By Prisca Sam-Duru

Esosa Mokwunye’s “Chizam’s Coulourful Journey”, is a children’s literature published in Nigeria in 2025 by WORITAL Global, Lagos.

Coming after the publication of her first children’s book, ‘Princess With Scars”, Esosa showcases an amazing creative writing prowess that focuses on helping children understand their identity and be proud of who they are.

In 38 pages, with very colourful pictures and illustrations, “Chizam’s Colourful Journey”, explores themes of friendship, unity, culture, identity and migration.

The story revolves around six-year-old Chizam, who relocates from Nigeria to Australia with her parents. On getting there, it dawns on her that she is completely different from her classmates in her new school. Her dark skin and bouncy hair, make sure she is immediately identified as a foreign student. The culture shock becomes palpable but with the assistance of her intelligent and amiable parents, she is able to navigate through life in a foreign land. She learns to embrace her unique beauty as well as celebrate the diversity of the world around her.

Core messages such as the need to embrace one’s identity, and friendship with others irrespective of the colours of their skin, are told with simplicity to aid children’s understanding. Objects that are relatable to children are also employed to drive home each point.

For instance, the conversation about how Chizam feels about the colour of her skin in the midst of classmates from diverse races, highlights the essence of the book and how the message of identity could be conveyed to young minds.

At this moment, Chizam is sad. She just tells her parents how much she misses her friends and teachers. But with experience, they know the problem is beyond missing people back home in Nigeria. On probing further, she opens up; “Over there in Nigeria, we are all almost the same colour, dad, but in my new school here, only a few of them look like me.”

Her mother steps in, “I understand, my darling. I also met a lot of different people at my new workplace here in Sidney. Very different from my colleagues back in Nigeria.”

The father quickly added, “People come in different yet beautiful shades and colours.

Her mother teases her, “Your colour, my darling, looks like freshly baked chocolate cake but even more beautiful than the chocolate cake Ms Jane brought to our office party last week.” You can imagine how much her mother’s choice of words helped to brighten her up.

Chizam’s Ankara birthday dress- a fabric commonly worn in Nigeria and Africa-shows that irrespective of where one migrates to, a person’s culture can still endure.

Readers will be excited to discover the magic in Chizam’s hair, the strength in her skin and why she has to relish the beauty of being herself. After all, black they say, is beautiful.

“Chizam’s Colourful Journey” is fun-filled for children with an additional “Activity” page to test their level of creativity while having fun. With its vital lessons on self-love and cultural pride, it is a good read for young minds and even parents, who should always employ smart strategies to tutor their children.