Kids may not be familiar with the practice of philosophy, so we’ve created some ground rules that will promote better discussion: Raise our hands before you speak Don’t be afraid or shy of asking questions. Never speak when someone else is speaking. We justify our opinions by giving reasons for them Learn to listen carefully to what is being said Be respectful of others’ opinions by not judging them! Disagreement is good, so long as it is done with respect. Don’t expect everyone to share the same perspective as you. Avoid having side conversations! You won’t appreciate others being talking or distracted when you are also speaking. Ask them questions about a story from a book they have read to start a conversation Allow your kid to ask questions too. Many children's bookstackled problems of  racism ,  environmentalism , equality, injustice, etc.  At home, you can do something as simple as responding to a question with a clarifying question. If a child asks you, “Are aliens real?” you might respond, “What do you think it means for something to be real?” and then go from there. Do you have other ideas? Please do share with us in the comments.

Does your kid ask “Why” all the time? Do you want to help them search for answers to the big questions but don't know how? Here are a few questions to encourage your little philosopher. Could you describe yourself in three words? If you could be invisible for one day, what would you do? If you could build anything in our backyard, what would you build? If you could change one thing in the world, what would you change? If you could only choose between your phone and your bible, what will you choose? Why? If you could write your own book, on what would it be? And the title? If you had 10 000 FCFA to do anything you wanted with, what would you do with it? If you had to give all your toys away, who would you give them to? What did you try hard at today? What is one of your favorite all time memories? What is the funniest joke you know? What is your favorite book? What is your favorite game? What is your favorite meal? What is your favorite movie? What is your favorite word? Why? What mistake did you make that taught you something? What qualities do you think make a good friend? What was the least favorite part of the day? What was your best moment of the day? What will you do to challenge yourself today? What will you do to improve your talent? What would you want to be in the future? Where would you spend your dream vacation? Who do you want to be most like when you grow up? It’s your turn ! What question do you want to ask daddy / mummy ?

African Storybook Maker . Make your own storybook offline, using your own photographs and pictures. Download here  African Storybook Reader : Open access to picture storybooks in the languages of Africa. For children’s literacy, enjoyment, and imagination. The African Storybook Reader has a unique collection of over 1500 approved picture storybooks for early reading in 40 of the languages of Africa. Download African Storybook : With more than 7,200 children’s stories in 190 African languages, African Storybook has something for every child, from the very young ones just learning to read to older children. It’s possible to search in various ways, including by language and reading level, and to download freely and print. Most of the storybooks are created or translated by local educators and reflect African contexts. There is also an excellent guide for parents, teachers, and librarians on  Preparing to Use African Storybooks with Children . Over 4,000 of these storybooks can be found on the ASb reader app. Selected books can be downloaded onto a personal library for  offline Amadiora : An African Platform for Digital Comics Facilitating the Visibility of African and Afro-Descendant Cartoonists. Access here Afrocomix is an ingenious app from Leti Arts and is a revolutionary technological step to bringing all African creatives together to provide a hub for the best Afrocentric content, such as comics, wallpapers, and animations. Download on Android Amazon Kindle: The robust and well-designed Kindle app allows you to read over seven million eBooks online at any time, anywhere. Download :  Android ,  iOS Anybooks: This app contains any book that you might be interested in reading. Apple Books: T he best book-reading apps available only on iOS devices with access to millions of ebooks and audiobooks. Download :  iOS Audible : Audible is allowing free access to stream an incredible collection of stories for children and teenagers, including titles across six different languages. All stories are free to stream on your desktop, laptop, phone, or tablet. Download :  Android ,  iOS Book Dash : This South African non-profit gathers creative professionals who volunteer to create new African storybooks that anyone can freely translate, print, and distribute. It creates beautiful, high-quality books for young children in all South African languages. They currently have over 100 titles. Book Dash also has a short guide on  Tips for Reading with Young Children . Book Dash: Book Dash provides free access to high-quality  African  storybooks that anyone can freely translate and distribute. BookBeak African app-based platform aggregating African short stories from African storytellers and putting them directly in the hands of parents looking for more representative stories to read their children. Download: Apple &  Android Epic : It’s the leading digital reading platform for kids 12 and under, offering access to over 40,000 high-quality books for kids, learning videos, and reading quizzes that safely fuel curiosity and reading confidence for kids 12 and under. Download on Android and IPhone FarFaria : Curated library of 1,000s of popular children’s ebooks for kids 1-9. You can choose from unlimited read-aloud storybooks, fairy tale books, bedtime stories, nursery rhymes, songs, Spanish books, educational books, and more. Offline access to favorites. Download on Android Google Play Books: The app supports millions of ebooks, comics, and audiobooks. You can download books and read them whenever you want to. Download :  Android Kids Read Aloud & Educational Audio Books Library : It’s an educational app for preschool children & toddlers with 1000+ books for just $5 per month. Download on Android Kobo Books: It is rated among the top book reading apps as it works on an hourly update basis and offers books in over nine languages. Download :  Android ,  iOS Let's Read —Digital Library of Children's Books: All books on the Let’s Read app are 100% free to read. Your favorite books are also free to download and save for reading anytime, online or offline. Minno Kids : Enjoy Christian shows, movies, and devotionals that bring faith and the Bible to life for Christian families. Download