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As Sasifi walks along to the market with her mother, a brightly painted truck passes them on the road. The passengers hit the side of the truck, tap-tap! To let the driver know where to stop.

Sasifi wants to ride to market in a tap-tap, but Mama says they don’t have the money. “Perhaps you are not old enough to help me on market day,” she tells Sasifi. Determined to be a good helper, Sasifi earns herself a wonderful surprise.

Behind the Story

I wanted to write about Tap-taps even before I went to Haiti when a friend told me about these brightly painted cars and busses that are used for public transportation on that Caribbean island. He said I would love them and he was right. I took a lot of tap-tap rides and had many adventures before I was able to turn the idea of tap-taps into a story. For me the bright colors and beautiful designs are a sign of hope in a very poor country where life is a daily struggle.

Illustrator: Catherine Stock

Publisher: Clarion Books

Buy the book: Amazon

Download the Teacher's Guide for this book. [1.6 MB PDF]