Tuku's Dream: A Childrens Book by Zimbabwean Voices
Growing up I was never a big reader. Naturally, my lack of interest in reading led to my average performance as an English student. Throughout my schooling years, I was always a C-grade English learner at best.
That was until my final year of high school when we were assigned “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe as our set book. I remember being captivated so much by the story that I took it home from boarding school to read for pleasure and for the 1st time, I started to get A’s for my essay writing.
So what had changed? For the first time, I felt as though I was engaging with a narrative that possessed themes and characters that felt familiar.
As a child, I had the good fortune of being exposed to great writers such as Enid Byton, Roal Dahl & Dr. Seuss. However, I was never exposed to stories of real people that looked like me or came from where I come from.
So… as an extension of the Zimbabwean Voices idea, I thought it would be cool if I wrote a children's book series that sheds light on real Zimbabwean characters. The first book is called Tuku’s Dream based on the true story of the Zimbabwean musician Oliver “Tuku” Mtukudzi and his inspirational journey to becoming a musician.
Often in children's books stories we see Africa represented through animals but hardly ever through real people. Given this, the goal of this book of twofold: Firstly, to affirm, inform and inspire its readers but also to follow the example left by Tuku to find their own voices and then empower others to find and express theirs. Secondly to offer a narrative of a REAL person in which Zimbabwean and African children can feel represented.
My aim is to get this book into as many bookstores, schools, and libraries as possible. The book will be available for sale but some copies will also be given away for free where necessary. If you would like to order a book for a loved one the book is currently available both in Zimbabwe and Internationally.
To make an order please fill out the form via the link below:
Lastly, I would like to extend a special thank you to Irene Staunton and Virginia Phiri, Nithini Wathsala who have helped me tremendously.
Much Love
Dumi Mabhena
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