on Android and IPhone Moon + Reader: Only available on Android and selected for Editors’ Choice for 2018 for the value it offers its users. It supports thousands of books across various genres and over 20 ebook formats. Download :  Android My Picture Books: Use your own pictures to create picture books, and enhance them with texts or audio. Download here Nal’ibali : Nal’ibali believes that a well-established culture of reading can be a real game changer for education. Nal’ibali promotes reading and writing in mother tongue languages. Nal’ibali has free to download stories for children and teenagers. Nook by Barnes & Nobles : This app supports an online repository of over four million ebooks across several genres (fiction + non-fiction), magazines, comics, and graphic novels. Download :  Android ,  iOS Okada Books : Developed in Nigeria, it’s a wide collection of Afrocentric books that is just as impressive as the Africa-focused features it packs. Available on  Android OverDrive: You can borrow ebooks, audiobooks, and even videos from your local library’s digital collection. OverDrive attracts support from across 40,000 libraries worldwide, making it one of the best book-reading apps available on your fingertips. All you need is an active account with the supported libraries or institutions. Download :  Android ,  iOS PocketBook Reader : A free books app for reading ebooks, magazines, comics, articles, and much more. It supports nearly 26 ebook and audio formats and ensures to offer an ad-free experience. Download on Android or IPhone Radish: The first three chapters of a book are free, and the next chapter becomes ‘locked’ for a week. After the week is over, they are ‘unlocked’ and remain free. Android & IPhone Read Along has an in-app reading buddy that listens to your young learner read aloud, offers assistance when they struggle, and rewards them with stars when they do well—guiding them along as they progress. Read Aloud , a reading app for kids that works offline. The app listens to the learner and teaches them how to well pronounce Download here (Android) ReadingIQ  : A comprehensive digital learning library app for kids ages 2 to 12, to perfectly align with your child’s reading ability and grade level. From beautifully illustrated picture books, popular series, and comic books to chapter books, graphic novels, and books on every academic subject, ReadingIQ is the anywhere, anytime personal learning library that helps your child grow as a reader. Download here Roundafire: South Africa’s First Multicultural Reading App with fun and educational storybooks from toddler to primary school years. Download via Google Store or Apple Store Scribd : The app supports millions of ebooks, audiobooks, magazines, comics, and sheet music. The genre diversity and the availability of updated and latest articles make this app worth a try. Download :  Android ,  iOS Starfall It's Fun to Read : The activities at Starfall.com motivate through exploration, positive reinforcement, and play. With a basic understanding of letter-sound relationships, your child is ready to explore a variety of genres and topics that will expand reading vocabulary, comprehension, and world knowledge. The games and activities within demonstrate the joy of reading through rhyme, alliteration, spelling patterns, and word play. An AutoRead feature to model fluent reading, which can be disabled once your child is able to read independently. Download here StoryWeaver : M ore than 19,000 stories in 234 languages. StoryWeaver has a special page on  Reading at Home  during the Coronavirus school closures. The Early Literacy Resource Network : It provides links to research and resources on licensing, policies, creation, and use of high-quality children’s materials in the global South. The  Teaching Literacy  page provides information for teaching reading and literacy skills. Access  Good Stories Don't Grow on Trees: A Guide to Effective Costing of Storybooks in the Global South . Vooks : A kid-safe, ad-free streaming library of read-aloud animated storybooks. Download on Android and IPhone Wattpad: It connects a global community of millions of readers and writers through the power of story. Download on Android and iPhone We hope that one of these 37 apps and websites would satisfy your needs to access African books or original stories for your kids or teenagers. If you know any other platform with African content or stories for kids or young adults, please do let us know in a comment.

IPA invites project proposals to nurture Africa’s reading culture ‘beyond the classroom’ in 2022-2023 USD 200,000 for the best ideas to get more Africans reaching for a book The International Publishers Association ( IPA ) is accepting proposals for projects to develop reading culture beyond the classroom in Africa, with grants from the USD 200,000 Africa Publishing Innovation Fund ( APIF ) on offer to the best ideas. African publishing leans heavily towards education—up to 90% of sales in some markets—with reading widely viewed exclusively as a means to further schooling or professional skills. In parallel, many African publishers are overdependent on selling printed textbooks to governments, a one-track business model that left them foundering when COVID-19 closed schools and drove learning online.   The 2022 APIF theme of cultivating reading culture is intentionally broad to attract a wide range of innovations. Examples could be developing the publishing value chain (authors, illustrators, translators, literary agents, booksellers, distributors, etc.) or increasing access to books, such as through public libraries.  The APIF Committee, led by IPA President Bodour Al Qasimi and comprising veteran publishers from Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Tunisia, and South Africa, believes cultivating reading for fun in Africa—especially among children and young adults—stands to bring continentwide socioeconomic advancements in the medium to long term. Bodour Al Qasimi  said:  HOW TO APPLY From 1 June to 31 August 2021, Africa-based entrepreneurs and innovators can pitch their ideas via the APIF website at  www.apinnovation.fund , after which they will receive a form to fill out and return to  info@apinnovation.fund . The eventual winners will be selected by the IPA Africa Publishing Innovation Committee. About the APIF The APIF is a four-year, USD 800,000 fund provided by  Dubai Cares , a UAE-based global philanthropic organization, and administered by the IPA. This is the third round of grants awarded under a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in May 2019 between Dubai Cares, part of Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives, and the IPA. Since then, the APIF has supported  eight publishing innovations and four library projects .

