3

G oo d L u c k , A nna H ibi s c u s !
Anna H ibi s c u s
.
lives in Africa Amazing Africa .
,
She can t wait to fly across the world
and visit her granny in Canada. But can she
find enough warm clothes for the cold winter
weather? And will her family miss her?

Atinuke

H“A welcome window to an unfamiliar world.”

– Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)
$5.99
($7.75 CAN)

Cover illustration ISBN 978-1-61067-007-4

by Lauren Tobia 50599>

GLAND
EN

9 781610 670074
Good Luck,
Anna
Hibiscus!
 Anna Hibiscus Books

Anna Hibiscus
ANNA
Hooray for Anna Hibiscus!
H IBI S CUS!
Good Luck, Anna Hibiscus!

Have Fun, Anna Hibiscus!

by Atin u ke
illustrated by Lauren Tobia
 To Tiger Malachi Oluwalase and
Noa Caradog Babatunde. Love you.
A.

To Lizzie and Alice

from their proud Mum
L.T.

First American Edition 2011

Kane Miller, A Division of EDC Publishing

First published in 2009 by Walker Books Ltd., London (England)

Text © 2009 Atinuke
Illustrations © 2009 Lauren Tobia

All rights reserved.

For information contact:
Kane Miller, A Division of EDC Publishing
P.O. Box 470663
Tulsa, OK 74147-0663
www.kanemiller.com
www.edcpub.com

Library of Congress Control Number: 2010934455

Printed and bound in the United States of America

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
ISBN: 978-1-61067-007-4
 Harmattan Garden

Anna Hibiscus lives in Africa. Amazing

Africa. She lives with her mother and her
father; her grandmother and her grandfather;
her aunties and her uncles; all of her many
cousins; and her two baby brothers, Double
and Trouble. They all live together in a big
white house in the middle of a bright and
beautiful garden!

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 Anna Hibiscus loves the green of their Anna Hibiscus
garden. She loves the red and the yellow thinks that their garden must be
flowers that grow in the cool grass. She the brightest and most beautiful garden
loves the leafy trees and their big, bright in the whole city. Maybe the brightest
fruit. She loves the birds that sing in the and most beautiful garden in the whole
branches, and the lizards that run country! Could it be the brightest and most
along the roots. beautiful garden in the whole of Africa?
The rain thinks so! Every single evening
it showers the garden. The sun
thinks so! Every single day it
smiles at the garden.

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 But one morning, Anna Hibiscus woke Chocolate and Angel joined her in crying.
up, and the sun was not smiling through Louder and louder they cried. Clarity and
the bedroom window. “Where is the sun?” Joy, the big girl cousins, rushed into the
Anna asked, in her croaky, morning voice. bedroom.
Chocolate and Angel woke up. “The sun “Way-tin happen?” they shouted.
is gone!” Angel cried. Anna Hibiscus and Angel and Chocolate
Anna and Chocolate and Angel ran to the were crying too loud to speak. They pointed
window to see. Angel was right: The sun up to the hazy brown sky. They pointed
had gone, and the sky was not bright blue; down to the dusty brown garden. Clarity
it was cloudy brown! Anna Hibiscus looked and Joy smiled and laughed and
down at the garden. The green leaves of dried their small
the trees were brown. The green grass cousins’ tears.
was brown. The red and yellow
flowers were brown.
“The garden is dead!”
Anna Hibiscus opened her
mouth and cried.

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 “It’s harmattan time!” Clarity said. Suddenly Anna Hibiscus was happy.
“You no remember?” asked Joy. “Every Happy and excited. Because when
year is de same thing. One harmattan wind Christmas came she was going to Canada
blows over Sahara Desert. It blows de desert to play in the snow!
sand all the way down to our own country.” Anna Hibiscus ran into her parents’ room.
“An’ dat same sand is now covering the Double and Trouble were standing up in
sky and the garden,” said Clarity. “The their cot looking towards the window.
sun is not gone; it is only the sand that is “Christmas!” shouted Anna Hibiscus,
covering it.” clapping her hands. Double Trouble smiled
“Will the rain wash the sand off our and clapped their hands too. Clapping was
garden?” sobbed Anna. their new best thing.
“No-o,” said Clarity. “For the next four Anna went to stand by their cot. She
months we will have no rain, only dusty looked out of the window. “But before
sand and wind. After dat the rain go fall, the Christmas,” she sighed,
sand go finish, and the sun will shine again.” “harmattan.” No sun and
“But before that,” announced Joy, no rain. Only dry, dusty
“Christmas!” sand.
Anna Hibiscus and Chocolate and Angel
stopped crying. Christmas! Now they
remembered the harmattan. It was always
dry and dusty at Christmas time.

