At every stage of life, the right books, films, music, art, and travel experiences help form values, deepen empathy, and build perspective. The selections below are grouped by age to match the questions people tend to ask at that point in life. The suggested lists balance faith, culture, history, and imagination, with African and global voices side by side. Use this as a guide for yourself, your children, or mentees, not a strict checklist. The goal is steady exposure to ideas and experiences that stretch the mind and ground the soul.

Curated Reading List by Age Range

AGES 6 – 12

• The Bible – various authors
• Charlotte’s Web – E. B. White
• The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – C. S. Lewis
• The Little Prince – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
• A Wrinkle in Time – Madeleine L’Engle
• The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind – William Kamkwamba & Bryan Mealer
• Nelson Mandela’s Favorite African Folktales – edited by Nelson Mandela
• Matilda – Roald Dahl

AGES 13 – 17

• The Bible – various authors
• Things Fall Apart – Chinua Achebe
• Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens
• Purple Hibiscus – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
• Animal Farm – George Orwell
• To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee
• The River Between – Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o
• The Old Man and the Sea – Ernest Hemingway

AGES 18 – 29

• The Bible – various authors
• 1984 – George Orwell
• Half of a Yellow Sun – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
• Man’s Search for Meaning – Viktor E. Frankl
• The Souls of Black Folk – W. E. B. Du Bois
• Nervous Conditions – Tsitsi Dangarembga
• Sapiens – Yuval Noah Harari
• The Alchemist – Paulo Coelho
• A Short History of Nearly Everything – Bill Bryson
• The Holy Spirit – John Bevere

AGES 30 – 45

• The Bible – various authors
• The Brothers Karamazov – Fyodor Dostoevsky
• A Man of the People – Chinua Achebe
• Meditations – Marcus Aurelius
• Guns, Germs, and Steel – Jared Diamond
• Homegoing – Yaa Gyasi
• The Road – Cormac McCarthy
• Thinking, Fast and Slow – Daniel Kahneman

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Curated Movie List by Age Range

AGES 6 – 12

Moral intuition, empathy, wonder

• The Lion King (1994, original animated) – Directed by Roger Allers & Rob Minkoff
• Finding Nemo – Directed by Andrew Stanton
• Paddington – Directed by Paul King
• WALL·E – Directed by Andrew Stanton
• Kirikou and the Sorceress – Directed by Michel Ocelot
• The Sound of Music – Directed by Robert Wise
• My Neighbor Totoro – Directed by Hayao Miyazaki
• Up – Directed by Pete Docter

AGES 13 – 17

Identity, justice, courage, romantic idealism

• Dead Poets Society – Directed by Peter Weir
• Hotel Rwanda – Directed by Terry George
• The Truman Show – Directed by Peter Weir
• Akeelah and the Bee – Directed by Doug Atchison
• The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind – Directed by Chiwetel Ejiofor
• Freedom Writers – Directed by Richard LaGravenese
• Schindler’s List – Directed by Steven Spielberg
• A Walk to Remember – Directed by Adam Shankman

AGES 18 – 29

Worldview, systems, meaning, intimacy

• The Matrix – Directed by Lana & Lilly Wachowski
• Children of Men – Directed by Alfonso Cuarón
• The Social Dilemma – Directed by Jeff Orlowski
• Black Panther – Directed by Ryan Coogler
• District 9 – Directed by Neill Blomkamp
• The Pursuit of Happyness – Directed by Gabriele Muccino
• 12 Angry Men – Directed by Sidney Lumet

AGES 30 – 45

Integration, leadership, legacy, moral consequence

• The Godfather – Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
• Gladiator – Directed by Ridley Scott
• Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom – Directed by Justin Chadwick
• There Will Be Blood – Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
• Life Is Beautiful – Directed by Roberto Benigni
• No Country for Old Men – Directed by Joel & Ethan Coen
• Revolutionary Road – Directed by Sam Mendes

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Curated Music Albums by Age Range

AGES 6 – 12

Melody, joy, rhythm, emotional safety

• Off the Wall – Michael Jackson (1979)
• Legend – Bob Marley & The Wailers (1984)
• Tapestry – Carole King (1971)
• Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Songbook – Ella Fitzgerald (1956)
• What a Wonderful World – Louis Armstrong (1968)
• In the Morning Light – Onyeka Onwenu (1984)

AGES 13 – 17

Identity, emotion, voice, social awareness

• The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill – Lauryn Hill (1998)
• 21 – Adele (2011)
• Zombie – Fela Kuti (1976)
• Abbey Road – The Beatles (1969)
• A Rush of Blood to the Head – Coldplay (2002)
• Àṣà – Asa (2007)

 

AGES 18 – 29

Worldview, struggle, experimentation, meaning

• To Pimp a Butterfly – Kendrick Lamar (2015)
• Tracy Chapman – Tracy Chapman (1988)
• OK Computer – Radiohead (1997)
• African Giant – Burna Boy (2019)
• The Joshua Tree – U2 (1987)