The growing interest in bilingual education in sub-Saharan Africa has highlighted an urgent need for reading material in African languages. Increasingly, parents and educators, conscious of the strategic value of indigenous language on identity construction, encourage or educate children to know and speak at least one local language. However, parents are usually faced with many challenges whenever they attempt to find bilingual books in their local languages. It’s well known that it’s relatively difficult to access culturally diverse and relevant children’s books for African kids. But that difficulty is greater for multilingual books from African authors or illustrators, or those whose bilingual version is with one African indigenous language. Evidently, there are many factors that have contributed to the current scarcity of bilingual children’s books in our local markets and bookstores. I will briefly explore some of these reasons. Financial and technical obstacles Although there is evidence of a growing interest in producing books in local languages, the number of titles is constrained by funding. The challenges for authors include the need to understand the ingredients for successful children’s books and the sensitivity necessary to negotiate the linguistic challenges associated with a newly emergent genre in African languages. Support, in the form of competitions and workshops, relies on external funding and expertise and offers only temporary solutions. Some sounds untranslatable into print Publishing in local African languages requires new resources that are different from the existing international languages. For example, the publisher may need to buy additional equipment or software that can handle African signs and symbols. Insufficient readership in African indigenous languages Many publishers would tell you that it’s a very risky investment to publish a book (either for children or not) in an indigenous language because it usually limits the potential number of people who can purchase and read it. Since a publisher is more of a businessman than a philanthropist, s(he) would naturally prefer publishing in a language that is more marketable with a greater potential of return on investments (ROI). So not publishing multilingual books in African indigenous languages because of insufficient economic gain is comprehensible, but let’s be bold and future-minded as Ngugi Wa Thiongo and other African authors, publishers, and book lovers who have consistently taken that "risk.". Caine Prize nominee and literary superstar Chimamanda Adichie now refuses to have a glossary at the end of her books and has stopped italicizing foreign words. South Africa tries to promote all its 11 national languages, and some anthologies containing different languages have been published. Government departments are mandated by law to avail publications in all national languages, but they don’t always comply. The best practices of the South African publishing industry in indigenous languages could be learned by other African nations. Contemporary parents prefer books in English or French Some parents would deliberately not look for multilingual books because they consider English and French to be global languages with more privileges and opportunities for their kids. I have many friends who themselves aren’t able to speak any indigenous languages, and evidently their kids too. Therefore, these parents would naturally not go for multilingual books except they are sensitized to their value and given the opportunity to access such books easily. For such cases, I believe eBooks and audio formats are very convenient to enable such kids and also parents to read and hear stories in an indigenous language. Here is our list of 37 apps and platforms proposing children’s books and stories for Africans and Blacks. The literary blogger James Murua has suggested 8 books by African authors that have been translated into several languages. If you are interested in buying children's books in Kiswahili, then have a look at this collection from this Tanzanian publisher, Mkukinanyota . The difficult access to literary translators in African languages Currently, they are few experts in literary translation from English or French to African indigenous languages. So even when a publisher or author may desire to have a multilingual book, s/he may have difficulty finding a competent literary translator in the language he desires. This book provides African perspectives on literary translation. Let's, however, indicate that there are increasingly more initiatives that promote the writing, publishing, and translation of books into African indigenous languages. Let’s mention, for example, the Mabati Cornell Kiswahili Prize for African Literature , which recognizes writing in African languages and encourages translation from, between, and into African languages. Here is a very interesting interview with the prize founders—literary academic Lizzy Attree and literature professor Mukoma Wa Ngugi—on the challenges of growing literature in African languages. African language publishing is progressively advancing. Even though the demise of the  Noma Award  for Publishing in Africa was a hard time, there is still hope: book festivals are  growing , literary awards are increasing, and political leaders are increasingly aware of the need to value and support indigenous languages in the education and publishing industry.  Jalada Journal  is a good example of how attitudes toward writing in African languages have changed for the better. In 2015, Jalada took a  short story written by Ngugi Mukoma in Gikuyu and had it translated into close to 100 languages. This made it the most translated African short story. But the genius of their initiative was that most of the translations were between African languages. There were also increasing conversations on the need to increase translation to African indigenous languages. One of such was organized by World Kid Literature, and the recording is accessible here: If you are interested in receiving monthly updates about African children's literature, kindly subscribe to our newsletter:

I consider translation as a way of increasing the amount of reading material for African children. Translation is an act of re-creation, sharing, and reciprocal development between readers and writers of different languages. The potential of translation to greatly increase output with minimal effort is clear. Not all, however, feel comfortable with the use of translation as a way of increasing the amount of reading material for African children. Sou pequena? Na ke monyane? Brazilian Portuguese-Sesotho/Southern Sotho: Children's Picture Book (Bilingual Edition). You can buy it on Amazon There are, however, some concerns about the cultural appropriateness of some of the books being translated into African languages. Sometimes, translations don’t really reflect the aspirations and the concerns of the very target groups that the publisher tries to reach . So publishers would rather go for original texts than translations. Another worry is that translation is detrimental to the development of original literature in African languages , a view implicit, for instance, in the Ithuba Project , which insists that materials are generated in the mother tongue Translation dilemma encountered by publishers Most African publishers argue that, while the most spoken home languages are African languages, there is little reader demand for African language books , and that it would not be financially viable for them