Beckoning on Nigerian Children with Books

Funke Olaode reports on an American author who is taking more than a passing interest in the development of children literature in Nigeria

Brodsky

Swimming, taking a walk, going to the theatre and meeting interesting people makes her day. Kathy Brodsky enjoys those valuable moments when she takes a breather from her career as a psychotherapist and a clinical social worker. It is a demanding job that brings her face-to-face with people who are struggling with different problems.
She developed a deep interest in people suffering from all kinds of trauma from a childhood incident of polio which almost left her paralysed. This triggered her interest in writing. With help of her mother who assisted her in exercising and ensured she enrolled in a fitness class, Brodsky was back on her feet again. Her experience was recounted in the, “My Bent Tree.”

She recalled her childhood experience “I didn’t realize my talent for writing until I had written the story. Growing up, I lived in a house, with my family and grandmother. I went through high school, and moved away to go to college and graduate schools. My life growing up was very different from most children growing up in Nigeria. I grew up outside of New York City where most fathers commuted to work. My father took the train while my mother and grandmother took care of all of the household tasks. In most families, the man drove, but in my family my mother was the driver. My parents and grandmother were from Germany, so I’m first generation American.”

Her style of writing is poetry because it’s very succinct. All of her books, including her children’s books, as well as self-help book for adults, are in rhyming verse.

Childhood experience aside, her writing instinct is inspired by the things she sees, and hears. To her age writing has no age restrictions. “A person can start writing at any age. Even little children can tell a story to an adult, who will write it down. That becomes a story. In the same way – older people can write as well. Writing is really an oral story that is written down – and anyone can do that.”

Since her foray into the literary world, Brodsky’s books have won multiple awards, including Book of the Year from Creative Child Magazine in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2016. She was also voted into the Top 10 in the International Literacy Association and Children’s Book Council’s Children’s Choice Reading List. Each year, 12,500 school children throughout the United States read newly published children’s and young adult books and vote for their favorites — Brodsky was selected for this elite list in 2014. Additionally, her books have won several national citations from the Green Book Festival, which honors books that contribute to greater understanding and positive action on the worldwide environment. “Girl Scouts Magazine” also awarded a Brownie Badge to Brodsky under the category “My Best Self” for promoting self-esteem awareness. Also, her books have won many award: My Bent Tree, The Inside Story, The Winner Is…, Stover, A Horse Named Special, A Catfish Tale, High Wire Act, and A Cat Fish Tale Spanish edition – El Cuento de Don Gato Pez.

Gradually, Brodsky’s interest in Africa and for Africans is evolving as she recently donated a complete collection of children’s books to the founder of Magical Book Club, Oluwaseun Aina.

How did her path cross with Aina? She recalled. “I met Seun at the International Literacy Conference in Boston in July, 2016, and gave her my newest book at the time – High Wire Act. Several months later, she emailed me and asked if I would Skype with her literacy programme students. We did, and after that, I decided perhaps she would like the rest of my books for her programme. That was how it all began. When we Skyped, it was so much fun to see how excited the kids were when they were reading High Wire Act and discussing the questions. Since then she and I have stayed in touch. What Seun is doing is really remarkable because reading is the foundation for advancement everywhere, and Seun is helping this become a reality in her own country.”

Interestingly, her affiliation to Nigeria dates back to 2011 when her son, Jeffrey Brodsky interviewed former President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo in New York City. Jeff then was working on an oral history project at Columbia University where he was interviewing Heads of State from around the world. President Obasanjo was one of the many fascinating leaders Jeff spent time interviewing. Jeff, she said shared his insights from that interview with her and, there she learned so much on a personal level about the people and the government of Nigeria than she could ever imagine possible.

She volunteered her impression of Africa and Nigeria. “Nigerians are warm, friendly, curious, intelligent and gracious. The people are wonderful. I realize that people are not so different from one another. We all have the same basic human emotions. We laugh, cry and love in the same ways. My books will help build a bridge of understanding and in turn, transcend geographical and cultural boundaries.”

Brodsky is of the opinion that African narratives can become more appealing to the global media. “Africa has a rich history of storytelling that needs to be shared with the world. More children’s stories need to come out of Africa. There are thousands of verbal stories that need to be captured in writing as the continent of Africa is unique to the world in so many ways.”