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Through Sand and Salt: A Tale of Discovery Across the Sahara

by Elizabeth Zunon

A caravan journey through the Sahara

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Regular price $28.49 USD Sale price $17.09 USD
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Awards & Recognition

  • Editorial selection

    Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection

    Selected as a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection.

AlbakiReads Editorial

A caravan journey through the Sahara

Malik joins his father’s caravan to carry salt along a trade route to Timbuktu, taking on a responsibility that marks his move from novice toward leadership. The journey also opens a window onto salt’s many roles: beyond seasoning and preserving food, the book presents it as part of trade, ritual, civilization, and the human body. Elizabeth Zunon’s picture book brings together a child’s growing confidence and a broader look at how a familiar mineral connects people and sustains life across the Sahara.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Children ages 4–8 interested in journeys set in Africa.
  • Young readers curious about salt, trade, and everyday materials’ roles in human life.
  • Families and educators seeking a picture book that pairs a coming-of-age journey with cultural and natural history themes.

Themes

Sahara and TimbuktuCaravan tradeSalt and its usesGrowing responsibility and confidenceConnections between people and place

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection

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.

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