Carmen Agra Deedy in collaboration with Wilson Kimeli Naiyomah, illustrated by Thomas Gonzalez,
14 Cows for America
Peach Tree, 2009.

Ages 6-10

The United States is seldom the recipient of generous gifts from poorer nations.  Outpourings of criticism are more commonplace than expressions of international goodwill, perhaps understandably so. The richest, most powerful nation of our times wields an enormous influence in the lives of people everywhere; it is only natural that people have opinions.  But the people of the United States, like people anywhere, can also suffer.  And the people of the United States, like people anywhere, take comfort in the compassion of their fellow human beings. 

14 Cows for America is the true story of a small nation, the Maasai tribe of Kenya, comforting the United States in the aftermath of September 11, 2001.  When native son Wilson Kimeli Naiyomah returned home in the spring of 2002 from Stanford University where he had been studying, he brought with him the story of 9/11, which even the elders of his tribe had not yet heard.  He shared this story with his people, who could scarcely imagine “buildings so tall they can touch the sky” or “fires so hot they can melt iron.” When Kimeli finished, an elder eventually asked “What can we do to help these poor people?”

In a note that follows the story Kimeli explains the Maasai belief that “to heal a sorrowing heart, give something that is dear to your own.”  The Maasai people, once known as fierce warriors, are now a peaceful, nomadic tribe dependent on their cattle.  Kimeli asks the elders to bless his only cow as an offering to comfort the American people.  Not only do they comply, but thirteen others immediately offer cows for America.  When the American diplomat comes to receive this gift he is moved beyond words in the realization that “there is no nation so powerful it cannot be wounded, nor a people so small they cannot offer mighty comfort.”

Told in sparse and poetic language accompanied by gorgeous illustrations of the Kenyan landscape and detailed depictions of the noble Maasai, this beautiful story will put all readers in touch with our shared humanity.

Abigail Sawyer
November 2009