Thursday, 28th March 2024
To guardian.ng
Search

Firm unveils books to arouse children’s interest in Africa

By Sunday Aikulola
01 August 2021   |   3:05 am
To arouse interest of young people in African history and culture, Kunda Kids has boosted its collection with two new books.

To arouse interest of young people in African history and culture, Kunda Kids has boosted its collection with two new books.

Titled Queen Moremi Makes a Promise, written by Ayo Oyeku and King Alboury Cooks the Best Jollof, authored by Sokhna Ndiaye, both literatures were consistent with the vission of the firm’s founders targeted at diversifying children’s books in homes, libraries and schools globally besides promoting the continent’s numerous values and mores.

The writer, in the first work, was inspired by Queen Moremi, a legendary Yoruba queen and folk heroine in the present-day South West region. That of Ndiaye was motivated by King Alboury, the last monarch of the great Jolof Kingdom of Senegal, and which celebrates the popular African dish jollof rice that originated from the West African nation.

The firm observed that only two per cent of recently published children’s books in the United Kingdom featured a black main character.

Kunda Kids said believed in championing children’s access to books and education content, hence its identification with a number of international initiatives and partners for the younger ones, especially those in remote or disadvantaged communities, to access to its content and materials.

Speaking on the fresh texts, the company’s co-founder, Dele Olafuyi noted: “With these new additions, we are making a continuous effort towards bridging the diversity gap in children literature to help preserve African history and culture in the minds of kids on the continent and in the Diaspora.”

Also, another co-founder, Kunda Kids, Louisa Olafuyi, stated: “The lack of African representation in children’s book is hugely problematic because when children’s literature and content, in general, fail to provide representations of individuals from different backgrounds, cultures and races, it breeds ignorance. This is why it is important that parents/guardians, uncles and aunties buy such diverse books for their kids to help shape their worldview.”

Kunda Kids was founded in 2020 by the couple during the COVID-19 lockdown and has since sold over 7,000 books from its premier collection: Africa’s Little Kings & Queens – a collection of four beautifully illustrated picture books, inspired by some of ancient Africa’s most influential leaders – Queen Yaa Asantewaa, Mansa Musa, Queen Kitami and Shaka Zulu

The books now selling in Europe, U.S. and bookstores across Africa.

0 Comments