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Picture book authors and illustrators often spend HUGE amounts of time building in layers of things for readers to notice and uncover on second, third, fourth... readings. We know that our stories will be read multiple times and that children are skilled at noticing the tiniest of details (many are 'reading' the pictures more than the words at this age).
It is always gratifying when adult readers, reviewers, critics etc notice these details and are delighted by them - the piece is dedicated to one of those close readers who notices EVERYTHING - Fabia of Candid Cocoa and founder of the Jericho Prize. |
Kente
Kente cloth is the traditional or national cloth of Ghana. Historically the fabric was worn by royalty among ethnic groups such as the Ashanti and Ewe. It is also worn by queens, princesses and women of Dagbon. In modern day Ghana, the wearing of kente cloth has become widespread to commemorate special occasions, with highly sought after kente brands led by master weavers. Kente is exported as one of the key symbols of African heritage and pride in African ancestry throughout the diaspora. In spite of the proliferation of both the hand-woven and machine-printed Kente, the design is still regarded as a symbol of social prestige, nobility, and cultural sophistication. More than just a cloth, kente is an iconic visual representation of the history and philosophy of West Africa – a way of marking and celebrating African heritage. |
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When I wrote the first Lulu stories, I was working part time as a Community librarian for a Sure Start project.
Most of my work was running groups for babies, toddlers and young children and their families in the library; doing outreach to make the local community aware of these groups and to encourage families to join and use the library. Working closely with families when their children are very small can often lead to deep friendships - some families attended one of my groups with their first child, then a second, third... so we met a few times a week over 12 years! It's not hard to imagine that many of these children were in my mind as I developed Lulu's character, and later Zeki's and many parents kindly worked with me on some of the books giving me feedback and often photographic reference for all sorts of things. However, even though there were many much-loved children in my mind as I wrote, I felt it was important that Lulu be herself with a definite heritage and I decided that her mother would be originally from Tanzania (just like one of the mums in my group). So, when it came to acknowledging that heritage, I looked to East African fabrics for inspiration. In more recent books, as the illustrators of Lulu and Zeki and I have fallen more and more in love with the patterns, Kanga has appeared more and more as an inspiration in the books. |
Kanga Kanga or Khanga * is a rectangular shaped, 100% cotton, printed cloth common all along the coast of East Africa, especially Tanzania and Kenya. It is distinctive in having patterns of contrasting scale - one in the centre (mji) and one around the edges (pindo). Each piece usually also includes Swahili text (ujumbe or jina) often a proverb. Kanga is extremely popular in East Africa and is worn daily by millions of women. Kangas are very popular gifts especially for birthdays and weddings. If you are a guest at somebody’s house then they may present you with your own kanga, which is a sign of friendship. *I use the simpler kanga spelling since the Lulu books are written for young children and it's easier for them. |
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History
Kangas have existed in East Africa since the mid 19th century. There are many stories as to the origins of Kanga... One of the most common among historians points to the Indian Portuguese influence on East Africa of those who travelled the spice route and traded using fabrics. They say that in the 1870s, the women in Zanzibar and Mombasa bought printed bandanas, imported by Portuguese traders. They sewed six of these colourful bandanas together to make a unique piece of cloth. Traders along the Swahili coast quickly reacted to this emerging trend and arranged for designs to be hand-stamped, using carved wooden blocks, onto a single piece of locally woven cloth instead of lots of smaller squares sewn together. All of the histories agree that the first local versions were block printed with repeating black and white spotted motifs and that gave the cloth the name Khanga or Kanga - after the Swahili word for the spotted black and white guinea fowl. Swahili proverbs were added to kanga designs at the beginning of this century. The paisley pattern that is extremely common in Kanga may also be a throwback to those Portuguese bandanas - though the Kanga has made its own of the pattern. |
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Modern Kanga Production
From the early days, Kangas were largely produced in Europe and India. Throughout the 20th century, British, American, Dutch, and Japanese imported cloth continued to dominate the market. In the 1970s, textile mills were set up in Kenya and, in 1985, Tanzania became one of the largest producers of the Kanga. They now use large, industrial rotary screen-printing machines and can produce large quantities in bulk. Today, Kangas are produced in Kenya, Tanzania, Oman, India and Pakistan. China has recently become the largest producer. Kanga Uses
Kangas are incredibly versatile and are often worn as traditional African clothing but also to sleep in, wear around the house when cooking and cleaning and for carrying babies in. The cloth is often worn by guests, or the bride, at Swahili weddings (people from the coast). The traditional ‘wedding’ kanga (called ‘kisutu’ in Swahili) is white, black and red in colour. |
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Neno jema ni ua la moyo - A kind word is a flower to the heart.
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Kanga Sayings
For me, the most fascinating thing about the kangas is that each one bears a message; sometimes a Swahili proverb, sometimes a political slogan, sometimes a very personal message from the giver to the receiver.
These messages are known as Jina or ujumbe and they are many and varied. Short and to the point, they carry a whole lot of meaning. Naturally, these messages are especially shared by women who will wear a specific kanga to communicate a non-verbal message to their community. This form of communication, often between women, can be about personal feelings, relationships, politics, education, health or religion.
While I was researching the many Jina, I came across this story (click here for the original).
