Pajama Press

“Fullerton notes that in Tanzania and other parts of Africa, there are still millions of people who cannot afford transportation….Some NGOs donate bicycles and open bicycle libraries where children can sign out a bicycle. In a Cloud of Dust lists organizations in North America that donate bicycles to Africa….Learning more about these organizations and doing fundraising in your classroom could be great book extensions for intermediate students.

In a Cloud of Dust demonstrates kindness and the idea of paying it forward. The message in the book is terrific and can be embedded throughout the curriculum, specifically focusing on equality, citizenship and social justice. This book would be appropriate for junior and intermediate levels.”
—Lindsay Freedman is a member of the Peel Teacher Local

Read the full review on page 46 of the Fall 2017 issue of ETFO Voice

“Glowing oil painting in golds and oranges spotlight the simple, uplifting story about sharing. An author’s note highlights more information about bicycle libraries and organizations that distribute bikes to Africa and other developing countries.”

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“…The bright, appealing illustrations carry the joy that the bicycles bring to the students through gold and orange washes, though specifics of the Tanzanian countryside are often lacking.

Verdict: Highly recommended for preschool, elementary and public libraries to increase awareness of life in different cultures and parts of the world.”
—Jane Cothron

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“There’s much excitement in a Tanzanian village when the bicycle library arrives in a cloud of dust. There are bikes for all the children except Anna, who arrives too late. Her disappointment is tangible, but rather than feel sorry for herself, she helps her friends learn to ride their new bicycles. She supports, balances, encourages, and accompanies her friends as they twist and turn, skid and slide, churning the dust into clouds of red and gold. Ultimately, Anna’s generosity is reciprocated by a friend who is as kind as she is. Notable for its message of putting others before oneself, the story is buoyed by illustrations that shimmer with movement, light, and feeling. Shades of ochre, amber, and pale gold radiate from each two-page spread, conveying through oil paint the warmth and grittiness of this village and its children. An author’s note explains the role of and constant need for bicycles in Africa.”

—Amina Chaudhri

 “Through the fictional story of a Tanzanian girl named Anna, Fullerton (Community Soup) and Deines (Bear on the Homefront) reveal how bicycles can change the lives of children whose families lack access to motorized transportation. Opening on “a little schoolhouse [that] sits at the end of a dusty road,” Deines shows Anna working indoors at a desk. “There will be no daylight for schoolwork by the time she reaches home,” writes Fullerton. A truck from a “Bicycle Library” unloads several bikes, but none are left for Anna; undeterred, she helps her friends learn how to ride their bikes (“She directs Samwel around the obstacles/ Left/ Right/ Stop!”) and shares one of them with another student so both of them can get home quickly. Soaked in warm golds and oranges, Deines’s oil paintings glow with a sense of promise as the children race around the schoolyard on their bikes. Fullerton says quite a bit with few words in her verselike prose, and a detailed author’s note discusses the vital role bicycles play in communities across Africa and supplies information about bicycle donation organizations. Ages 4–up. (Sept.)”

“In Tanzania, a bicycle lending library provides joy for village schoolchildren. When the truck full of bicycles arrives at Anna’s school, there aren’t quite enough for hardworking Anna to get one, at first, but she helps her friends learn to ride, and on their way home, she gets her turn. In A Good Trade, illustrated by Karen Patkau (2013), Fullerton showed how much a barefoot Ugandan boy might treasure a pair of new shoes. Here, she returns to rural southern Africa with a similarly understated story about another kind of need. The truck comes from the local bicycle repair shop, and it’s labeled “Bicycle Library.” True to the spirit of the loan, the bikes it brings are shared and offer both entertainment and relatively efficient transportation. Oil paintings in rich shades of orange show the children surrounded by clouds of dust….[T]hey show well, and the simple text reads aloud smoothly, making the book a good introduction for a discussion of different yet similar lives. An author’s note, appropriate for adults sharing this story with children, explains the need for bicycles in southern African countries and provides the names of organizations that work to fill that need. A nice addition to primary-grade “values” collections. (Picture book. 5-8)”

A dusty road leads to a schoolhouse nestled under a canopy of giant trees. A little girl stays in to do her homework at lunch, because by the time she walks the long way home, it will be too dark to see. Thus we are welcomed gently into Anna’s world in rural Tanzania, where the big event is the arrival of a heap of bicycles on a truck, in a cloud of dust. Although Anna is too late to get her own bike, she happily helps her friends learn to ride theirs, and soon she is bumping home on the back of Mohammed’s bike. And then he does something unexpected, and the joy at the centre of this story unfolds.

