Nelson Mandela

I enjoyed reading Reggie Finlayson’s biography of Nelson Mandela, simply entitled Nelson Mandela. It told Mandela’s life story, from a boy in rural South Africa to a man dedicated to the South African fight for freedom and equal rights for everyone. It didn’t go through all of his life, instead highlighting important points and throwing in some interesting stories. I found the book to be entertaining, which was good since I started off with no previous knowledge of Nelson Mandela.

The book had some really great pictures! Some of them are really old, like one of the first ones, which depicts a nineteenth-century chief and his wives, while others are newer. The pictures are great because they allow students to visualize the people and country about which they are reading. Because I have very little prior knowledge about Africa or the African people, the pictures made the book more interesting. I wish there had been more pictures, or even maps. The author also included a great deal of first-hand sources, like excerpts from speeches and writing from leaders of the time. That was helpful because it really put everything they were fighting for into perspective.

One thing I didn’t like about this book was that the pronunciation guide was at the very end of the book. At first I thought there wasn’t one at all, and I didn’t realize there was one until I had finished the entire book. Maybe if I had been a better reader I would have discovered it, but I don’t think the average young reader would realize this either. There were so many African words and names, like Xhosa, Rolihlahla, and Mphakanyiswa, but I had no idea how to say them. This would have been especially problematic if I were reading the book to a group of students or otherwise using it for instructional purposes. The reader should be given some sort of clue that there is a pronunciation guide at the end of the book.

Additionally, I wish that the author had chosen to include background information about where he found his information on Nelson Mandela. I would love to know what his interest in South Africa and Nelson Mandela is. How did he find this information? Has he ever been to South Africa? In summary, this is a good book for kids to read on their own time to learn about Africa and an influential African man, but it might not be too useful to use in a classroom setting.