Meshack Asare is one of Africa’s top children’s writers and illustrators, and has won numerous awards including being the 2015 recipient of the NSK Neustadt Prize for Children’s Literature, he is the first African to win the award. In 1982 he won The Noma Award for Publishing in Africa, and in 1999 the Toyota/Children’s Literature Foundation Best Picture Story Book Illustrator’s award and the Unesco First Prize for Children and Young People’s Literature in the Service of Tolerance.
Meshack Asare, born 1945 in Ghana, studied Fine Arts at the College of Art in Kumasi and taught in Ghana for 12 years between 1967 and 1979. During that period, he took an extension course in Educational Psychology at the University of Wisconsin.
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Kwajo and the Brassman’s Secret – A Tale of Old Ashanti Wisdom and Gold
Age Range: 7 – 12 years
Kwajo’s father makes traditional small figures. One day, he makes him a little brass drummer who comes alive and transforms Kwajo into a land of proverbs and riddles. It is a land where the figures represent money, and the people are citizens in a powerful kingdom. Kwajo is tempted by riches but must first decode a series of riddles and symbols. He falls at the last test, but nonetheless learns an important lesson.
The Brassman’s Secret won The Noma Award for Publishing in Africa 1982. It has become one of the most important children’s books in Africa, and has been translated into several foreign languages. This is a new edition appearing for the first time with full colour-illustrations.
₵30.00 – ₵55.00 -
Chipo and the Bird on the Hill – A Tale of Ancient Zimbabwe
Age Range: 7 – 12 years
Two children, Chipo and Dambudzo set out in search of a big stone bird at Great Zimbabwe after Sekuru tells them the story of how this bird guided their ancestors to a hill. All the mysteries of the ancient ruins come alive as the children slip away from their duties to climb the hill in search of the bird. The story is set in the ‘Great Zimbabwe’ of 700 years ago. Great Zimbabwe was built by Shona-speaking people who lived there and was where the most powerful rulers of the south-eastern interior of Africa lived. It was an organised and prosperous state. The story and illustrations are the author’s impressions of how life in Great Zimbabwe might have been when it was full of huts, footpaths, cooking fires, people laughing and chatting and cock-crowing.₵40.00 -
The Magic Goat
Age Range: 7 – 12 years
The Magic Goat won the 1999 Toyota/Children’s Literature Foundation Best Picture Story Book Illustrator’s Award.
Beautifully produced and illustrated on art paper, the story tells of a time long ago when there were two great kingdoms in the world: the mighty Animal Kingdom and the Kingdom of People. But Goat and Sheep find in their search for salt, that not all the animals in their kingdom are friendly and well-intentioned.
₵40.00The Magic Goat
₵40.00 -
Meliga’s Day
Age Range: 7 – 12 years
Meliga is a boy who lives in Northern Ghana. One day his young cow, Namboa disappears; but how will he recognise her among all others?
₵40.00Meliga’s Day
₵40.00 -
Noma’s Sand – A Tale from Lesotho
Age Range: 7 – 12 years
The latest new title by Meshack Asare, a prolific and prize-winning children’s author and illustrator, whose books have appeared in many languages and are celebrated throughout the world. Sothulu, a ruthless moneylender, comes to claim back money borrowed by Noma’s father from the family who know nothing of his debts. First he takes Bodo, the family cow and sole source of income. Then he wants to take Noma’s sand, strewn over the courtyard and making it beautiful. But Noma is prepared to fight.
₵40.00 -
Cat in Search of a Friend
Age Range: 7 – 12 years
The story of how cat became the human’s friend is imaginatively told. Cat wants a friend to protect her and to live with. She learns it is better protection to be friends with stronger creatures so she works her way up the animal kingdom. She first befriends the monkeys, then the chimpanzees, gorillas, leopards, lions, rhinoceros, elephants, the man and then the women – the strongest creatures!
₵40.00Cat in Search of a Friend
₵40.00 -
Nana’s Son
Age Range: 7 – 12 years
A myth about the creation of the first human being and how all the various body parts function together.
₵40.00Nana’s Son
₵40.00 -
Children of the Tree
Age Range: 7 – 12 years
This is the story of the origins of the people of Namibia. It is derived from folklore, historical accounts and archaeological findings.
₵40.00Children of the Tree
₵40.00 -
Sosu’s Call
Age Range: 7 – 12 years
Sosu’s Call, won the 1999 UNESCO 1st prize for Children’s and Young People’s Literature in the Service of Tolerance. It is listed as one of the top twelve titles of Africa’s 100 Best Books; and has been named an Honor Book for Young Children by the African Studies Association’s Children’s Africana Book Committee, as a contribution to accurate and balanced material on Africa for children.
Beautifully illustrated on artpaper, the story tells of Sosu, a young disabled boy who cannot walk. Sosu misses going to school and all the activities of the other children. His village is on a lagoon, and one day when everyone is away fishing, working in the fields or at school, he raises the alarm with his drumming, and saves the village from total destruction by the sea. His heroism is rewarded when a wheelchair is donated and at last he can go to school.
₵45.00 – ₵65.00Sosu’s Call
₵45.00 – ₵65.00 -
The Cross Drums (Hardcover)
Age Range: 7 – 12 years
Selected by the International Youth Library, Munich, for the 2009 White Ravens list of outstanding new books for children and young adults
“The drums called to each other. The drummers hailed each other and the calling and hailing got stronger and stronger. Then it got so strong that the drums and the drummers began to walk to the gates. All the children that had gathered round them got up and followed. They followed the drummers out through the gates and on to the open field.
“Together they danced on the path, the same path that brought the men who came to throw the flames that burned their homes. They danced happily on the path across the a continued to follow the drummers.
“They followed them to the baobab tree. And there under the tree, they came face to face with other children. They had come from the other village but they too swayed and skipped and hopped and laughed. They too were happy, just like them.”
Another exciting story promoting peace and tolerance from the internationally renowned writer and illustrator, Meshack Asare of Ghana.
₵65.00The Cross Drums (Hardcover)
₵65.00 -
The Canoe’s Story (Hardcover)
Age Range: 6 – 12 years
“But I did not have time yet to stare and wonder. The men wrestled me out of the machine and pushed and towed me across the sand to the shade of coconut palms. The moment I touched the ground, I heard a chorus of voices saying, ‘Akwaaba. Welcome to the coast!’ It was from the group of canoes and I was rather surprised that they spoke my language. But needed not be surprised. I had forgotten that they all came from the same forest in the hitherland where I too had come from.”
Written by Ghanaian author Meshack Asare, The Canoe’s Story is a children’s book about a tree’s journey from the forest to becoming a canoe sailing the ocean. Told from the tree’s perspective, this richly illustrated story, portrays the strong ties between man and nature.
₵65.00 -
Sosu’s Call (Upgraded Version)
Age Range: 12+ years
Sosu’s Call, won the 1999 UNESCO 1st prize for Children’s and Young People’s Literature in the Service of Tolerance. It is listed as one of the top twelve titles of Africa’s 100 Best Books; and has been named an Honor Book for Young Children by the African Studies Association’s Children’s Africana Book Committee, as a contribution to accurate and balanced material on Africa for children.
Beautifully illustrated, the story tells of Sosu, a young disabled boy who cannot walk. Sosu misses going to school and all the activities of the other children. His village is on a lagoon, and one day when everyone is away fishing, working in the fields or at school, he raises the alarm with his drumming, and saves the village from total destruction by the sea. His heroism is rewarded when a wheelchair is donated and at last he can go to school.
₵65.00
