{"id":5602,"date":"2021-09-16T20:59:07","date_gmt":"2021-09-16T20:59:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kokutangaza.com\/?p=5602"},"modified":"2021-09-17T18:41:58","modified_gmt":"2021-09-17T18:41:58","slug":"problems-with-the-current-state-of-tanzanian-childrens-books","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kokutangaza.com\/problems-with-the-current-state-of-tanzanian-childrens-books\/","title":{"rendered":"Problems with the Current State of Tanzanian Children\u2019s Books"},"content":{"rendered":"

All over Africa the art of story-telling has existed for centuries. Stories have passed through the generations verbally and we are still honing the art, business and public service of making books.<\/span><\/p>\n

Are there not enough Tanzanian children\u2019s books in the United Republic of Tanzania? No, that is not the case. There are plenty. The problem exists in prevalence of quantity, but not quality. What is lacking? Not the stories. Whether simple or complex, new or old, Tanzania is not short of good children\u2019s stories. The problem is the presentation. As children\u2019s story writers we have to think of ourselves as chefs, and think of children as guests in a 5 star restaurant. A significant part of the literary meal we serve lies in its presentation. The presentation of the meal is part and parcel of the entire dining experience. Before that plate of delicious themes and well seasoned characters leaves your kitchen, it ought to be a delectable and glorious feast for the eyes.<\/span><\/p>\n

Before they are old enough to read chapter books, children interpret most of the world through images and pictures. A child of 2 years of age is not going to pick up a book and say, \u2018I think I\u2019ll read this book here because it has very interesting intellectual content.\u2019 No. She or he is going to look at the pictures and judge the book on that. Imagine how wonderful the world of literature would seem to a child if the pictures were dynamically creative, if the colors were bold and the protagonists appeared cleverly detailed. This is what I often do not see in Tanzanian children\u2019s books.<\/span><\/p>\n

The illustrations in Tanzanian children\u2019s books are very often the same. There is a generic method of drawing that you would typically see in template Tanzanian newspaper comics. Not the witty, satirical comics but the type of common comic that might be about more mundane topics. Like an illustrated guide of how to get ones passport at the immigration office. Now let us think about how enthusiastic a child would be about seeing the same sort of illustrations in a book that was supposed to intrigue them.<\/span><\/p>\n

Art is vital and Tanzania needs to learn to have more reverence for it. If the country did, I think we would encourage artists to take courses, travel abroad and collaborate in projects that would inspire more creativity and more dynamism for the world of children\u2019s book illustration. We need this because art is part and parcel with literature in producing great children\u2019s books. And if we want creative, innovative, articulate, well-read citizens, children\u2019s books are where we need to start.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you are going to be a children\u2019s book writer be passionate about it and couple that passion with the aesthetics that make your product a sight to behold. Remember, children are sensorial beings.<\/span><\/p>\n

Set the imagination free, appeal lavishly to a child\u2019s eyes. If I may use the food analogy again: A child ought not to look at a shelf of children\u2019s books and see a cabinet of dull vitamin supplements. A child ought to look at a shelf of books and see a beautiful buffet of nourishing cuisine. Serve it up! And do so with flambuoyance and pizzazz.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"\u00a0\u00a0\"books<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

All over Africa the art of story-telling has existed for centuries. Stories have passed through the generations verbally and we are still honing the art, business and public service of making books. Are there not enough Tanzanian children\u2019s books in the United Republic of Tanzania? No, that is not the case. There are plenty. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":5598,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[136,146,131],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kokutangaza.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5602"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kokutangaza.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kokutangaza.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kokutangaza.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kokutangaza.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5602"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/kokutangaza.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5602\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5622,"href":"https:\/\/kokutangaza.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5602\/revisions\/5622"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kokutangaza.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kokutangaza.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kokutangaza.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5602"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kokutangaza.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}