It is an evening of celebration in the village of Kaba Kangaba.
Everyone has gathered to share stories and friendship. Young Kankan Musa settles himself by his elders.
Then suddenly the night is filled with the cries of slave raiders. Kankan runs to find his spear, but in a moment he is taken.
When Kankan wakes, the world he has known is gone. Is he to be a slave? Or will destiny carry this son of a proud people to a different future? Through this richly imagined tale of the boyhood of Mansa Musa, one of Mali’s most celebrated kings, author Khephra Burns takes us on a triumphant journey of self-discovery.
In stunning illustrations, Caldecott Medalists Leo and Diane Dillon capture the drama of young Kankan’s story, the grandeur of Africa’s ancient cities, and the timeless majesty of her lands and people.
AUTHOR’S NOTE.
How much of Mansa Musa: The Lion of Mali is fiction and how much is fact?
The history of the great empire of Mali, including the information provided in the epilogue of this tale, is well documented. There are many scholarly sources that tell of Mansa Musa’s golden caravan crossing the Sahara.
The wealth and splendor he displayed on this journey were the talk of the Middle East and Europe for many years. One medieval map called him the king of all of Africa. Another European map from the fourteenth century, found in the Atlas Catalan, described Mansa Musa’s Mali this way: “So abundant is the gold which is found in his country that he is the richest and most noble king in all the land.” During Mansa Musa’s reign, the Malian Empire was larger than Egypt and its wealth far greater.
The story that Abubakari commissioned a fleet of ships to sail across the Atlantic Ocean in the fourteenth century has also been documented by a number of historians. And some of them point to traditional African roundhouses, huge stone carvings of heads with African facial features, and black-skinned people in Mexico and Brazil as evidence that Abubakari and his men made it all the way to the New World before Columbus.
The background for our story the places described and the customs of the Malinke who are also known as the Mandinka and the Tuareg is all historically accurate. For example, there actually was a salt city, Taghaza. Its houses and mosques were built of blocks of salt with roofs made of camel skins.
Some historians claim that Mansa Musa was the grandson of the great Sundiata, who was the founder of Mali, and others believe he was Sundiata’s grandnephew.
Most agree that he became the mansa of Mali in 1312 and died in 1337. He probably had a typical upbringing for his village and his time, but hardly anything is known for certain about the particulars of his childhood, and this is the part of the story that I have created.
Finally, the village of Kaba Kangaba still stands in Mali, and the noble Keita clan remains highly respected.
One of Mansa Musa’s descendants, Salif Keita, is today an internationally renowned Malian singer and musician.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR & ILLUSTRATORS. Khephra Burns has written for television, magazines, and for the stage. His book credits include the highly praised children’s book Black Stars in Orbit: NASA’s African American Astronauts, also published by Gulliver Books, and for adults, Confirmations: The Spiritual Wisdom That Has Shaped Our Lives, which he edited with his wife, Susan Taylor. He lives in New York City.
Leo & Diane Dillon, two-time Caldecott Medalists, together have illustrated more than forty books. They have received numerous honors for their work, including four New York Times Book Review Best mustrated Awards, a Coretta Scott King Award, and a Boston Globe -Horn Book Award. The Dillons live in New York City.
