Monday, March 5, 2018

Author Spotlight: Atinuke

Last month our Book Buddies group, a book club for kids in grades K-2, read Anna Hibiscus by Atinuke. We loved introducing Anna, a lively young girl growing up in "Africa, Amazing Africa!" as each book begins. 

Atinuke is the author of the Anna Hibiscus books and a traditional storyteller. She was born in Nigeria and later moved to the United Kingdom to attend boarding school when she was 10 years old. On her website she says about the Anna Hibiscus books: "I had been meaning to write those stories for years - ever since the homesickness of my boarding school days when I discovered how little children in the UK knew about Africa and even more so as a story teller when it was clear from children's questions how little they still knew about the Africa that I am from." You can find out more about her life and her storytelling on her website.

Anna Hibiscus Picture Books
Anna is so happy she doesn't know what to do with herself! She asks her family members what they do when they are happy. Anna dances like her uncle Tunde, sits quietly like her mother, and finally finds her own way to enjoy her happiness through song.

Anna's life changes completely when her mother gives birth to twin boys. This story shares Anna's struggles adjusting to becoming a big sister and tells the story of how her twin baby brothers got their names Double and Trouble.

Anna heads to the beach with her family looking for fun.


Anna Hibiscus Chapter Books
Each book share several stories about Anna and her life in Africa, Amazing Africa! Anna lives with her mother who is from Canada, her father who is from Africa, her grandmother, grandfather, uncles, aunts, cousins, and twin baby brothers named Double and Trouble. These books are illustrated by Lauren Tobia.





The No. 1 Car Spotter Series
Atinuke wrote this series for and with her sons. The books feature Oluwalase Babatunde Benson, a young boy living in Africa who is the number 1 car spotter in his village. He loves car spotting and solving problems in his village. These books are illustrated by Warwich Johnson Cadwell.

The No. 1 Car Spotter and the Car Thieves
The No. 1 Car Spotter Goes to School
The No. 1 Car Spotter and the Broken Road
The No. 1 Car Spotter Fights the Factory


Other Books by Atinuke
A beautiful picture book about a young baby and his mother visiting a busting marketplace in Nigeria. 

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