Additional information
by Hélène DuCharme (Author), Judith Gueyfier (Illustrator), Aboulaye Koné (Vocal by)
A tale passed down from generation to generation, featuring music from Mali and Senegal, about a boy's heroic quest to save his village from drought.
In West Africa, a magnificent baobab presides over a village beset with a terrible drought. A long, long time ago, when the stars were still babies, the tree fell in love with the earth. As it buried its roots deep in the earth's heart, the sun grew jealous. The sun shone and shone, until lakes and rivers flew away and even its own heart dried up and disappeared. Ever since, it has been said that the only person who finds the sun's heart would be able to release the water.
At the center of this tale is Amondo, son of the baobab, known as "The One Who Unites." Only he can restore hope to the villagers by freeing the water from the spell cast by the sun. But in order to succeed, he must complete four difficult tasks... This play, which includes seven songs in Bambara, transports us to the extraordinary world of African folklore, to a time when the moon, trees and animals spoke to humankind.
The accompanying recordings can be accessed with a QR code printed in the book.
Author Biography
Hélène Ducharme is a playwright, director, actress and puppeteer, and has been Artistic Director of company, Théâtre Motus, for the past 25 years. She also served on the selection committee of the International Performing Arts for Youth (IPAY) from 2012 to 2016 and the organization's board of directors from to 2016.
Judith Gueyfier began creating children's books after studying design in Paris at the Duperré School and illustration in Strasbourg at the Arts Déco School. Over the past 15 years, she has produced more than 30 picture books for several well-established publishing houses in France, including Rue Monde, Le Seuil, Sarbacane, Milan and Nathan. In 2014, Barefoot Books published Chandra's Magic Light in the US. Recently, she illustrated the award-winning picture book Songs in the Shade of the Cashew and Coconut Trees, published by The Secret Mountain.
