Author recreates Jack and the Beanstalk with a Nigerian twist

Creative writing teacher Akumbu Uche has published her first children book, titled Yak and the Giant, a rehash of the famous Jack and the Beanstalk, with a Nigerian flavor and moral twist. The Kaduna-born University of Jos Mass Communications graduate said she was inspired to write the story in order to infuse a moral outcome […]

Creative writing teacher Akumbu Uche has published her first children book, titled Yak and the Giant, a rehash of the famous Jack and the Beanstalk, with a Nigerian flavor and moral twist.

The Kaduna-born University of Jos Mass Communications graduate said she was inspired to write the story in order to infuse a moral outcome that Nigerian children can connect to. 

“I was teaching a Creative Writing class to five and six-year olds using Jack and the Beanstalk. I found it problematic because at that age, children take things literally – they don’t spot nuance the way older children might.  I began to think what if this story had a different moral outcome? I put pen to paper and voila, Yaks and the Giant was born.” She said. 

The author who said she took four weeks to put down the first draft, devoting a lot more time to editing the contribution, appreciated the work of graphic artist Nsikak John in bringing the characters alive in lovely drawings.

Uche said she grew up reading a lot of children literature and decided to contribute by writing her own in view of the impact they have on growing children.

“I consider myself privileged to have been exposed to both Western and Nigerian books growing up. So yes, I read the likes of Enid Blyton, Roald Dahl and Uncle Arthur’s Bedtime Stories but I also enjoyed reading Eze Goes to School, Chike and the River, Akpan and the Smugglers, Tambari and the Macmillan Children’s series. One of my earliest memories is my parents reading me Only Bread for Eze when I was being fussy about my food,” she said.  

Uche hopes that the book, which is currently available as an ebook on Okadabooks, will be the first of many she hopes to write in the future, saying, “hopefully more children’s books and fiction for adults as well. I have a children’s book manuscript that I’m currently shopping around to publishers and I am editing a collection of flash fiction.”