Jamela's Dress by Niki Daly

Jamela's Dress 

(Farrar, Straus and Giroux-2004)

By: Niki Daly

Grade: K-2

Jamela's Dress is the first of a series of picture books about a young African girl, Jamela. In this story, Jamela volunteers to watch her mother's dress material dry, but instead lets her imagination take over. She took the material, wrapped it around her like a dress and went to town singing "Kwela, Jamela African Queen". The material got so ruined and her mother was not very happy. But this story does have a happy ending. I loved how Jamela wasn't afraid to use her imagination, I just wouldn't want my students thinking it was okay to be that irresponsible.

Theme/Skills Taught: Imagination & Adventure/Foreshadowing, geography & problem solving

About the Author: Niki Daly is a South African author-illustrator whose picture books celebrate the imaginative powers of children and their magnificent everyday lives. He is able to view the world from a child's perspective, mostly reflective of multicultural modern South Africa. Indeed, many of Daly's solo efforts, as well as his illustrations for other authors, represent strongly African themes. Daly first became involved in drawing by using pencil stubs handed down from an uncle who painted watercolor pictures. Born in South Africa, Daly traveled to London at the age of twenty-four in order to pursue a career in singing and songwriting. However, economic difficulties ended his music career after two years, and Daly found work as a commercial artist, which eventually led to illustration for children's books. Daly's themes and motifs continue to surprise. His picture books range from the sublime to the silly, and in between they subtly challenge social prejudices without being didactic. Niki Daly's Bio

Pre-Reading Activities: As you are reading, teach foreshadowing skills. This is done by pausing as you read to ask questions such as: What do you think is going to happen when she goes to town? How do you think her mother will react? This teaches kids to use what they already know to predict the next scene.

Post Reading Activities: The story has a happy ending. What if the photographer did not get paid for the picture and Jamela wasn't able to buy more fabric? Discussing this with the students may help with their problem solving skills. Describe a time when you "messed up" and what did you do to fix the problem? This can be done aloud or in a notebook.

-You could tie this into a Social Studies lesson to show them where South Africa is and "research" location, dress, foods, etc.