The Passport Of Mallam Iliah As Seen By Today's Children

The first thing we noted about Cyprian Ekwensi's The Passport of Mallam Ilia was it's similarity with his other book, 'An African Night's Entertainment.' Have you read that?

Check out that outing Here

When A MOTHER'S CHOICE Is All A Child Has

Reviewing Mother's Choice with the senior class was a remarkable experience,Ufuoma says

BOOKS; As Children Take on Oldmen and Heroes

Book Club was awesome, yeaaaah...as usual.

Makcit aka purple diva starts with a confession by saying 'I may still be high on some of the super hero motivation we got, but nonetheless It was exciting'.

Children's Experience: Being A Hero Or 'Long Way Home'?

April is a special month in so many ways, one of them is the fact that the children had their holiday activities at the book club and especially that April 23rd is World Book Day.  

How Best To Experience Other Peoples Adventures

Books are a marvel, they transport you to any world. They can give you the adventures of some one, the entire life time of another and yet, other great imaginations of all time.

This week, we experienced GULLIVER'S TRAVELS, and the children had interesting things to say.

'The African Child' And Internet Safety,

Hi there, So we are the AC Book Club in the FCT. We read a book for two weeks and meet up to review it at the club as friends and soon getting more like family actually. We have two classes grouped for children of 5-7 and 8-12 and 5 coordinators who make it tick.

EXPO 77-What Was Chukwuemeka Ike Thinking? We Found Out!

As a young person, did you read any of Chukwuemeka Ike's books?

The AC Book club has had a couple of reads from his classics,especially THE BOTTLED LEOPARD.

We expected the young minds to be scared baring in mind the content of the book but hey, we were pleasantly surprised, and we thought, what better time is there to know your community better?

Februay 10th was our first book review and club meeting day in 2018 and boy did we enjoy it?

Expo 77 by Chukwuemeka Ike has a winding plot twist involving the work of Detective Mora of Tutuntu Associates in solvin the leakage of examination questions from the National Examination Board. In this elaborate scheme with an unexpected ending, Detective Mora travels around the country unraveling the plot step by step till he discovers the treachery of a herbalist who deceived a young seminarian into stealing question papers for him to sell, leaving the Acting Registrar of the Board relieved that the leak was not from his office, but frantic to make necessary changes to the old system of National exam preparation, says Ms Ufuoma.

Dissecting this book during the club outing was an experience in patience as most of the children found the story less straight forward but relatable.
With questions like "Is asking questions during examination also cheating?" and "What do I do when the person beside me is cheating?".

We learnt that examination malpractice is not a thing of the past as it is still rampant today, in private schools, better believe it. But we also learnt that though it might seem easier to cheat, the penalties are not worth it.

After agreeing to trust in our abilities to read, absorb and understand our books in order not to cheat during exams, we also learned that we should appreciate our parents for sending us to good schools where National Examination syllabuses are actually covered and the teachers are not too negligent to answer questions, a privilege that many children are not afforded today.

In this vein, we learned from Aunty Ier Jonathan of SESOR AFRICA about children who have been driven from their homes to IDP by both natural and man made disasters and therefore are not as priviledged as us.

Most of the younger childen heard about IDP for the first time and it was intriguing to find out that the children were more vast with natural disasters of the Western world.

Intelligent contributions were made during the interaction as they answered what racism was, enquired about the conditions of the children at the IDP's, explained certain happenings in their areas and ultimately learnt that they should make contributions to IDPs.

We are glad to inform you Aunty Ier that we are puting together our past text books for Ms Shantel to use in teaching her students at the IDP and we would also visit the IDP sometime during the year.

The younger class, 5-7 usually reads short stories out loud to other members. The books showed their different preferences and tastes.

Our next meeting is on February 24th and we will be reviewing OLIVER TWIST...Did you read that? You remember it? In your estimation, who was the most sympathetic character? Join us at @THOUGH PYRAMID ART GALLERY and let's have more fun traveling the world over through our books in fun and style.

Aunty Didi was behind the cameras this week. Thank you aunty Makcit @purplediva for these pictures too.

Which Of These Board games Does Your 7year Old Play?

Helloooo!!!  Is it still a new year? Happy new year dear reader.

So...Is it Chess, Othello, Scrabble, Word Whizz, Snakes and Ladder, Monopoly, Or even Cards?

It's February and it is still a new year this 2018 and we at the book club are excited because we are travelling to so many places this year, yeas you heard right...through our books.😋😁.

If you have been following us, we have read and gisted about many Nigerian classics like CHIKE AND THE RIVER, WITHOUT A SILVER SPOON, BOTTLED LEOPARD...Just name them. This February, we are reading EXPO 77 and ANIMAL FARM.
We are so excited, Join us if you are too.

So, Lets talk with the co-ordinators, Ms Ufuoma says...'So we resumed bookclub this year with happy memories of our holidays in our usual venue...Thought Pyramid Art Gallery.


Those of us who weren't able to travel learned that traveling does not ensure holiday fun.
And Lesoda taught us a song he learned from his holiday on the five magic words of etiquette.


We played board games that were not only fun, but also designed to teach us how to be better people in our society and how to read properly.

Bookclub ended with the announcement that we were going to read Expo 77 by Chukwuemeka Ike for our next meeting and we had very moist cup cakes from Kay's Pastries.'

Then, for Ms Makcit aka the purple diva says 'The young ones wrote and narrated their holiday experiences and we all realised that no matter what you do or don't do, it's all about who you spend it with - family.

The mothers were asked to send the kids over with board games and they surely did because there were a lot of them; Chess, scrabble(s), Othello and Word Whiz - which is a fun way of teaching kids to be courteous and upstanding. Guess what? It was their favourite game.