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 Luckily for Anna Hibiscus’s family, there “When I was small,
was a good well in the garden of the big every harmattan our
white house. A good well full of clear, cold well dry up,” said
water. In the dry and thirsty harmattan Grandfather. “We
months the water was low. But it never were grateful for
ran dry. one cup of water
Every dry day Anna Hibiscus drank all to wash ourselves.”
the clear, cold water that she wanted. And Everybody in the big white
every dusty, hot evening she was given one house was careful. And everybody was
bucket of water to wash with. grateful. More than this, everybody tried
“One bucket is already a lot of to leave some water in their bucket.
water,” said Grandmother. Double and Trouble got half a bucket
“Be careful.” each. The water came up to their necks.
Double Trouble sat for a long time in their
buckets. It was the only time they
were cool. It was the
only time they
were quiet!

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 Anna Hibiscus stood in the bath with Chocolate climbed
her bucket of water. She poured one big, into the bath next. She
cool, jug of water over her hot and dusty poured a jugful of water
self. Ohhhh! She wanted to pour more, but over herself, both
she stopped. She soaped and then carefully before she soaped
rinsed herself with one and a half jugfuls of and afterwards. She
water. She was clean! And there was almost too wanted to pour
half of the cool water left! Anna Hibiscus more; she too stopped.
got out of the bath. She was hot again They both looked into her
already! bucket. There was half left!
Now it was Angel’s turn. Angel
splashed cool jugfuls of
water over herself one
after another. More
and more she poured.
Ohhhh! Now she was
not only clean; she
was cool. Angel
looked into her
bucket. All the
water was gone!

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 Anna and Chocolate looked at Angel.
“Come out! Come out!” Benz and Then Grandfather nodded at the grown-
Wonderful, their big boy cousins, banged on up cousins. Sociable ran to the water tank
the door. “Grandfather is waiting for you!” and grabbed the handle of the pump.
“Hurry up! Hurry up!” shouted Clarity Thank-God picked up a long hose, and
and Common Sense. “You are the last ones!” when Grandfather nodded again Sociable
Anna Hibiscus and Chocolate and Angel began to pump. Thank-God pointed the
quickly carried their buckets to the tank in hose at the mango trees. The whole family
the garden where the well water was stored. held their breath. A stream of clear water
Grandmother and Grandfather, aunties and sprayed out of the end of the hose.
uncles and cousins were waiting. Carefully The mango trees were
Anna and Chocolate tipped the water left in green again!
their buckets into the tank.
“Good girl,” everybody said to Anna
Hibiscus.
“Well done,” they said to Chocolate.
Angel started to cry. Grandfather looked
into her bucket. It was empty.
“Don’ cry,” he said. “Tomorrow you can
try harder. And you will do better.”
 And this, thought Anna Hibiscus, is
The water sprayed over trees and why our garden is the brightest and most
bushes and grass and flowers. It washed beautiful garden in the whole country!
away the sand and gave the plants a Everybody walked around the garden.
long, cool drink. Anna went to look at the flowers
Aunties and uncles admired the growing by the gate. Through the gate
hibiscus bushes. Little cousins clapped she saw the girls who sold oranges and
as the flowers picked up their heads plantains to make money for their families.
and bloomed again. Grandmother and The girls were going home for the night.
Grandfather nodded as the grass turned Anna Hibiscus smiled and waved.
gorgeous and green. Anna Hibiscus smiled “Look!” she shouted, pointing at the
at her favorite mango tree. flowers.”
The family had saved enough water that The girls looked at Anna Hibiscus. But
day to spray almost all the garden. they did not smile at her. They did not
“We did not go gently with our buckets wave. They frowned. Anna was confused.
for nothing!” said the aunties and “Bedtime, Anna,” her mother called,
uncles to each other. and Anna Hibiscus turned away from
“We washed ourselves and we the gate.
washed the garden!” the cousins But she continued to worry. Why did
congratulated one another proudly. the gate girls not wave and smile at her?
 The next morning Anna Hibiscus ran The gate girls looked
down to the gate. The air was already hot around and saw Anna
and dry; the garden was already dusty. Hibiscus still waiting
The gate girls were there, waiting for early there.
morning customers. “Le’ me tell you, Anna
Anna Hibiscus shouted, “Good morning, Hibiscus,” said Angelina,
Angelina! Good morning, Concertina! Good sounding angry. “Then you
morning, Ngosi!” can go. There is no more
The gate girls looked at Anna Hibiscus. water in this
They did not smile. They did not say good useless ye-ye city.”
morning. “No more water?” asked
“Way-tin happen?” Anna asked. “Wha’s Anna Hibiscus, thinking of
wrong?” her family’s well.
The girls did not answer. They just carried “Poor person water
on with their work. finish,” snapped
Anna Hibiscus saw that their clothes were Concertina.
stained. Their faces were shiny with sweat, “Well dry. Tap
and their arms and legs were dirty. no run at-all at-all.”
Maybe they did not even have one cup of “Old people, small brothers
water to wash with like Grandfather did, and sisters suffer and die
she thought. now,” said Ngosi.

