A hard look at NWS children’s literature

Recently, the Nigerian Writers Series (NWS), an imprint of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) released three books in its Children’s Literature series. These include ‘The Loyal Queen’ by Chinyere Obi-Obasi, ‘Oma the Drummer Queen’ by Salamatu Sule, and ‘The Golden Girl of Galma’ by Kabir Abdullahi. Bookshelf takes a look. The Golden Girl of […]

Recently, the Nigerian Writers Series (NWS), an imprint of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) released three books in its Children’s Literature series. These include ‘The Loyal Queen’ by Chinyere Obi-Obasi, ‘Oma the Drummer Queen’ by Salamatu Sule, and ‘The Golden Girl of Galma’ by Kabir Abdullahi. Bookshelf takes a look.

The Golden Girl of Galma

This book, written by Kabiru Abdullahi has an attractive cover illustration, thanks to the handwork of two artists, Mustapha Bulama and Akila Jibril. But perhaps the artwork should have been allowed to spread to the back, just as it is in page twenty-two and twenty-three on the inside. 

Anyway, ‘The Golden Girl of Galma’ begins with suspense, certainly a necessary ingredient in any story. Where did Atine, the kidnapped girl come from and why was she kidnapped? Where did her kidnapper come from and why did he kidnap her? Apparently, Atine was married off to an illiterate herdsman by her captors, a choice she would never have made. But where is this story headed?  There’s a flashback, and a reader is taken to a time when Atine, who is a princess, rejected all the men paraded before her by her father, the king. She had chosen none of them and treated them with disrespect because, among other things, they couldn’t read or write. 

There are a number of things totally wrong about this story. One of them is the fact that Atine’s kidnappers and husband come out victorious at the end of the story (even if he, the so-called husband, did apologise). This is not a good lesson for children, especially at a time when kidnapping is a great challenge in Nigeria and Boko Haram terrorists kidnapped the Chibok Girls. An experience that doesn’t necessarily involve a crime may have served better to teach Atine a lesson on pride or why she shouldn’t look down on others.

Also, in this technology age, children are actually smarter than this writer may imagine. Atine’s behaviour while in captivity is very unrealistic. Why didn’t she attempt to run away, even once? Why did she simply accept her predicament as though it’s a trivial matter to be forced to marry and sleep with a stranger under the same roof? 

Again, there’s the issue of faulty use of language in the work. Perhaps better editing could have easily solved this. For example, the first paragraph in page 19 reads: They too, sometimes, looked admiringly at her. She had her mother’s ‘good look’ (instead of good look(s)) except that her mother’s face had wrinkles due to age.

From page 34: For two hours, Atine and the man lived together in ‘a difficult circumstance.’

Fair attempt and good luck to Abdullahi, but this book sure needs a lot of work.

Oma the Drummer Queen

Salamatu Sule is a book reviewer and literary agent. Her story, ‘Oma the Drummer Queen’ narrates how Oma, a girl takes over from her father the masculine role of drummer in the kingdom of Ebedi Iseyin and becomes a star. 

The cover art of this book, handwork of Akila Jibril, is commendable. A story like ‘Oma the Drummer Queen’, which shows how a girl achieves her dream in a male-dominated environment is timely. Unfortunately, Oma’s father remains the central character for most part of the story and Oma appears more as a secondary character after his death. Children would identify more with Oma if she had appeared in the story from the beginning.

A few omissions and confusion of tenses reduced the strength of this work, especially because it’s a work targeted at children. For example, in page 33, drummer was spelt ‘drumer’. 

From page 34 to 35 the use or mixture of tenses are confusing: One night, Asake and her daughter sat outside over a meal of Amala and Ewedu when they heard the cries of the king’s town crier. ‘Gwom! Gwom! Gwom! He beats his gong in announcement. He beats it three times. 

Still, children would be inspired by this tale which is a good effort.

The Loyal Queen

This book has an unattractive cover art. Although the story is an attempt to show, through the character of Ochugbo, the king’s barren first wife, that one could rise above her situation, a major error ruined the tale. 

The king, in search of an heir, gets married to several wives, based on the story. However, from page 9 to 12 there’s repetition. Ifeoma is said to be the king’s second wife. She’s also described as a gossip. The seventh paragraph on page 9 reads:

Eventually everyone came to know she was a gossip and stopped telling her things. But being a very clever lady, she had a way of asking her questions and getting the answers she wanted. She would start by showing so much sympathy and love and before you knew it, you have revealed your secrets to her. 

Again from the last paragraph of page 11, Okwuchi is said to be the king’s fourth wife and is described almost exactly the way Ifeoma was:

Everybody understood she was a gossip, as she freely shared whatever information she had. She would always make you believe that you were the only one she was telling so she would say, ‘please keep it to yourself. You are the only one I am telling this.’ Eventually everyone came to know she was a gossip and stopped telling her things. But being a very clever lady, she had a way of asking her questions and getting the answers she wanted. She would start by showing so much sympathy and love and before you knew it, you have revealed your secrets to her.

These significant errors and the poor illustrations in this book would make it hard for children to follow and enjoy it. This is sad, but a second edition could save the day because the author clearly has a lesson to pass across. Ochugo is the example of a strong woman who is secure in a situation where many in her shoes wouldn’t be.