English Cymraeg

Too Small Tola Makes It Count

Name: Too Small Tola Makes It Count
Rating: 5 (1 reviews)

by Atinuke, illustrated by Onyinye Iwu

Interest age: 6 to 8
Reading age: 6+

Published by Walker Books, 2023

Around the world
Short stories

About this book

This brilliant collection of three short stories centres Tola, who lives in a one-room flat in Lagos, Nigeria, with her grandmummy, and older brother and sister. In the first story, Tola’s friend Mrs Shaky-Shaky is finding it tricky to get up and down the stairs to her room. And Tola’s having trouble at school with no one believing her that she knows the Diamonds, the most famous musicians in Nigeria. If only life were like maths, with easy answers. Can Tola find a way to help Mrs Shaky-Shaky – and herself?

In the second tale, Grandmummy announces that she and Tola are off to the beach! And Tola finds something impossible to count – the sand. Finally, in the third story, Tola is looking after baby Jide when he crawls off. Can Tola find him?

The short stories make this book easy to dip into, and the warm illustrations bring Tola’s world to life with humour. Readers will enjoy the portrayals of Tola’s community and family, and might recognise her friendship concerns. Life does not always have straightforward answers, unlike maths, and sometimes it’s your friends and family who help you find your way. A celebration of community and family – and love.

About the author

Atinuke was born and grew up in Nigeria. She writes children's books because she loves the vibrancy, joy, wisdom and humour of her own African culture, which she includes a lot of in her work. She shares with children all over the world how modern life is in Africa, how amazing African traditions and cultures are, and how our human joys and sorrows are the same.

She also tells traditional African stories which make her international audiences laugh and cry. Her books have been published in the UK, USA, France and Japan and have won lots of awards. Atinuke spends most of her time at home quietly dreaming up stories, but she sometimes visits schools and book festivals — she loves to meet her readers! Atinuke lives in Pembrokeshire.

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