Mati’s family is reeling from the death of her mother. When her sister, rebelling due to her grief, pulls her worst stunt yet, their father uproots the family from their home in England for an extended camping holiday in Zimbabwe. Along for the trip is Meticais, a fabulously attired gender-neutral spirit that only Mati can see. Tsitsi Dangarembga, the iconic novelist who was Open Country Mag’s first cover star, examines the legacy of imperialism on her own life. This paradigm-shifting essay collection is at once philosophical, intimate, hopeful, and urgent, and weaves the personal and political in an illuminating exploration of race and gender. Duels, magic, and plenty of ghosts await in the third book of Huchu’s USA Today bestselling Edinburgh Nights series. A 15-year-old ghosttalker arrives at the worldwide Society of Sceptical Enquirers’ biennial conference just in time to be tied into a mystery. According to tradition, the Ninki Nanka lives in the swamps of West Africa. The animal is said to be extremely large and very dangerous. It is said that when children get too confident and feel they can disobey their parents and go into the swamp they will be taken by the Ninki Nanka. This creature's tales were never recorded in any sort of non-modern text but the story of it has spread from tribe to tribe all over Africa. There is a song called "Ninki Nanka" on the album Casamance au clair de lune (1984) by the Senegalese music group Touré Kunda.

The expedition, known as the “J. T. Downes Memorial Gambia Expedition 2006”, received a fair amount of media attention, including coverage in a BBC Online article. Every day is different. Some days everything goes right—you’re in the groove and feeling like yourself. A young boy is having one of those dreary days, and nothing seems to help. But after trying his grandmother’s way to shake the blues also fails, he discovers that happiness is easiest to find when you’re not looking. Five strangers—a model, a former nun, a couple in crisis, and an offender newly released from prison—have come to the unnumbered house to discover an end to life as they’ve known it. Placing their trust in their hosts, the five open their minds and bodies to an alternative experience. Not all of them will survive—at least not the way they imagined. Yomi and her little brother Kayode are visiting their uncle who lives in The Gambia, Africa. One night their uncle reads them a story about Ninki Nanka, the dragon king. Then during a storm, Yomi sees Ninki Nanka being taken. Her uncle laughs at her claims in the morning but soon discovers that she may have been a witness after all.

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The winners of the Diverse Book Awards 2023 have been announced, with one winner from each of the four categories announced: Picture book, Children... Gifting books to schools is a wonderful way to support reading for all children. Teachers welcome a lasting gift of a book as a thank you gift to enjoy and to share in the classroom. Here are some schools we support: In the City of Lies, they cut out your tongue when you turn 13, to appease the terrifying Ajungo Empire and make sure it continues sending water. Tutu will be 13 in three days, but his parched mother won’t last that long. So he goes to his oba and makes a deal. An exhilarating, tragicomic debut novel about the indomitable child of a scorned, formerly land-owning family who must grow up in the wake of Ethiopia’s socialist revolution. It is about what happens when mother, God, and country are at odds, and how one difficult child finds her voice. The Ninki Nanka is the subject of a children's book for readers aged 7+ called 'Yomi and the Fury of Ninki Nanka' by Davina Tijani, illustrated by Adam Douglas-Bagley. Published by Little Tiger (UK) on 6th July 2023.

Dapo Adeola, Tracy Darnton, Joseph Coelho and Chitra Soundar are among the 19 authors and illustrators longlisted for the Inclusive Books for Child...

Yomi and the Fury of Ninki Nanka opens with Yumi and her brother Kayode preparing to go to bed. Outside a furious storm rages in the sky, just as their uncle appears in the room to read them a bedtime story. The two main characters are visiting The Gambia and they are fascinated by the weather outside and what may be causing it. Perhaps it is the legendary Ninki Nanka - The Dragon King? As the story finishes and Yumi is closing her eyes, she hears an almighty roar and, looking out of the window, she sees a flash of a tail and a wing - could it be that the legend is true? I'm very happy to say that I’ve had a very positive experience with my publisher and my agent. I'm just excited to see what the future can bring and the changes that can happen to make publishing more representative. For people who come after me, it would be really cool for them to see as many people of colour in the industry as possible. A journey through the author’s homeland of Nigeria, in search of the truth about his disappeared uncle and the history of a war that shaped him, his family, and a nation. It’s a story about the birth of an artist, about writing itself as an act both healing and political, even dangerous.