About the series

Several years ago, I travelled to Zambia with family. Seeing that this was my children’s first visit to Zambia, I wanted my children to learn more about the country and be immersed in the Zambian way of life. I therefore decided to help my children learn about Zambia by exposing them to children’s books with a Zambian/African theme or background or setting.

So, I went to many of the major bookstores in Lusaka looking for such books, but to my surprise and disappointment, none of the bookstores had any Children’s books about Zambia, living in Zambia, and being a child in Zambia that were fun, colorful and well-done.

The bookstores had many international books like Harry Potter, the Ladybug Series, the Famous Five etc., but they had no children’s books that were written by Zambians with a focus on life in Zambia. So, rather than complaining about how there were no children’s books for and about Zambian children, I decided to write a children’s picture book myself. That is how the “Adventures of Sapu” begun.

“Adventures of Sapu – Sapu plants a bone”, is the first in a series of books that are currently in different stages of development. The series focuses on Sapu, a young boy growing up in urban Zambia where his experiences are sometimes quirky and/or exhilarating. The books, which are for the 8-12 year old age group, have vibrant colour illustrations that have been drawn by a phenomenal local artist.

The goal of the books is to help fill the gap in the children’s book literary space where there are few high quality publications that are done by African authors and illustrators.The series is meant to provide an option to readers that contextualizes stories within an African theme and backdrop. The stories are place-based, offer cultural context, sometimes funny, and paint a positive picture of growing up in Zambia.