to publish books in these languages. They feel that expansion into the trade market with African language books is unrealistic , citing reasons such as the pervasiveness of oral culture, lack of disposable income, and low levels of literacy. However, this interpretation is overly simplistic, because Africans do read when the content is affordable, accessible, and of interest. Moreover, African language books are still very much only associated with school education . The international status of English and the perceived inferiority of African languages add to this problem. However, if publishers published more African language books outside the school market, more people would read these texts. I do recognize that publishers are businesses who need to publish where there is a market to make a profit. Authors also realize this and often—even though they are mother-tongue speakers of African languages—prefer to write in English, French, or Portuguese in order to get published and to ensure a wider audience for their book(s). Challenges for translators of children's books The pool of people available to undertake the translation of books for children is small, and complaints about the quality of translation are frequent. While it is easy to find local language translators in other countries such as Russia, Serbia, Arabic, etc., it’s difficult to find an expert translator in African languages. Other challenges for translators include the high level of specialism required for working with children’s literature and issues around standardization . Specialist skills The specialist skills required when translating for children are often underestimated. Unlike translating fiction for adults, a wide range of other factors need to be considered when translating for children, such as who the reader is (a child or an adult reading aloud). Translating for children is therefore widely considered to be more difficult than translating for adults because of the need to take into consideration the implied reader, the fluent child reader, or the adult reading to the child. Picture books, where words and images work to produce an inseparable whole, are by far the largest category of children’s books and create particular challenges. The text needs to ‘talk’ or closely relate to the pictures on the same page and translators need to be able to'read’ this relationship. In addition, the space available for the translation can be a challenge when different languages require different amounts of text. Translators also need to deal with visual cultural differences, such as the symbolism of colors or different attitudes towards animals. A further complication is that picture books are intended to be read aloud to children. Translators, therefore, need to take account of features that affect the rhythmic totality of a performance, including sentence length, punctuation, page openings, and turnings. It is also the case that children’s books are more likely to be adapted to the needs of the target audience than to be translated, a process that can involve additions as well as deletions. There is very little consensus about what constitutes a ‘good’ translation of a children’s book . Some translators emphasize truth to the text; others attach greater importance to being true to the reader, believing that change is sometimes essential if the translated text is to work for the target audience. Translators operating in this field need not only to be proficient linguists but also to have an in-depth knowledge of books for children, and there is a serious shortage of people with the relevant breadth of experience. This situation is, of course, by no means limited to African languages. A similar scenario has been described, for instance, in relation to the problems experienced in producing Asian language translations of children’s books in the United Kingdom by Edwards and Walker in 1995. Successful translations are often the result of teamwork and negotiation. Through teamwork, illustrators, authors, translators, publishers, and different readers meet and influence each other. The professionalization of translators with the relevant specialist skills is a journey. In South Africa, it took the PRAESA Early Literacy Unit, over 8 years, to develop professional translators of children's books in Xhosa. It’s only through extensive experience of using good-quality books with children in schools and reading clubs that they can now legitimately consider themselves experts in both isiXhosa and in children’s literature. Standardization The translation of African language literature for children is further complicated by the varying stages of standardization of the different languages. Two competing trends can be detected in African linguistics: diversification and homogenization. At one extreme, it is estimated that in excess of 2300 languages are spoken in Africa; at the other extreme, some writers contend that 75-80% of all sub-Saharan Africans speak one of between 12 and 16 root languages (Prah 2009). The situation in Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, and Senegal, where many languages are used, reflects the propensity for diversification. Language identification remains a highly political and sociocultural exercise; having made a personal investment in learning a particular variety, most people, including translators, demonstrate strong loyalty to that variety. South African publishers are very aware of the resulting tensions: If one develops materials in Setswana, one will find that people, say in Kimberley or areas outside the Hurutsi, look at those materials and say, 'Ah, this isn’t proper Setswana; this isn’t my Setswana; this is Hurutsi Setswana’. And it’s true of all South African national languages. Thus, the work that remains to be done in the area of terminology has important implications for the economics of translation. As the director of an agency explained, in European languages, you can average roughly 2500 words per day. African languages, you cut it down to 1100 per day, so less than half... if there’s not a term, it needs to be described. There’s a lot more thinking going into developing the languages. Conclusion As translation becomes increasingly professionalized, it is interesting to note that children's book publishers in Africa and globally are increasingly outsourcing work to agencies. This approach has the advantage of ensuring input from three sources: the translator, the editor, and the proofreader. Since most are working virtually and anonymously on the same project, they are able to bypass status issues. Overall, the development of children’s literature in African languages is a work in progress, and we shouldn’t underestimate the advances that have already been achieved. This article has been partially inspired by Edwards, V., and Ngwaru, J. M. (2011). African language publishing for children in South Africa: challenges for translators. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 14(5), 589-602. Available at: http://ecommons.aku.edu/eastafrica_ied/15 The work of the Ithuba Writing Project targeted the development of stories for each of the intermediate grades (4-6) across each of the three target genres (health, science literacy, and numeracy). This yielded a targeted number of 280 titles, of which the partners in this project selected the most appropriate and well-developed titles for publication purposes. Of those titles, 140 are written in the nine official and indigenous languages of South Africa, and 140 are translated into English versions.