In A Cloud of Dust by Alma Fullerton is a simple, quiet book that resonates with all the ways that Anna’s life is different from ours. The modest gift of a bicycle makes a profound change in her daily life, and a note at the back of the book gives information about the many bike charities that bring bicycles to Africans. But the bicycle is only the jumping-off point for what this book is really about: the spirit of community that shines through as Anna and her friends help each other.

Brian Deines’ drawings are saturated with colour and full of movement: his wobbly bicycle riders struggle to keep their balance and you can almost see the wheels spinning when one of them tumbles to the ground. This glowing book is a wonderful introduction for young readers to life in a culture where many things are different, but some things are exactly the same.

“In a Cloud of Dust demonstrates a challenge that affects a wide range of children and adults living in developing countries such as Tanzania – transportation.

Anna, like many children in her country, has miles to travel to get to her school, but no transportation to help her. One day, a bicycle library truck stops outside her school dropping off bicycles to some of the students there. Unfortunately, Anna does not receive a bike, but she helps to teach other children how to ride and gets a ride in return. To Anna’s surprise, when her friend, Mohammed, stops the bike at his house, he offers Anna the bike to continue her journey onward. Anna thanks him and tells him that she will pick him up on her way to school the next day. This simple gesture helps Anna to arrive home before dark and offers her reliable transportation in the future.

Told in simplistic language in free verse, this story helps children understand some of the dilemma that exists for many children in developing countries today. An excellent resource for learning about other cultures, In a Cloud of Dust inspires children to learn about life in developing countries and about organizations who help folks by providing bicycles to children and adults, so they can go to school or their jobs, and also help to create jobs in communities. Highly recommended for classroom investigation and discussion and learning about good citizenship.”

Thematic Links: Life in Developing Countries
—Sharon Armstrong

“…Brian Deines has often used his illustrative talents to depict stories of North American First Nations life, but here his rich oil paintings, with their solid figures and warm palette, are very much up to the task of giving readers the sense of life in Africa. The joy of the children who have received a life-changing gift leaps off the pages. Ontarian Alma Fullerton, who is the author of a number of works including picture books and young adult novels, has provided a spare text that touches neatly on all the key points of the story.

Although not designed only as a teaching tool, In a Cloud of Dust would be useful in a classroom discussion of how children live in surroundings not familiar to Canadian children. There is an end note about bicycle libraries, which really are functioning in various places in the world, and some of the organizations which make them happen.”

Highly Recommended.

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In a Cloud of Dust offers a glimpse into the daily struggle of a young Tanzanian girl. Anna has along trek to and from school. While her classmates relax on lunch break, she works on her assignments, knowing it will be too dark to study by the time she walks back home. When Anna misses the arrival of the travelling bicycle library and isn’t able to claim a bike for herself, she swallows her disappointment and eagerly helps her friends master their new two-wheelers. Her generosity of spirit is repaid by her friend Mohammad , who shares his bike. Barrelling down the well-trodden path home, Anna revels in her speedy flight, and “kicks up her own cloud of dust.”

Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Award winner Alma Fullerton’s inviting text is spare and poetic. Lines appear staggered across the page in quick bursts that reflect the children’s excitement and energy: “Anna runs beside Farida. / She bumpety-bumps/ with Samwel. / She helps Leyla careen. / She twists and turns with Irene.”

Brian Deines’ radiant oil paintings glow with orange and yellow background washes. An aerial view of Anna standing by herself after all the bikes have been claimed highlights the girl’s initial isolation and disappointment. The warmly realistic images of Anna helping Leyla learn to balance, and Prisca laughing after taking a tumble, nicely capture the children’s indefatigable spirits.