'Everything changed after Mama found Father lying on top of another woman.'
Blessing and her brother Ezikiel adore their larger-than-life father, their glamorous mother and their comfortable life in Lagos. But all that changes when their father leaves them for another woman.
Their mother is fired from her job at the Royal Imperial Hotel - only married women can work there - and soon they have to quit their air-conditioned apartment to go and live with their grandparents in a compound in the Niger Delta. Adapting to life with a poor countryside family is a shock beyond measure after their privileged upbringing in Lagos.
Told in Blessing's own beguiling voice, Tiny Sunbirds Far Away shows how some families can survive almost anything. At times hilarious, always poignant, occasionally tragic, it is peopled with characters you will never forget.
Publication date: September 2011.
Birds of our Land
Birds of Our Land is a beautifully illustrated introduction to birds in West Africa that will delight children and adults alike. Robin Gowen’s brilliant illustrations and Virginia Dike’s poetic descriptions help children discover and identify the most common West African birds (like the Kite, Crow and Egret) as well as more unusual ones (such as the Violet Plantain-eater, Didric Cuckoo and Fire-bellied Woodpecker).
The book provides fascinating facts about the appearance and behaviour of the birds in their natural habitat. It is packed with interesting activities on how to look at birds, attract birds to compounds and use a bird observation checklist. By exploring birds this book helps children develop vital observation, communication, and analytical skills as well as a spirit of inquiry and appreciation of the natural world.