Over all, it was a successful outing. 7-year old Lesoda reminded the kinds of a song 'the 5 magic words' which include; Please, excuse me, sorry, thank you and pardon me.

We discovered some great writing/narrative skills in some kids that need honing and there were deliciously divine cupcakes to round it up courtesy of Kay's Pastries (You should check them out on IG @kayspastries).

For a first outing in 2018, it was definitely successful. Would you like to know more about what we do? Send us a mail to ahemdoomc@gmail.com and be sure to check us out on Instagram @ACBookclub

Catch you later 😁


As for Ms Didi, had this to add, 'We also played board games like Scrabble, chess, word wizard, etc. that helps to build our cognitive, social and psychological abilities, teaching us to be better people.

The meeting was fun-filled, interactive and engaging. We truly look forward to the next meeting where we will be reviewing the book Expo 77 by Chukwuemeka Ike.

Thank you to @Thought Pyramid Art Gallery, @Kayspastries @Mummy Oyiwodu and the children, for making it worth while. So catch ya on February 10th, we would gist you about Chukwuemeika Ike's EXPO 77.

An African Night Entertainment: Then And Now

What has entertainment become for you in our world today? TV, Games, Phones or Movies at the cinema? Which ever it is, the content of what you are engaged in, is usually more worrisome than the platform.  Do you have an idea how our fathers and forefathers were entertained not too long ago?

The Abuja Children's Bookclub resumed after two weeks of reading AN AFRICAN NIGHT'S ENTERTAINMENT on Saturday the 21st of October, 2017 at our usual venue Thought Pyramid Art Gallery, at number 18 Libreville crescent.

MOREMI THE COURAGEOUS QUEEN: Does she Represent Today's Girl Child?

For story lovers as well as history lovers, the name MOREMI will ring more than a bell to your itchy ears. So, beyond the history, there is a play about Moremi. Do you think she was a hero or an opportunistic Queen?

KOKU BABONI; A Child-reader's Delight

Did you ever read...okay scratch that. Have you read Koku Baboni by Kola Onadipe? 

It was definitely the Abuja children's delight in our last club meeting. 

Koku ,one of a set of twins is customarily abandoned and left to perish. Is it right to do that? What about our Human Right to Live. Did he survive the ordeal?,.....and what was the result of his experience? We discussed all these after reading the book.

With reference to the dramatic nature of the book, most of the kids admitted that they were enthralled by the plot twist.

"Plot Twist" was a surprising phrase from the mouth of the kids. Even though it was a pleasant surprise, we had to delve into the subject of plots and twist. We learned that every story has a beginning, a middle and an end. We defined cliff-hangers together and pointed out extra plot lines in the story.

One of the kids found a whole chapter unnecessary and wondered why the author included it...Interesting eh? We let them construct and deconstruct as much as they will.

The capacity for expansion that these young minds show in every meeting does not fail to surprise me.

In commemoration of the International Day of the Girl Child, we had a staff of  WRAPA come in to talk to us about the importance of women in the society. 

READ: Our lessons from the Girl Child Interaction

 Among the many things the children said they learnt, they said they learned that every job a man can do, a woman can also do, and that no gender is more important than the other.

And then because, all work and no play makes "Jack double J" a dull boy, we proceeded to Uncle D's for a movie to unwind... DIARY OF A WHIMPY KID...Ever watched that? You should if you havent.

The younger class read through Tessie Ameh's LESSONS FROM AUNTY TALATU.

Kola Onadipe dedicated most of his life writing books for Children. We have read THE SUGAR GIRL and the club will be reading some of them in the coming weeks.  These include

• The adventures of Souza. Ibadan: African Universities Press, 1963. ISBN 0-410-80038-4
• The boy slave. Lagos: African Universities Press, 1966. OCLC number 623440282
• Koku Baboni. Ibadan: African Universities Press, 1965. OCLC number 26910639
• Sugar girl. Nairobi: East African Pub, 1964. OCLC number 731260
• The magic land of the shadows. Lagos: African University Press, 1970. OCLC number 32497510
• The forest is our playground. Lagos, Nigeria: Africa Universities Press, 1972. OCLC number 1736920
• The return of Shettima. Lagos: University Press, 1972. OCLC number 1747640
• Builders of Africa. Ijebu-Ode, Nigeria: Natona Press, 1980. ISBN 978-178-004-5
• Footprints on the Niger. Ijebu-Ode, Nigeria: Natona Press, 1980. ISBN 978-178-006-1
• Sunny boy. Ijebu-Ode: Natona Press, 1980. OCLC number 9633828
• Sweet mother. Ijebu-Ode [Nigeria]: Natona Press, 1980. ISBN 978-178-001-0
• Around Nigeria in thirty days. Nigeria:Natona, 1981. ISBN 978-178-027-4
• Call me Michael. Ijebu-Ode, Nigeria: Natona Press, 1981. ISBN 978-178-017-7
• Halima must not die : and other plays for schools. Ijebu-Ode: Natona Press, 1981. ISBN 978-178-026-6
• Happy birthday : queen for a day. Ijebu-Ode, Nigeria: Natona Press, 1982. ISBN 978-178-005-3
• Mothers-In-Law. 1982
• The Other Woman. 1982
• A pot of gold. Ijebu-Ode, Nigeria: Natona Press Publishers, 1984. ISBN 978-178-008-8
• Beloved daughters. Ijebu-Ode, Nigeria: Natona Press, 1985. ISBN 978-178-022-3
• The king is naked : and other stories. Ijebu-Ode, Nigeria: Natona Press, 1985. ISBN 978-178-025-8
• The mysterious twins. Ijebu-Ode: Natona, 1986. OCLC number 633642923
• Binta : beautiful bride. Ijebu-Ode, Nigeria: Natona Press, 1988. ISBN 978-978-178-041-7