Book Review of Once Upon a Kwanzaa
The Children’s Book Review
Once Upon a Kwanzaa
Written by Nyasha Williams and Sidney Rose McCall
Illustrated by Sawyer Cloud
Ages 4-6 | 32 Pages
Publisher: Running Press Kids (2025) | ISBN-13: 978-0762487356
What to Expect: BIPOC communities, diaspora heritage, celebration, history, and responsibility.
In this vibrant, joyful picture book, readers will discover the origins, traditions, and values of the Kwanzaa celebration, as well as the underlying sense of heritage and tradition that underpins it.
It’s nearly time for Kwanzaa—and that means a celebration that reaches across the globe, to many families far and wide! From its roots in Los Angeles, Kwanzaa’s seven principles provide a strong foundation upon which to build a shared culture of love grounded in African diaspora heritage. Unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity, and faith—these are the seven pillars and the seven nights of Kwanzaa, uniting people of color everywhere with a shared dream. The past may hold dark moments, but through Kwanzaa, the future can be filled with “miracles, magic, and light”!
Throughout the book, short and simple passages keep the text accessible for younger or less confident readers, while also interspersing Swahili vocabulary to help readers learn the terminology and symbolism of the Nguzo Saba (the seven principles). The vibrant artwork features BIPOC families of many different shapes, sizes, and nationalities, underscoring the global and inclusive messaging in the narrative. A glossary at the end of the book reinforces the emphasis on cultural and historical knowledge.
Once Upon a Kwanzaa is an excellent resource for anyone, no matter their cultural background, who wants to learn more about Kwanzaa.
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About the Co-Authors
Nyasha Williams grew up living intermittently between the United States and South Africa. As a kindergarten teacher, she was inspired to continue work as an author, creator, and activist after reading her first book to her class when one of her Black students told her that mermaids could not be Black. Williams kickstarted her first picture book, What’s the Commotion in the Ocean, starring a Black mermaid who spreads a message of marine conservation. She is the author of four picture books with Running Press Kids, including the bestselling I Affirm Me, and is the author of RP Studio’s Black Tarot, as well as a board book series with Harpercollins.
For more information, check out nyashawilliams.online and nyashawilliams.substack.com
Sidney Rose McCall is a historian and community intellectual who combines her academic work with her activism. Though the pandemic saw her complete her Masters in Applied Social Science far from the classroom, she turned her eyes to the community, building a platform through Patreon where she continues to share decolonized history lessons and virtual discussions. She also joined the Association to Preserve the Eatonville Community, Inc. as a student-docent at the Zora Neale Hurston National Museum of Fine Arts and now serves as a member of their Academic Committee for the ZORA! Festival of the Arts and Humanities. Ms. McCall hopes to work alongside community bridge builders to bring integrative stories into our creative spaces of resilience and resistance.
For more information, check out linktr.ee/Rosecolored_Scholar
About the Illustrator
Sawyer Cloud is a freelance artist from Madagascar. Her passion for kids’ literature pushed her to turn it into a living. Sawyer loves sunny days and music. She dreams of owning a small cottage and traveling the world. She still lives in her native country, Madagascar, with her family and her two pets, Arya the dog and Potter the cat.
For more information, check out sawyer.cloud