From the 9th to 12 September 2021, Muna Kalati was represented through its Director Christian Elongué at the 37th Ibby Children’s Book International Congress In Moscow, under the theme « Great Big World Through Children’s Books: National and Foreign Literature — Role, Value, Impact on Young Readers in Different Countries ». It was an opportunity to explore diversity of themes, characters, issues in children’s literature of the world, to discuss cultural variety which doesn’t prevent them from interweaving and interacting. Even though the preparation of the bit were quite challenging because of the COVID pandemic, the event was highly successful with delegates from over 56 countries reunited to explore on trending issues affecting the global children book industry. On  September 9, 2021 , he visited  the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts ,  the Dal State Museum of History of Russian Literature ,  the Russian State Library, the Library for Foreign Literature and the publishing house 'Samokat' where he was surprisingly noticed that black African children books were difficultly available in the existing collections and this triggered collaboration to increase not only the awareness but also the availability and access of quality children books from African authors and illustrators in Russian libraries and bookstores. On September 10, 2021 , during the Opening Ceremony, our executive Director Christian Elongué gave a highly acclaimed keynote lecture on the need to increase diversity in children literature by making sure that African, Black and Latino American children books were accessible to all children. His speech arouse interest on Cameroonian children books publishers and the work that is being done by digital platforms to increase access to diverse content to kids so that there would be more international understanding and peace across culture. His presentation could be viewed here and the PowerPoint is available here . Elongue also contributed to the round table discussions with the laureates of the H. C. Andersen Award: Albertine (Switzerland) – book illustrator, laureate of the HCAA (2020) Jacqueline Woodson  (USA) -- writer, laureate of the HCAA (2020) Roger Mellо  (Brazil) – illustrator, laureate of the HCAA (2014) David Almond  (Great Britain) – writer, laureate of the Hans Christian Andersen Award (2010) Cao Wenxuan  (China) – novelist, professor, laureate of the HCAA (2016) Igor Oleynikov  (Russia) – book illustrator, laureate of HCAA (2018). He contributed by emphasizing the gender and racial barriers that women or people of minorities may encounter in the children book industry and also shared ways to promote tolerance and respect for diverse cultures by providing access to the best of children's literature from around the world. AWARD CEREMONY OF THE WINNERS OF THE HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN AWARDS 2020 On  September 11, 2021, the winners of The Hans Christian Andersen Awards 2020 , writer Jacqueline Woodson from the United States and artist Albertina from Switzerland, received their awards at  the Pashkov House .  Elongué was also a representative of IBBY Cameroon which officially joined IBBY since 2017 thanks to the dynamism of Mr. Joel Eboueme. On September 11, during panel sessions on global children literature, Christian Elongué, as the representative of IBBY Cameroon how parents have little access to the books and stories from their youth to pass on to the next generation. Many children in Africa grow up without knowledge of their family's heritage and first language.  A fundamental principle of IBBY Cameroon is that children and their families deserve to have access to the books of their culture. IBBY Cameroon works collaboratively with Muna Kalati to promote books that represents outstanding historical and contemporary books from Africa and throughout the world.  AWARDING OF DIPLOMAS OF THE IBBY HONOUR LIST On that same day, the Russian State Children's Library  held the awarding ceremony of diplomas of the IBBY Honour List. The diplomas were personally awarded to Samah Abu Bakr Ezzat, a writer from Egypt, Russian artist  Olga Monina , translators Daniel González-Muniz from Costa Rica, João Guimarães from Brazil,  Olga Drobot  and Olga Vasilyeva from Russia and Ivan Pilkin from Moldova. On Sunday 12 September, 2021, our executive Director facilitated another panel discussion around his paper on Cameroon’ children and young adult literature from 1956 to 2016. He indicated the history of Cameroonian children book publishers such as Akoma Mba, CLE, and association such as AILE Cameroon, in the development of Cameroon children literature; highlighted the fact that most illustrators and authors of Cameroonian children books were residing in France, Belgium or Europe and the influence of French publishers on the local book industry since most educational texbooks and learning materials are produced by French publishers. That Sunday, there was also a presentation on the book on the history of Bookbird magazine by Valerie Coghlan  and  Evelyn Freeman. Apart from active work and professional experience exchange, participation in the Congress, brought him joy of companionship, feeling of being a part of the community of colleagues and friends, new social interactions and amazing sightseeing in Moscow. On September 12, 2021, the 37th IBBY World Congress was over. For three days, Moscow was the central place for discussion on children's literature's most relevant issues. Projects on promotion of children's reading, reports on the influence of books on personality development, discussions on the details of creating literature for children and teenagers – all this and much more were in the focus of Congress participants’ attention. During the closing ceremony, Christian Elongué encouraged all children book actors to continue creating outstanding children books that exhibits tolerance and respect for diverse cultures, languages and ideas. Conclusion Being a member and taking active part in IBBY programmes and projects is a unique opportunity to stay involved in a global community of specialists on children's and young adult’s literature and in modern global book culture in general. It was a great honour for Muna Kalati and IBBY Cameroon and we feel joy and, of course, responsibility. International partnerships in every part of our lives become increasingly valuable and important in this troubled world, and thus the IBBY mission is so vital. Joint work of representatives of dozens of countries, whose main goal is to familiarize and expose children to the best books, is a bridge between people that helps us to understand each other better and to build good neighbourly relations between countries; it is a genuine path to mutual respect and friendship.

