Bella's Chocolate Surprise
Lessons about fair trade are at the center of this adventure that begins on Bella's birthday. Her mother has baked a chocolate cake and, delicious though it is, Bella begins to wonder where chocolate comes from. With the help of her friend the Quetzal bird, Bella harnesses the powers of her mystical pendant and flies to Ghana in West Africa, where she befriends a group of children working in the cacao fields. She soon learns that they are part of a collective...
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Lessons about fair trade are at the center of this adventure that begins on Bella's birthday. Her mother has baked a chocolate cake and, delicious though it is, Bella begins to wonder where chocolate comes from. With the help of her friend the Quetzal bird, Bella harnesses the powers of her mystical pendant and flies to Ghana in West Africa, where she befriends a group of children working in the cacao fields. She soon learns that they are part of a collective that guarantees a fair income to workers and pays for the children to go to school. Delighting in her new cross-cultural friendships, Bella starts to plan how to get people from home involved in supporting fair-trade practices around the world.Trans Fair USA newsletterA lively, fast-paced read, mixing magical elements and realism, underpinned by positive messages about cross-cultural friendship, working together, and the benefits of fair trade.
\ Children's LiteratureChildren will enjoy biting into this delicious story, which is best enjoyed with a bite of chocolate!\ \ \ \ \ Edmonton's ChildA lively, fast-paced read.\ \ \ Parents ExpressTravel with Bella to West Africa as she discovers where chocolate comes from.\ \ \ \ \ School Library JournalBoldly outlined, the pictures give readers a sense of life in a remote West African village and offer facts about chocolate and cacao harvesting.\ \ \ \ \ The Fair Trade BeatMix[es] magical elements and realism, underpinned by positive messages about cross-cultural friendship, working together, and the benefits of fair trade.\ \ \ \ \ Trans Fair USA newsletterA lively, fast-paced read, mixing magical elements and realism, underpinned by positive messages about cross-cultural friendship, working together, and the benefits of fair trade.\ \ \ \ \ Ultraviolet Underground blogThis book is not only multicultural, it also teaches children about fair trade and responsible shopping.\ \ \ \ \ Children's Literature\ - Suzanna E. Henshon\ Bella Balistica was born in Guatemala but now lives with Annie, her adoptive mother, in London. One day Bella finds a magical pendant that once belonged to her birth mother and she flies off to Ghana with a Quetzal bird for an amazing adventure. Bella and the bird see how cacao beans are transformed into Bella's favorite food, chocolate. Bella is surprised at how hard the children work to harvest the cacao beans, never complaining or getting the opportunity to taste the fruits of their labor, chocolate. Can Bella do something to help these children? The Fair Trade Company pays for their food, school fees, and medical supplies, but Bella wishes her friends could eat a bite of chocolate, the finished product of the cacao beans they grow. Eventually Bella leaves so she can celebrate her birthday with her mother. Once she is home, Bella decides to send chocolate to her new friends in Ghana. Children will enjoy biting into this delicious story, which is best enjoyed with a bite of chocolate! Reviewer: Suzanna E. Henshon, Ph.D.\ \ \ \ \ School Library JournalGr 2-4- Bella, introduced in Bella Balistica and the African Safari (Milet, 2007), is once again united with her animal twin, the Quetzal bird, through the magic in a pendant once owned by her Guatemalan birth mother. The bird takes her to Ghana, where she helps some children with the cacao harvest and learns how they prepare the seeds used to make chocolate. While the work is difficult, the children's family receives Fair Trade money that pays living and school expenses. When Bella returns to London to enjoy her birthday celebration, complete with chocolate cake, she resolves to send chocolate to the Ghanaian children, who have never experienced its taste. Boldly outlined, the pictures depict Ghanaians, most in Western clothing, hard at work cheerfully harvesting fancifully colored cacao pods. Thatched huts; two women, one carrying a basket on her head and the other a baby on her back; and lush vegetation give readers a sense of life in a remote West African village. Although this story, sprinkled with British expressions, is a rather heavy-handed endorsement for Fair Trade products, it does offer some facts about chocolate and cacao harvesting.-Marianne Saccardi, formerly at Norwalk Community College, CT\ \ \
