Tuesday, January 3, 2012

A Kenya Christmas

Let's compare and contrast: A Kenya Christmas by Tony Johnston and my very own Christmas in Kenya.

In the book, an eccentric aunt arrives in the village with her two pet cheetahs, gives elaborate gifts, and just happens to have a Santa suit with her.

During my Kenyan Christmas, no gifts were exchanged, the only exotic animals we saw were some monkeys along the side of the road, but eccentric aunts were plentiful, tipsy, and animated.

In Mr. Johnston's book, a fat man with a red suit magically appears and delights the family and the villagers.

On Christmas Day in Kenya, we went to a wonderful park, ate some freshly barbecued goat, sang songs, played games, and spent a delightful day with our family.

I think I win.

But if you cannot accommodate thousands of dollars in airfare, vaccinations, and weeks of leave, then A Kenya Christmas is a fun book, with good vocabulary words in Kiswahili, and although clearly a work of fiction, it will surely provide your child with some whimsy and some wonder about how Santa might operate in other lands.

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