THE GIFT

A charming picture book from one of Cameroon’s leading children’s authors reminds readers that small things can hold great power.

Leo, a young leopard, receives a pen as a birthday gift from his father. Dad tells him that “there are all sorts of beautiful things inside your pen,” but Leo has no idea how to get them out. So, he and his lizard friend set off to find someone who can help. They ask Leo’s big sister, but all she can get out of the pen is ink. They ask Coco-Tembo, a hen neighbor who is skeptical that beautiful things can hide in such a tiny object; and a giraffe friend who thinks the pen would be better put to use as a flute. Leo and the lizard are finally enlightened by Leo’s mother, who tells them that “all the words in the world” can be found in the pen. Leo writes all the words he knows, then tries his hand at drawing, and “soon the whole world is coming out of his pen!” The story ends rather abruptly yet is lovely nonetheless. The real highlight is Renon’s exquisite artwork, which is softly colorful, presenting elegant scenes of lush forest flora and fauna and dainty, fashionably dressed animal characters. Younger children will have fun locating the various forest creatures in the artwork. The images will be easy to see from a distance during a read-aloud, but the font size is unusually small. The Gift is Dzotap’s first book published in English.

A beautiful look at the wonder of creativity and self-expression. Not to be missed!