Award in 1995. It illustrates faith, the first principle of Kwanzaa, and might be a resource during that season.