Christian Elongué is a social entrepreneur of Cameroonian origin with an Afropolitan identity, working to promote education and African culture through Muna Kalati, a pan-African association bringing together parents, authors, publishers, and other children's book enthusiasts. Passionate about reading since my early childhood, I devoured every week nearly 6 books of about 200 pages each since the age of 11 years. I was introduced to reading through comic books such as Rodeo, Zembla, Kiwi, Tex, Blek le Roc, PICSOU, Mickey Mouse, and other books from the Pink Library. Through these readings and discoveries of foreign cultures, elsewhere seemed better; Paris rhymed with paradise, and I became impatient to get my BAC in order to go to France, where I could see the snow and touch the Eiffel Tower... Between the ages of 12 and 17, tired of comics, I began devouring Gérard de Villiers' SAS, whose epic tales of espionage and sometimes erotica fired my libido. Although SAS books were generally reserved for adults, I read my father's because I couldn't find any book that was stimulating enough to satisfy my intellectual curiosity. In less than three years, I had read nearly 186 SAS, sometimes reading in the classroom from my locker when the teacher's back was turned or at night when the parents imagined me asleep. It was at university with the pan-African associative movements and my Master's degree in "Africa and Globalization" that I discovered the rich African past and became aware of my cultural alienation. I knew more about the history of France, Great Britain, and Belgium than that of Cameroon, and I realized that the books of my childhood had largely contributed to it. I realized that children's and youth literature was a powerful tool for building the imagination and identity of young Africans and for reducing illegal immigration and low civic and patriotic awareness. But I realized with regret that African children's books were little known and accessible. The authors of books for adults were more publicized, celebrated, and promoted than those of children's literature, which was considered a marginal field, a ghetto, or a sector of little interest reserved for amateur authors. Revolted by this lack of interest and the absence of media specializing in the promotion of African books or Afro-descendants, I began a scientific study of 4 years to establish an inventory of African children's literature. A book published in 2019 by L'Harmattan gathers the main findings, and the Muna Kalati Association is the practical dimension. Today, 4 years after its creation, Muna Kalati federates a large network of authors, parents, publishers, and lovers of children's literature who exchange best practices and collaborate for better visibility and access to books with diverse and culturally relevant contents for young people. We organize the "Lecture Plaisir" workshops to introduce children to reading through theater, debate, slam, and support reading projects on the continent. To date, we remain one of the few digital companies specializing in the support and promotion of authors, publishers, and actors in the field of youth books. Our ambition is to see more African children reading diverse and rich cultural contents for the construction of a pan-African identity and to see more African countries adopting a national policy on children's books. If you are an author, publisher, or parent, our platform offers you children's book recommendations, news, and collaboration opportunities across Africa and the world. The original French version of this interview was published here .

This week's book review is for Africa, Amazing Africa by Atinuke. The book was published by Walker Books on 3rd October 2019 and can be purchased on  Amazon . Atinuke’s first non-fiction title is a major publishing event: a celebration of all 55 countries on the African continent! Her beautifully-written text captures Africa’s unique mix of the modern and the traditional as she explores its geography, its peoples, its animals, its history, its resources, and its cultural diversity. The book divides Africa into five sections: South, East, West, Central, and North, each with its own introduction. This is followed by a page per country, containing a delightful mix of friendly, informative text and colorful illustrations. The richest king, the tallest sand dunes, and the biggest waterfall on the planet are all here, alongside drummers, cocoa growers, inventors, balancing stones, salt lakes, high-tech cities, and nomads who use GPS! One of the things Erin showed a real interest in was the pyramids in Egypt. So, I thought a book about Africa would be something she would enjoy! Africa, Amazing Africa is set up in to different sections and splits everywhere up by region and then country. There is a really colourful map at the beginning of the book with all of the country names and also a picture of something from that place. The fun images really help children to pick out something they might be interested in and then you can go from there. Each page looks at a different country, and there is both text and images to help both you and your child learn about somewhere new. I really love that this book features every country in Africa because there is so much that I don’t know myself, so it’s been a lot of fun to read and learn with Erin. She often tells me I’m not a teacher and that I don’t know everything, so it was really nice to learn with her. The illustrations are bright and colorful, and the information is really engaging and quite snappy in places. There are no huge paragraphs to read through, so children won’t get bored or stop paying attention too quickly. Africa, Amazing Africa is one of those books that could last you for years. Erin is nearly 4 now and can quite happily read about one or two places at a time and then go back to it another day. I’m sure it will also come in really handy when she’s in school after next year and she learns about different places. This review was originally published here by LYNDSEY OHALLORAN

