Carnival has become part of life in towns and cities across the UK and together with the parades held especially in
the winter they are now part of the cultural scene. The first one in the UK (and still the largest) is the Notting Hill carnival, which began in 1966 and this is the centre of Man-man’s story. I became much more aware of the importance of carnival when I worked in Bristol and St Paul’s was one of my libraries. I remember a gentleman coming to the library and having a discussion about a children’s book written about 1970 and telling the story of the St Paul’s carnival, using photos of the preparations and event; we were able to find a copy of the title in the store and he was able to show us pictures of him and his friends taking part. At the time, there were very few books covering the subject, but I am pleased to say that the situation appears to have improved, with a good range of both fiction and information books covering the topic.
This latest title is a wonderful evocation of the power of carnival and the way that people react in different ways to the culture and energy of the event. Man-man and his sister Pan, together with their friend Kareem, are practicing their dance moves, so that they can be part of a carnival float at Notting Hill; however with Man-man’s mother being ill and his visiting grandma grumbling about the way they dance, things are not going well. On the day of the parade they are all wearing their costumes and ready to enjoy the moment, although Man-man is still worried about his mother. As he dances on the float, he asks the spirit “Queen of Revels” to help his mother; what he does not expect is for the spirit to answer him and carry both him and his companions back to the African past and to the Tree of memories, which was a symbol for those being taken into slavery. What they learn there has a profound impact on them and makes Man-man believe that his mother will get better; so that when they return to the carnival it is with a much more optimistic attitude.
This really is a fabulous story of family, culture, history and community. It is beautifully illustrated with an exuberant use of colour and a real sense of energy and movement. I particularly love the relationship between the three main characters and especially the sibling backchat, which hides their real affection for each other. The author has given us a real sense of the excitement that leads up to carnival and the wonderful spirit that is shown through the community working together to make it all a success. Whilst this is an exciting and overall positive tale, it does introduce the young audience to aspects of west African history that are so important and which can then be discussed in class, or with family. There are definitely five stars shining for this one.
Yaba Badoe is a Ghanaian-British documentary filmmaker and writer. A graduate of King’s College Cambridge, she
was a civil servant in Ghana before becoming a general trainee with the BBC. She has taught in Spain and Jamaica and worked at the University of Ghana. Her short stories have been published in Critical Quarterly, African Love Stories:an anthology and New Daughters of Africa. Her first adult novel, True Murder, was published by Jonathan Cape in 2009. Her first YA novel, A Jigsaw of Fire and Stars, was shortlisted for the Branford Boase Award in 2018 and nominated for the CILIP Carnegie Award 2018. The Secret of the Purple Lake, a collection of interlinked fairy stories for children aged 9 to 12 was published by Cassava Republic in October 2017. She lives in London.
Joelle Avelino is a Congolese and Angolan Illustrator who grew up in the United Kingdom. She obtained a BA (Hons) in Illustration with Marketing from the University of Hertfordshire. She is particularly motivated by the need
for people from all races and backgrounds to see themselves in the world around them.
Her most recent children’s book, written by best selling author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, ‘Mama’s Sleeping Scarf’, will be published in September 2023. It is a tender story that celebrates the simple joys of family life.
She has also worked on several other titles including Hey You! Written by Dapo Adeola, a 2022, British Book Awards winner. An empowering celebration of growing up black and she worked on the 25th anniversary edition of Baroness Floella Benjamin’s classic memoir Coming to England. Her animation project with the Malala Fund was featured as one of Design Week’s favourite International Women’s Day projects of 2020.
Other titles of interest
“The door of no return” by Sarah Mussi (Hodder, 2007) is the first story that I read about this infamous door in Ghana, which led captives out to the slave ships and the hideous consequences. It is unfortunately now out of print, but I do recommend getting your hands on a second-hand copy if possible.
“The door of no return” by Kwame Alexander , Andersen press, 2023 is a new title set during the period of the slave trade. It has received very positive reviews and is by a fantastic author.
