Seven Spools of Thread by Angela Shelf Medearis
It makes for an interesting, enjoyable story to read and talk about as a family. The introduction explains the seven principles, but Medearis lets the story unfold on its own without explicitly connecting the dots. The story weaves in the Kwanzaa principles, such as Umoja, or unity, and Ujamaa, or co-operative economics. But soon they start working together, combining their different colored spools of thread to create Kente cloth – the first multicolored cloth their village has seen – which they sell to the king for the required gold.
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At first, the brothers are stunned and cannot think of how to accomplish this. When their father passes away, he leaves a will that instructs them to spin seven spools of thread into gold in only one day-with no arguing. Seven Ghanaian brothers continuously bicker, arguing from sunrise to sunset.
This original folktale helps introduces children to the seven principles of Kwanzaa, but through a creative story instead of a didactic lesson.