On 9th October 2021, our Executive Director Christian Elongué gave a public talk on the topic “ Who is the true alpha of the family?" during the festival " Saint-Petersburg Book Lighthouse, " moderated by Nadezhda Filimonova and Evgeniia Trofimova from the Kronshtadt children’s library in Russia. The other guest of the festival was Anna Krasilshchik , a Russian writer, translator, and author of children’s books "Three Fourth" and "Let's Go to Unalashka.”. Christian Elongué met Filimonova and Evgeniia during the 37th IBBY Congress in Russia, where they got interested in knowing more about African children's literature, and this event was an opportunity to explore parenting styles in the 21st century, both from a Russian and African children's literature perspective. Even though we all want to be the best parents, there is often conflicting advice on how to raise a kid who is confident, kind, and successful. And every aspect of being a parent has been more complicated and more fraught during the pandemic, with parents managing complex new assignments and anxious new decisions, all while handling the regular questions that come up in daily life with the children we love. Elongué thus explained that parenting styles must be adapted and personnalized to the kids and teens personalities. There is no one right way to raise a child. It’s important to focus on balancing priorities, juggling responsibilities, and quickly flipping between the needs of children, other family members, and yourself. Research confirms biblical advice on how to raise self-reliant children with high self-esteem. It is than authoritarian. You want your child to listen, respect, and trust you rather than fear you. You want to be supportive, but not a hovering helicopter parent.  All of these things are easy to set as goals, but. As your child develops, the challenges will change, and your thinking may evolve, but  your approach should be consistent, firm, and loving. We should help kids to learn through experience since making an effort builds confidence and helps them learn to tackle challenges. We should calibrate our expectations about what our kids are capable of doing independently. How can children's books help in raising confident kids? The second part of the public talk explored the influence of reading in the education of self-confident kids. The Russian author Anna explained how proving quality children’s books can help kids acquire the values and principles that would help them be obedient, respectful, and self-reliant. Christian Elongué shared some Russian fairy tales that are known in some parts of Africa, such as: Vasilisa the Beautiful: The story of a beautiful daughter of a merchant who married a second time after his first wife had died. The stepmother hated Vasilisa and gave her lots of hard work. The jealous stepmother decided to move the family closer into the forest where a Russian evil witch, Baba Yaga , lived. She hoped that Baba Yaga would eat the girl, and when it didn’t succeed, the stepmother and the other daughters decided to send Valeria directly there. You can purchase it here Father Frost: This is another story of a cruel stepmother who wanted to marry her favorite daughter, who was less attractive than Nastya, her second daughter. Despite several attempts, the potential husbands instantly preferred Nastya. The old woman then decides to send Nastya away. She tells her husband to take her to the forest in the middle of winter and leave her there to die. The inhabitants of the forest, including Father Frost, a human depiction of the cold, decide to help Nastya because of her kindness. Elongué also wrote some African and Afro-American books that addressed the issue of parenting in the 21st century, using African books. Some of them are below: In his last remarks, Elongué indicated that parenting was all about making the right combination of love, freedom, and discipline.  Parenting will always require sacrifices, especially in times of crisis or change when things aren’t going as we expected. So always do your best, trust Christ's wisdom, and enjoy the learning journey. You can access the PowerPoint from the Christian Elongué presentation below:

In collaboration with the Goethe-Institut Ghana, Writers Project of Ghana organised the fifth edition of "Pa Gya! A Literary Festival in Accra" from 15th October to 17th October 2021. The festival seeks to engage the general public on a literary platform, and to showcase writers and their craft. As such, various activities such as readings, panel discussions, poetry and story-telling sessions, book launches, the launch of literary prizes and performance of different literary forms are being planned for the two-day festival. Muna Kalati’s Executive Director, Christian Elongué, was invited to intervene in a panel discussion on multilingual publishing in indigenous African languages on Sunday, 17th   October 2021 together with Patron Kokou Henekou and Galley K. Dzifa. After the very fruitful panel discussions, he had the opportunity to exchange virtually with Dr. Martin Egblewogbe , founder of  Writers' Project Ghana (WPG) and  Pa Gya! Literary Festival and below are his impressions about the just ended festival and the WPG. Could you tell us about Pa Gya! Literary Festival ? The literary festival is meant to bring about greater interactions of people involved in writing, books, and publishing and to help foster an increased interest in literature Where did you get the idea to set up such an initiative? The festival was created as a natural extension to the Writers Project of Ghana and Goethe-Institute Ghana's long-running reading series since 2010. It is was a culmination of each year's events of readings and interactions from the Writers Project of Ghana What is its added value? Writers Project of Ghana offers a unique perspective on literature programming across board . What progress have been made to date? The festival has grown considerably since its inception in 2017. The geographical span of invited writers and guests includes Ghana (primarily), the US, UK, Nigeria, South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Uganda, Togo, Cameroon, France, the Netherlands, Germany, Zambia, Canada, Singapore, etc Are you collaborating with other entrepreneurs in your industry? Writers Project collaborates widely with many other organisations working in books, literature and publishing in Ghana and outside Ghana. What are your current sources of funding? Writers Project of Ghana is run completely from funding and support received from agencies, individuals, and corporations. What are the main challenges or difficulties you encounter in carrying out your project? Funding remains the main challenge of the Writers Project of Ghana How has the COVID-19 impacted your work? What measures did you developed to adapt and build resilience? In response to Covid-19, Writers Project of Ghana moved to make our programmes available online as mixed-mode via social media platforms, and we also introduced online-only programming. What support or assistance would you need to increase the impact of your initiative and accelerate its development? WPG needs grant assistance to run. What is the impact of your initiative on the promotion of reading and culture? Writers Project of Ghana has had significant impact on literature activities since inception in 2010. From creating the longest running public reading series, a large international literature festival, a weekly radio show since 2009, several published books, a number of regular workshop series, WPG has a large and positive impact on the literature space in Ghana and is well known outside Ghana as well.