“Little, Brown Nut” by Mary Auld and Dawn Cooper takes us into the magical world of the Amazonian rainforest, where we follow the life cycle of the Brazil nut. Until now I had only thought of these nuts in relation to Christmas and tins of chocolates! However, their life cycle is absolutely fascinating and particularly the fact that the Agouti is one of the only animals that is able to actually crack the shell of the nut. This led me on to wonder whether the animals are endangered by the loss of rainforest and what impact that would have on the nut trees. Luckily the
book explains about the ‘castaneros’; these are natives of the Amazon who harvest the nuts, whilst also maintaining and protecting the trees from the large logging companies. I love the vibrant use of colour in the illustrations, which seem to perfectly reflect the vivid and wide ranging vegetation and animal life in the environment.
of the world and shows us the life cycle of an Arctic tern. These beautiful birds live in some of the harshest environments that you can imagine and they are the target for a wide range of creatures, from polar bears to seagulls and foxes. The illustrations for this book are absolutely beautiful and show the life process, from the egg to the moment when the new terns follow their parents as the migrate south in the autumn. There is a delicacy in the line drawings and the subdued use of colour, which really emphasizes the world that these birds live in. I particularly love one page, where the bird shows how it can glide, hover and dive; the illustrator has managed to really capture these movements, especially the hovering.
A feature of this series is that the final page layout consists of a foldout , which expands into a map and shows not only the migration of the birds and the location of the rain forests, but also gives information to further our knowledge of the areas. Because these books are aimed at a young age group and do not have a huge number of pages, they do not have any of the added extras such as index or glossary. However, these are books that are going to work perfectly on a one to one basis, both in school and at home. They are full of information, but can also be read as narrative non-fiction, where the story is just as important.
interviewing musicians and celebrities in between attending classes, then went on to be an editor at a series of glossy magazines, including Harper’s Bazaar and Town & Country.
at the University of Glasgow, she set out on her own real-life adventures, which included teaching maths and science in Cameroon, training teachers in Malawi, teaching English in China and working with children with additional support needs in the UK. Victoria currently works part time writing KS2 books for the education company Twinkl and spends the rest of her time writing novels, and visiting schools, libraries and literary festivals to give author talks and run creative writing workshops.
worked in Bristol for 20 years and had the opportunity to bring books and information to schools, about the heritage that different communities bring to this vibrant city. I was also lucky enough to be at Tilbury Docks on the day that commemorated the arrival of the “Empire Windrush”, 75 years ago and the references to the way some of the immigrants have been treated, really does resonate. However, what really struck me is the wonderful sense of family that we are shown, despite the friction between Sunshine’s mother and grandmother. We also have the way that heritage can be remembered through music and food in particular. So as part of the school fundraiser the children choose to bake cakes or biscuits from their own cultures; we have the recipe for the one that Sunshine made at the back of the book and I think I may well have to give it a try, it looks quite scrummy! Overall this is one of those joyous books, where problems are faced and overcome and where the strong bonds of family and friendship are so important. Hopefully we will have more adventures for this band of friends in the future. A five star, feel good story.
stuffed green olives or hunting out a slice of cake. She enjoys nothing better than snatching time to read a good book and losing herself whilst imagining characters and storylines. The Sunshine Simpson series is particularly inspired by G.M.’s parents, who arrived in Britain, from Jamaica, as part of the Windrush generation, in the 1950s.
Most of us assume that we have a right to self-determination and the idea that we are restricted by a fate that is given to us at birth, is something that we might have real problems with. This is the idea behind the adventures of the feisty Ember Shadows. In the first book she is looking forward to receiving her fate card, which will decide if she can follow her dream of being an inventor; however, things do not happen as she hopes. Firstly, there is no fate written on her card and then her younger sister receives her card, saying that she only has a short while to live. This leads to a fantastic adventure as Ember tries to change the way that the fates work.
safety in the old system and they have problems coping with having choice. Someone is taking this fear to an extreme and they are gathering the strands of fate and cutting them, so that the owners are killed. Ember and her brilliant sidekick Hans (yes, he is a hand from a clock, brought to life by magic) decide that they need to try and stop any further disasters taking place. They meet a wide variety of characters on the way, from giant spiders to mon-keys (who manage the weather patterns), but there is always the lurking menace of the line cutter. The author manages to throw a lot of red herrings in our path and especially in Ember’s way, so that she is often caught out in her thinking about the culprit. The denouement sees an unexpected villain and an upsetting discovery about someone she had thought was a friend.