What the Animals Were Waiting For

Sandy Campbell is a reference librarian in the Science and Technology Library at the University of Alberta.

This lovely picture book captures the essence of the time just before
the rains come to the African savannah. Both people and animals sense
the coming storm and the text builds the same anticipation in the
reader. On each page, the child, Tepi, asks his grandmother what they
are waiting for and each time his grandmother patiently replies, “You
shall see, Tepi. You shall see.”

The paintings of African wildlife are exceptional in the way they
convey the mood of the text, the feeling of everything being tense and
on the edge of an event. Most of the images are on double-page spreads,
which show different animals waiting. At the bottom of one page is the
text; at the bottom of the opposite page is a small photograph featuring
the same animal that’s in the painting or a related animal or scene.
The Maasai, through whose eyes we observe what is happening, are treated
respectfully throughout. Eventually the storm breaks, the animals run,
and the Maasai prepare to celebrate.

The book’s reading level is Grades 1 and 2, with most of the
difficult words being animal names; these are repeated often enough that
the young reader will learn them. Highly recommended.