It’s often difficult for African parents to find books for their kids online. Below is a list of diasporic publishers specialized in African and Afro-american children books. You can find much more interesting content on their respective website which have directly been added to ease things. 1. LITTLE PROUD KID Little Proud Kid  was founded by Georgia Lobban, a mom on a mission. Wanting to reflect her daughter’s beauty through books and dolls, she was surprised to find that there were so few options available. The company sells culturally relevant books for children 3-15+ years old, and covers a truly diverse range of perspectives beyond race and gender to different countries of origin and physical abilities, too. You can purchase  Full, Full, Full of Love  on  Amazon  or  Bookshop . 2. DENENE MILLNER BOOKS Denene Millner Books “is a love letter to children of color who deserve to see their beauty and humanity in the most remarkable form of entertainment on the planet: books.” The books bring a sweet and relatable take on the everyday, from having an invisible friend like in  There’s a Dragon in My Closet  to performing in the choir in  Early Sunday Morning  to getting a haircut in  Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut , which just may have won every possible award and recognition available in children’s books. You can purchase  Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut  on  Amazon  or  Bookshop . 3. JUST US BOOKS Necessity remains the mother of invention—and the need “for children’s books that reflected the diversity of Black history, heritage and experiences” led parents Wade and Cheryl Hudson to launch  Just Us Books  30 years ago. Out of the desire to provide children with books which accurately depict Black experiences and heritage, the Hudson’s managed to create a company that is now regarded as a renowned leader in multicultural publishing. When it comes to genres, they feature board & pre-k books, picture books, chapter books, middle grade books, and several others on the website. At present, Just Us Books accept both agented and unagented queries for middle reader titles (ages 9-12), picture books, and for chapter books (ages 7-9). The publishing company has received accolades over the years from grown ups and children alike for their wide array of children’s and young adult books. You can purchase  Songs I Love to Sing  on  Amazon  or  Bookshop . 4. THE BROWN BOOKSHELF The Brown Bookshelf has made it their mission to shine a spotlight on the many Black authors and illustrators creating books for African-American children. You can  follow their blog  to learn about just released books or celebrate old-school pioneers in children’s literature. You can purchase  No Small Potatoes  on  Amazon  or  Bookshop . 5. PLUM STREET PRESS Plum Street Press  is the publisher behind the 5-year-old-boy-genius-with-a-fro book series, and more. You can also purchase  Jaden Toussaint: The Greatest Episode 1  on  Amazon  or  Bookshop . 6. KUJICHAGULIA PRESS Kujichagulia Press  (kujichagulia means “self-determination”) offers Black children and families educational materials steeped in an Afrocentric worldview. You can purchase  Telling Time With Benjamin Banneker and Sekou  on  Amazon  or  Bookshop . 7. LEE AND LOW BOOKS Founded in 1991, Lee & Low Books is a New York-based multicultural children’s book publisher. Their website features six main categories, respectively PreK – Grade 2, Grades 3 – 6, Grades 6 – 8, Grades 9 – 12, leveled reading, and cultures. The latter includes books of African/African American interest, Asian/Asian American interest, Latino interest, as well as a few others. Lee and Low Books  is  known  in book publishing for publishing diverse titles for kids of all ages. You can buy Telling Time With Benjamin Banneker and s ekou  on  Amazon 8. EOTO BOOKS Eoto Books  is a boutique publisher that carries books focused on mining African-Americans rich history for stories and lessons. “ 9. MAHOGANY BOOKS Online bookstore  Mahogany Books  has a number of young adult fiction across genres to choose from, as well as nonfiction books that cover African-American history, race, and politics. You can purchase  A Blade So Black  on  Amazon  or  Bookshop 1 0 . MAKE A WAY MEDIA Books can teach kids hard facts like geography and history, and soft, yet-no-less-important, skills like empathy and kindness. Make A Way Media  is definitely meant to teach the latter. Its books focus on spreading positivity and instilling gratitude with each turn of the page. You can purchase  If a Caterpillar Can Fly, Why Can’t I?  on  Amazon  or  Bookshop . 11. TANGLED PRESS Tangled Press ’ founding story is one that many a parent can relate to: Hearing their beautiful, brown baby tell them  they wish they were white  and had blonde, straight hair. Yolanda created the characters Curlilocks and Story Bird Dance—heroines with brown skin and big curly hair—for her daughter, and other readers who need the reminder that the skin they’re in is beautiful and special. You can purchase Big Bad hairbrush on  Amazon . 12. WE READ TOO The  We Read Too  app, created by developer Kaya Thomas, brings a number of diverse authors and titles right in the palm of your hand. You can discover hundreds of books written by or featuring people of color. You can purchase  The Mighty Miss Malone  on  Amazon . 1 3 . KOKILA Penguin Young Readers has launched  Kokila , “a new imprint which will be dedicated to centering stories from the margins with books that add nuance and depth to the way children and young adults see the world and their place in it.” 14. THE ENGLISH SCHOOLHOUSE The English Schoolhouse  is a boutique publishing house featuring a variety of Black children’s books, from fantastical tales of myths and legends to bedtime stories. You can purchase  Elijah Everett, Kid Principal  on  Amazon . 15. Mahogany Books The product of Ramunda and Mahogany Young’s desire to empower the people who belong to their culture, Mahogany Books is a publishing company currently located in Washington, DC. Initially an online bookstore, the business has been featured in NBC, Vanity Fair Magazine, the Washington Post, as well as in a few more outlets. At present, Mahogany Books is a publisher that promotes books by, for, and about people of the African Diaspora. They are mainly interested in fiction, children & young adult, cultural literature, and in nonfiction. The second category involves books for children of ages 0-8, 9-12, as well as for teenagers. A few examples of such titles are  Bronzeville – Boys and Girls , written by Gwendolyn Brooks and illustrated by Faith Ringgold, and  Malcolm Little: The Little Boy Who Grew Up To Become Malcolm X , written by Ilyasah Shabazz and illustrated by AG Ford. In order to be able to collaborate with them, your books have to be distributed by their primary vendor, which is Ingram Books Group. If this is the case, feel free to complete and send this  form  – they will let you know if they’re interested. To learn more, click  here . 16. Third World Press Foundation With an experience of more than 50 years in the field, Third World Press is a foundation established by Haki R. Madhubuti in 1967 in Chicago, Illinois. Since their targeted market consists of African American readers, it seems rather self-explanatory that their publications tackle African American themes, issues, and critique for the most part – this is because their purpose is that of helping their audience learn about cultural traditions, while also trying to reach people who are either young, or less scholarly-focused. 17. Brown Girls Books Located in the US, Brown Girls Books is a boutique  publishing company  established by Victoria Christopher Murray and ReShonda Tate Billingsley. Victoria is one of the most renowned African-American novelists in the country and the winner of the Phyllis Wheatley Award, among others, while ReShonda is an award-winning TV and newspaper journalist, and the author of more than 40 books. References