Bless you, my child,for the arduous journeyout of my womb. As you enter this world,may the cups and bowlsbe ready to comfort youin times of sorrowand those of malady— for the remedy shall beneither your mother’s milknor your father’s coffee,neither your sister’s teanor your brother’s wine,neither your grandmother’s sherrynor your grandfather’s beer. Your comfort and…
World Children’s Poetry Day (WoChiPoDa) 2022 is on Saturday, 1 October. Besides the nationwide poetry competition we ran in Tanzania, we invite all children to participate through poetry writing. As is tradition, this year’s theme is water. Parents, guardians, and teachers are encouraged to allow children below ten years to participate. You can celebrate in…
Can a tortoise and a cat be friends despite their differences? Andy is a giant African tortoise who goes to live in Germany as a pet. There he meets Audi, the house cat. Despite their differences, they become firm friends. Together, they embark on a quest to learn more about Andy’s origins. Get your copy…
Alphabet of Flowers is a fun children’s book that teaches young readers about different flowers. What was the inspiration for the idea behind this book? I love flowers, especially wild ones. I began drawing using wax crayons with our toddler about a year ago. As a painting medium, crayons are readily available and not messy…
WoChiPoDa 2022 is coming to Tanzania with exciting news!!! The founder and the committee of coordinators for WoChiPoDa in Tanzania are inviting children aged 7 – 12 to a poetry contest. Poems must be in either English or Kiswahili language. An adult (parent, guardian, or teacher) should send one poem entry to wochipodacompetition@gmail.com The deadline…
I pray for a miracle,to keep his yellow sea,bearing waves of laughter,from the time of birthto these times of horror. Merciful skies, hear meand send the sun,in degrees of pride,with rays of courage,to the cities and suburbsof my son’s heart,even when it rains bombsin his yellow sea. Amen. * A very happy birthday to Carolyn…
Today’s prompt challenges to write a cento. This is a poem that is made up of lines taken from other poems. I wrote two poems imitating the style of the table of contents but the format is not to perfection due to time constraints. Also, the chosen format is not phone friendly, use a computer…
On Wednesday, 23 March 2022, Parenting Consultant and Educator Justine Kakoko represented children’s author Gloria D. Gonsalves at the handover ceremony of copies of the donated book Jai Albino Cow / Jai Ng’ombe Zeruzeru to the Tanzania Library Service Board (TLSB) in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The event took place at the children’s department in…
An ekphrastic poem and an illustration prompted by a heart-shaped wall art with birds. The poem is about a heart witnessing the war from afar. My heart, I dare you to sing forgiveness again.The birds in your chambers no longer tweet.War is here and has your singing mornings stolen.All you have now are the invasive…
As I am writing this, it is exactly ten days since the passing of the Tanzanian veteran journalist Gabriel Pereira Mgaya, known as Gabby Mgaya. I was recently in Tanzania, an exciting time, to see my family after two years. I would have called Mr. Mgaya (in Tanzania, we do not address our elders by…