AGES 30 – 45

Integration, memory, wisdom, legacy

• Songs in the Key of Life – Stevie Wonder (1976)
• Kind of Blue – Miles Davis (1959)
• Graceland – Paul Simon (1986)
• American IV: The Man Comes Around – Johnny Cash (2002)
• Logo – Angélique Kidjo (2013)
• Juju Music – King Sunny Ade (1982)

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Curated Artworks by Age Range

(With locations of the original works)

AGES 6 – 12

Wonder, beauty, imagination, safety

• The Starry Night – Vincent van Gogh  | Location: Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, USA
• Water Lilies (series) – Claude Monet  | Location: Musée de l’Orangerie, Paris, France
• The Sleeping Gypsy – Henri Rousseau  |   Location: Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, USA
• Nok Terracotta Sculptures – Nok culture (Nigeria, c. 1000 BC – 300 AD)  |  Location: National Museum, Abuja & Lagos, Nigeria
• The Great Wave off Kanagawa – Katsushika Hokusai  | Location: British Museum, London, UK; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA

AGES 13 – 17

Identity, courage, suffering, moral tension

• David – Michelangelo  | Location: Galleria dell’Accademia, Florence, Italy
• Guernica – Pablo Picasso  | Location: Museo Reina Sofía, Madrid, Spain
• The Gleaners – Jean-François Millet  | Location: Musée d’Orsay, Paris, France
• Benin Bronzes – Edo Kingdom (Nigeria)  | Location: British Museum, London, UK (with ongoing repatriation to Nigeria)
• Liberty Leading the People – Eugène Delacroix  | Location: Louvre Museum, Paris, France

AGES 18 – 29

Power, systems, faith, disruption

• The Last Supper – Leonardo da Vinci  | Location: Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan, Italy
• The Persistence of Memory – Salvador Dalí  | Location: Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, USA
• American Gothic – Grant Wood  | Location: Art Institute of Chicago, USA
• Baule Mask – Baule people (Ivory Coast)  | Location: Musée du Quai Branly, Paris, France
• The Third of May 1808 – Francisco Goya  | Location: Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain

AGES 30 – 45

Legacy, mortality, wisdom, transcendence

• Pietà – Michelangelo  | Location: St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City
• The School of Athens – Raphael  | Location: Apostolic Palace, Vatican City
• Las Meninas – Diego Velázquez  | Location: Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain
• The Seated Scribe – Ancient Egypt  | Location: Louvre Museum, Paris, France
• Burial Mask of Tutankhamun  | Location: Egyptian Museum, Cairo, Egypt

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Curated Travel List by Age Range

(Countries with two defining experiences each)

AGES 6 – 12

Wonder, safety, storytelling, first world-memory

Japan  

• Cherry blossom season (hanami)  
• Traditional gardens and cultural imagination  

United Kingdom  

• British Museum (world history made tangible)
• Countryside and castles (England or Scotland)  

Italy  

• Roman ruins (Colosseum and Forum)  
• Renaissance art in Florence  

South Africa  

• Safari (Kruger or similar reserve)  
• Robben Island (Nelson Mandela’s imprisonment)  

Canada  

• National parks (Banff / Lake Louise)  
• Indigenous culture and nature immersion

AGES 13 – 17

Identity, conscience, history, moral awareness

Germany  

• Berlin Wall and Holocaust memorials  
• Museums on memory and responsibility  

United States  

• Civil Rights Trail (Selma, Birmingham, Atlanta)
• Smithsonian museums and National Mall  

Ghana  

• Cape Coast and Elmina slave castles  
• Ashanti culture and traditional leadership  

Rwanda  

• Kigali Genocide Memorial  
• National reconciliation and modern governance  

France  

• Louvre and Musée d’Orsay  
• Paris as a philosophy-of-culture city  

AGES 18 – 29

Independence, complexity, ambition, contradiction

Brazil  

• Rio Carnival  
• Faith, inequality, and joy experienced together  

India  

• Ganges River (Varanasi)  
• Sacred life amid chaos and discipline  

Nigeria  

• Lagos (energy, commerce, creativity)  
• Cultural depth beyond headlines  

Turkey  

• Hagia Sophia and Ottoman legacy  
• East–West civilisational crossroads  

Mexico  

• Day of the Dead
• Indigenous and Catholic cultural fusion

AGES 30 – 45

Legacy, wisdom, time, continuity

Egypt  

• Pyramids and ancient civilisation
• Museums of human time and mortality

Morocco  

• Fez or Marrakech medinas
• Islamic craftsmanship and patience  

Jordan  

• Petra (lost city carved in stone)  
• Desert silence and ancient trade routes  

Peru  

• Machu Picchu
• Indigenous continuity and empire memory  

China

• Great Wall
• Scale, endurance, and civilisational discipline