A young Tanzanian girl recounted how she became engaged to a German man and that in her area this caused much talk. She bought herself two kangas: on the one was the message – Wasemao na waseme – Let them talk who want to talk; on the other was written, Moyo ndiye muamuzi – Only the heart decides. She reported that the talk soon stopped once she appeared wearing these!
These messages are known as Jina or ujumbe and they are many and varied. Short and to the point, they carry a whole lot of meaning. Naturally, these messages are especially shared by women who will wear a specific kanga to communicate a non-verbal message to their community. This form of communication, often between women, can be about personal feelings, relationships, politics, education, health or religion.
While I was researching the many Jina, I came across this story (click here for the original).
A young Tanzanian girl recounted how she became engaged to a German man and that in her area this caused much talk. She bought herself two kangas: on the one was the message – Wasemao na waseme – Let them talk who want to talk; on the other was written, Moyo ndiye muamuzi – Only the heart decides. She reported that the talk soon stopped once she appeared wearing these!
My favorite Kanga messages are:
Kuelekeza si kufuma – To aim is not to hit (Good intentions alone serve nothing if not followed by tangible results.)
Usisafirie nyota ya mwenzio – Don't set sail using someone else's star
Furaha yako ni furaha yangu – Your joy is my joy
Mama ni malkia; thamani yake haina kifani – The mother is a queen; her value is inestimable
Mama ni nambari wani; hana mpinzani – Mother is number one; she has no one against her.
Usinisumbue – Don’t bother me
Akili ni mali – Wits are wealth
Sina siri nina jibu – I have no secrets but I have an answer
I'm on a mission to find out what the sayings on my favourite kangas shown above are - I'll fill them in as I find them.
Kuelekeza si kufuma – To aim is not to hit (Good intentions alone serve nothing if not followed by tangible results.)
Usisafirie nyota ya mwenzio – Don't set sail using someone else's star
Furaha yako ni furaha yangu – Your joy is my joy
Mama ni malkia; thamani yake haina kifani – The mother is a queen; her value is inestimable
Mama ni nambari wani; hana mpinzani – Mother is number one; she has no one against her.
Usinisumbue – Don’t bother me
Akili ni mali – Wits are wealth
Sina siri nina jibu – I have no secrets but I have an answer
I'm on a mission to find out what the sayings on my favourite kangas shown above are - I'll fill them in as I find them.
If you want to read more, this site has a very good list of just a few of the jina found on kangas.
(It also has a nice piece on the history and great examples of Kangas).
This is another site that has a long list of sayings and their translations: LINK
And this site has more history: LINK
(It also has a nice piece on the history and great examples of Kangas).
This is another site that has a long list of sayings and their translations: LINK
And this site has more history: LINK
Inspiration
I am SO blessed to work with two amazing illustrators (Rosalind Beardshaw for Lulu and Ruth Hearson for Zeki).
They are so creative it blows me away! Their influences are wide and varied and I open my email in excited anticipation every time I get a piece from either one. As I said above, we work hard to have lots of details for readers to discover (we went wild in the recent pair of Zeki books, as you can see here).
They are so creative it blows me away! Their influences are wide and varied and I open my email in excited anticipation every time I get a piece from either one. As I said above, we work hard to have lots of details for readers to discover (we went wild in the recent pair of Zeki books, as you can see here).
It has been wonderful to see the kanga patterns become part of the influences and source of inspiration for the art for these books.
The Kanga above provided Ruth (Zeki's illustrator) with a wonderful inspiration for the patterns on the fabrics for Zeki Loves Mummy and Zeki Loves Daddy. With love as the central theme, Ruth picked up the motif and worked it into Mum's robe, pillows, blankets... (the blue blanket in particular has the contrasting sized pattern of Kanga). Even the sofa has a subtle heart pattern.
The Kanga above provided Ruth (Zeki's illustrator) with a wonderful inspiration for the patterns on the fabrics for Zeki Loves Mummy and Zeki Loves Daddy. With love as the central theme, Ruth picked up the motif and worked it into Mum's robe, pillows, blankets... (the blue blanket in particular has the contrasting sized pattern of Kanga). Even the sofa has a subtle heart pattern.
Not to be outdone, Daddy too has towels and cloths covered with hearts (and with contrasting-sized patterns).
Lots of people have fallen absolutely in love with the dress Lulu wears in the Sleepover story. It's the first time I made explicit reference to kanga in a story and Ros (Lulu's illustrator) looked at many kanga patterns for inspiration.
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SNEAK Preview!!
In the newest Lulu title (Lulu's Nana Comes to Visit - coming in 2023) Ros has incorporated even more wonderful kanga patterns.
Below you can see the little snug corner where Lulu is putting her temorary bed (Nana is borrowing Lulu's bed - not every house has a guest room you know).
In the newest Lulu title (Lulu's Nana Comes to Visit - coming in 2023) Ros has incorporated even more wonderful kanga patterns.
Below you can see the little snug corner where Lulu is putting her temorary bed (Nana is borrowing Lulu's bed - not every house has a guest room you know).
What I love most is how these varied colours and patterns express the West African womens' spirit in they way they put patterns and colurs together with amazing creativity and confidence.
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Books mentioned above
ISBN: 978-1-907825-347
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ISBN: 978-1-907825-330
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ISBN: 978-1-907825-385
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Sneak preview - Lulu's Nana is not out until 2023!
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