Are you a publisher on the look out for great books for children and young adults from across the globe? Are you excited about publishing fantastic stories in English translation? Then look no further! This week, World Kid Lit celebrates London Book Fair by bringing you a few suggestions we think readers (of all ages) will love! Today we travel to Africa with tips from Cameroon & Côte d’Ivoire.

Cameroon

Le Défilé (The Parade)

Translation Funding: CNL Grant

Review: Le Défilé opens with three silent spreads illustrating the young narrator’s daily life, offering a glimpse of his house and the buzzing marketplace down below. It’ll soon be Youth Day in Cameroon and he practices his marching for the annual parade under the watchful eye of his great-grandfather. But our unnamed narrator is not the only one getting ready for a big event. Three old men recently invited his great-grandfather to lead their parade commemorating the end of World War II. Out comes a dusty old box, polished boots appear in the washhouse, and a neatly pressed uniform hangs from the washing line. The young boy’s mother takes him to watch his great-grandfather parade with the other war veterans. He is proud of his great-grandfather marching tall and listens attentively to his stories of war as they walk home. Finally, the boy understands why his great-grandfather hated seeing him play with toy guns. Together they put everything, including his toy guns and grenades, into the old tin box and spend the rest of the evening playing peace instead.

Tawa’s rhythmically poetic text builds the narrative, bringing the story alive through the dialogue between the two generations. Broken up with series of silent illustrations, Chamorro’s soft grey shaded pencil drawings, highlighted with pops of yellow, offer moments to pause and reflect on both joyful and sombre events and memories. Like David Diop’s International Booker Award-winning At Night All Blood is Black, this short 50-page book pays tribute to the veterans from across Africa who fought alongside the French, telling this history in an appropriate manner for middle-grade aged readers through the silence of the great-grandfather and the evocative illustrations of his memories.   

Author bio: Kouam Tawa is a writer, poet and director who was born in Cameroon. Based there, he runs creative writing workshops for children and adults. He was awarded first prize in the ACCT for African Literature for children and the Readers Poetry Prize from Lire et fait lire.

Illustrator bio: Ecuadorian Marco Chamorro studied drawing and painting in Madrid and currently lives in Rennes, France. Today, he specialises in illustrating and writing for children. He has published over 20 books in Spanish and been included on the IBBY Honour List 3 times.

Côte d’Ivoire

Coiffures Coupé-Décalé

Review: Tonton James is a hairdresser/barber like no other. He can only cut his customers’ hair while listening to very loud music and he’s the master of fanciful haircuts. A must read!

Author bio: Born in Côte d’Ivoire, Murielle Diallo is a painter, illustrator, writer and storyteller.

Drôle de sieste pour Moka

Review: Moka is a cat who just wants to be allowed to take a siesta, but there’s no chance with the two children of the house who want to play – with him! Moka leaves the house, and it is an odyssey around Abidjan and its neighborhoods: Blockhaus, Plateau, and Treichville as he learns how other cats feed themselves—from dustbins!

Author bio: Laurenne Mathieu is a French-Ivorien author and illustrator. Also a nursery school teacher, she draws inspiration and energy from her work with children.

Illustrator bio: Raymond Diby is an illustrator from Côte d’Ivoire.