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 The gate girls stopped speaking. Anna Grandfather and Grandmother looked
Hibiscus started to cry. serious. They ordered Thank-God to pump
“In dis your compound you throw water water and Sociable to carry it to the gate for
for ground,” said Angelina. the poor girls and their families.
The gate girls turned their backs on Anna Then they summoned everybody in the
Hibiscus and went back to their work. They big white house out onto the veranda.
had no time to cry. “Is this true?” Grandmother and
Anna Hibiscus no longer wondered why Grandfather asked the uncles and aunties.
they were not her friends. “I did not know!” “Poor people are suffering in the city?”
she shouted. The aunties and uncles looked surprised.
Anna ran to Grandmother and “It is true that the wells are dry, and water
Grandfather on the veranda. She has become costly,” they said.
told them about the gate girls, “Go and ask the gate girls,” sobbed Anna.
and about the poor, “People in the city are suffering.”
thirsty children “It is true,” said Sociable.
in the city. Grandmother and Grandfather and Anna’s
mother and father and all the aunties and
uncles and cousins and Anna herself sat
silent.

24
 “My mango tree is not suffering,” Anna and Benz and Wonderful and Angel and
Hibiscus said. Chocolate and Sweetheart and Anna.
Everybody nodded. “We might have enough water for the
“Because we save water for it every day,” children of the city,” said Uncle Bizi Sunday.
said Sweetheart, the smallest girl cousin. “Let us try,” said Anna’s father, sighing.
“That is why the whole garden is growing “Agreed!” shouted Anna and all of her
green and lovely.” Anna’s mother smiled. cousins.
“But outside in the city,” Anna went on, “So we have decided!” said Grandmother,
“children are not growing lovely. They are smiling.
suffering because nobody saves them any Double and Trouble clapped their hands.
water.” “Every spare ounce of water, let us
Angel and Sweetheart started to cry. put it in the tank,” said
“Anna Hibiscus, what can we do?” said Grandfather.
her father. “We do not have enough water “Then we can water
for the whole city.” the children of the
“We never even had enough water for the city!” shouted
whole garden,” said Uncle Tunde. Anna.
“Did we let that stop us?” said Anna’s
mother.
“No!” cried Auntie Grace and Auntie Joly
and Clarity and Common Sense and Joy

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 And so it was that Anna Hibiscus’s
garden became an ordinary garden.
The grass disappeared. The flowers
died. The bushes wilted. The trees
were dry and dusty all harmattan
long. It was no longer the brightest
and most beautiful garden in the
whole city.

But outside the gate a line of hopeful

children grew with their cups and bottles,
red and yellow and green and blue. When
Sociable filled them up with water, their
smiles were the brightest and most beautiful
smiles in the whole city. The brightest and
most beautiful smiles in the whole country.

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 And Anna Hibiscus and Chocolate and
even Angel learned to wash using only one
jugful of water.
“In order to see the most beautiful smiles
in the whole world!” Anna Hibiscus said.