By Henry Akubuiro
Strange Friends, Prince Chinweze Isaac, Finetime Concepts, 2021, pp. 25
Since the fifteenth century, writings targeted at children have gained currency in western literature, growing to become a distinctive genre in the eighteenth century.
Often written with a moral or religious undertone, the late nineteenth century has been chronicled as the Golden Age of children’s literature, for it was a period when some of the best classics in the genre were published.
Fairy tales and Puritan traditions played a big role in its foundation, in addition to philosophical and scientific standpoints from writers like Charles Darwin and John Locke.
Prince Chinweze Isaac, the author of the children’s storybook, Strange Friends, admits that the inspiration for his storybooks came from listening to folktales as a child. His plot is often woven around love, trust, cooperation and friendship.
This is based on the premise of catching them young —teaching the children the demerits of permeating social ills, given that our society has been set back by distrust, discrimination, ethnic jingoism and hatred. He is a social crusader who wishes to nurture the next generation with his writings.
In Strange Friends, the author creates three stereotypes —Leo, a lion, noted for his brute force; Harry, a hyena, noted for his cunningness; and a raven, noted for his adventurous spirit.
These three dissimilar characters are found in the same ecosystem, but aren’t the best of friends. In the animal kingdom, every animal is a prey, which has made mutual existence difficult. But in the fictional universe where Isaac operates, cohabitation is possible among strange bedfellows.
The author uses this fictional artifice as a template for nation building. Though Nigeria is a diverse society, the different ethnic groups in it can still shelter under one umbrella and work together to build a vibrant nation, his plot attempts to tell us.
As the plot unfolds, the reader encounters young Leo whose territory has been threatened by the presence of a greedy Harry in the habit of stealing his food without leaving any leftovers for the bigger predator.
No matter how he tries to keep the hyena at arm’s length, the hyena continues to follow Leo on hunting expeditions. Each time the lion makes a catch, the hyena will trick the king of the jungle away and steal the food.
Instead of working at cross purposes, Leo realises that both can actually work together, though they continue to have problems of harmony until they eventually begin working with synergy, and it makes their hunting stronger.
By a stroke of luck, the hyena finds Charlie the raven eating food while searching for food, one day and, on request, the raven guides him to the spot he found the food. The hyena, in turn, brings the lion to the party.
Once again, Leo demonstrates his leadership capacity by bringing the raven into their team, reading to him the code of conduct. With Charlie in their team, they find hunting even faster. What’s more, they have more fun and hunger has become a thing of the past!
This well illustrated, colourful book contains colouring tasks for kids to draw Leo, Harry and Charlie. It provides space for a school timetable, writing practice, etcetera. It’s ideal for nursery and early primary school students.