Through Sand and Salt: A tale of Discovery Across the Sahara
Through Sand and Salt: A tale of Discovery Across the Sahara
Picture Book / Mali / Ages 4-8
Bloomsbury Children's Books
January 21, 2025
Uppaged
From critically acclaimed artist Elizabeth Zunon, a picture book about one boy on a journey to deliver salt across the desert-a journey that will reveal the precious rock's true value. In the Sahara, salt is worth its weight in gold. When Malik is finally old enough to join his father's caravan, transporting salt across the long trade route to Timbuktu, he can't wait to prove himself worthy of this big responsibility. Over the long and difficult route, the boy will discover that salt does far more than just preserve and flavor food. With its essential roles in trade, ritual, civilizations, and even our bodies, salt sustains life. Most important of all, Malik discovers his own self-confidence as he grows from a novice to a future leader of his salt caravan. This gorgeous, awe-inspiring picture book celebrates the remarkable journey that salt takes, the connections forges, and its power to nourish us.
Through Sand and Salt by author and illustrator Elizabeth Zunon, is a meaningful journey across the Sahara with the young boy Malik. The beautifully illustrated book follows him, his ábba, or father, and their caravan of camels from Taoudenni to Timbuktu in Mali. With each page turn, the reader learns the lessons of the desert – how sand and salt shape the lives of those who live there. It is a story of growing up and of learning from those encountered along the journey.
The reader discovers the joys and trials of a journey through the desert in Mali. The story connects the reader to its peace and chaos on the trans-Saharan trade routes through the vibrant colors on each page and the story, told from Malik’s perspective. Malik and his father are Tuareg, wearing the traditional blue tagelmust head covering and leading their camel herd along the azalaï (caravan route) from Tauodenni, a small salt mining town in the north of Mali southward to the large urban center of Timbuktu. The strength of Zunon’s storytelling is that she presents this life in simple encounters across the desert. The remoteness of this journey is wonderfully illustrated in the pages, including moments where Malik learns to navigate at night by the stars, the same way his ancestors did for hundreds of years. The story connects Malik to the land through the contrasting warm orange of the sand with the brilliant blue of the sky. Along the way, an elder teaches him a powerful lesson: the crocus that produces the saffron in Malik’s food also needs salt to grow. This interconnectedness of people to the land helps young readers understand how people can live in harsh environments. This lesson returns to him when he has to rescue Lakhmar, his camel, from a disorienting desert sandstorm.
One of the valuable aspects of Through Sand and Salt is that it is a social studies lesson of a part of the world often forgotten. Timbuktu, a location the West often uses as a stand-in to describe something remote and unreachable, is their destination. It is represented by the Djinguereber Mosque (The Great Mosque) where they trade their salt for important items they need at home or to trade along the way. Malik remarks that, “Back in Taoudeni, salt was everywhere. Here in Timbuktu, people are everywhere.” This story touches on how modern urbanization is connected to the vital ancient Saharan commodity of salt. Salt has kept people alive and flourishing for generations. Each image is a lesson. His Timbuktu feast reveals the bounty of trade in the Sahara. He eats fish dried with salt, rice scented with saffron, a pot of mint tea, and the wares of trade: cowrie shells, gold jewelry, and kente cloth. I could envision a lesson where young kids explore the Sahara trade using this book as the central story. There is an author’s note that provides the historical and social context for the story with additional sources that could assist teachers with creating lesson plans for the classroom.
Through Sand and Salt is part of a large repertoire of work that includes book illustrations, murals, and fine art. As a first-generation New Yorker, Elizabeth Zunon reconnected to her Ivory Coast roots for her 2019 book Grandpa Cacao: A Tale of Chocolate, from Farm to Family. Elizabeth Zunon’s writing and illustrations span topics across the African continent and the diaspora. One of the best things about the artwork in this book is that it conveys the characters’ emotions so well through their facial expressions. It is not difficult to imagine the salty sandy air of the Sahara. I highly recommend this for school libraries and homes where books are used to have conversations about Africa in the world.
Amanda Lewis-Nang’ea, Ph.D.
SUNY Geneseo
Students learned that salt comes in slabs, not grounded table salt
I got to introduce them to Ancient Mali before our unit of study in May. The students and I enjoyed the book. Students were amazed that salt came in slabs and was so valuable!
My students loved the illustrations of this book. They all shared that the book is very colorful.
My students discussed that even though Malik made a mistake by losing his camel, he should be forgiven instead being scolded by his father. His father did forgive him and made him the leader on the journey home.
I truly enjoyed sharing this wonderful book with my students because they got to see a glimpse of Ancient Mali, which we will be studying later in the spring.
3rd Grade Teacher Fairfax, VA
My students knew a lot about the trade caravans during the Mali Empire from our studies of the West African Kingdoms.
The beautiful illustrations, the reinforcement of their knowledge, and being read to aloud from such a beautifully written book
The students were able to experience the real human side of the trade caravan journeys and also see this coming-of-age experience through their own eyes.
This was a highlight of Black History Month and our study of the West African Kingdoms this year. I will read it to my students every year!
Middle School Social Studies Teacher Montgomery County, Maryland
I teach Highschool but my school has a program to allow Highschool classes to read to elementary children. I chose this book as it was a perfect fit for the ancient African unit, particularly the salt/Gold trade section. This way not only do my current students in high school get a refresher on the material but the elementary students get to learn about it too.
My students loved the book “Through Salt and Sand by Elizabeth Zunon. This book was a great introduction to Mali, because later in the spring we will be studying ancient Mali and the trading of salt. Every year our school presents an Ancient Cultures Day and I decorate the room with Malian artifacts. The students create and wear their stamped fabric sashes to trade at the Ancient Cultures market place. It is truly a fabulous event for all our third graders.
I enjoyed sharing the book because of the vivid illustrations and Malik’s journey through the desert.
My students liked that Malik had a chance to prove himself and is now in charge of leading the caravan back to his village safely.
I happy that my students were able experience this book to build their background knowledge.