Bookstorm Books

100 BOOKS FOR NIGERIAN CHILDREN

Working with Nigerian writers from ideation to publication to produce beautiful high quality, culturally relevant picture books that Nigerian children deserve

Author

Tonye Faloughi Ekezie

Tonye Faloughi-Ekezie is a mother on a mission. When her daughter Simone was diagnosed late with Down syndrome and faced life-threatening heart complications, Tonye turned her pain into purpose. Seeing the lack of representation for Black children with special needs, she created Ugo and Sim Sim, the first picture book series featuring a Black main character with Down syndrome, and the first baby board book 100% made in Nigeria, Ugo and Sim Sim: Fruits and Vegetables. Determined to challenge perceptions, she founded Simone’s Oasis Foundation, using storytelling and art to reshape how the world sees neurodiversity. Her advocacy has taken her to global platforms, including the United Nations in New York, where she spoke on improving support for families of children with Down syndrome. She co-produced and co-hosted the podcasts Special Mums Africa: Real Talk on Special Needs Parenting and the award-nominated Represented: Storybooks and More for African Kids with her son, Ugo. Her work has been recognised by the American Express and The Guardian UK, but for her, the real reward is breaking barriers and changing lives, one story at a time.

Author

Mazzi Odu

Mazzi Odu is a writer, editor and creative consultant based in Lagos Nigeria. Of Ugandan descent, she writes extensively on jewelery and design and has an online platform and podcast, Magnus Oculus where she amplifies the works of creatives at the vanguard of their fields, with a special focus on those from the Global South and its diaspora. Her work has also appeared in some of the world’s leading publications, and she has leant her voice to a number of international conferences and symposia. She is also a published author, her first children’s book Get Rid of Your Phone Mummy is a contemporary tale of digital over-dependence told from the lens of a child, and she previously published a modern take on a mediaeval devotional entitled Heaven in Your Handbag. Odu believes stories are the way we best make sense of the world we are in today and craft a better one for tomorrow.