Isossy Children meets Kemi Ogunniyi, Author of "The Tales of Mr Tortoise"

In this Isossy Children spotlight we meet Kemi Ogunniyi the Writer of "The Tales of Mr Tortoise"

Kemi Ogunniyi is a communications and business consultant, writer, and magazine editor. She is also a trained broadcast journalist who has done a few stints at the BBC and other reputable media organisations. Tales of Mr Tortoise was published after she organised a fundraiser in the UK where money was raised to be able to design, illustrate and print copies of the book for The 1Child1Book initiative.

 

What inspired you to start your business?

I wrote the book, Tales of Mr Tortoise, for the benefit of the 1Child1Book initiative.  I was inspired to write it because the programme leader of 1Child1Book (Tosin Jegede) was looking at the idea of working with writers and publishers to produce books for the kids.  We wanted a story that celebrated African heritage, and that was why I chose to write about the legendary Mr Tortoise, who is very famous in African folklore. 

I organised a small charity concert in Bristol to raise the funds that were used to produce and print copies of the book.

What have been your favourite client experiences? My best experience so far in the whole process has been organising the concert to raise funds and then going to Nigeria to present the book to the kids.  The smile on their faces is magic. 

What advice would you give to someone starting up in your industry? The best advice I can give to any true writer is this: write often as if your life depends on it, because it does.  Apart from writing stories for my friends when I was a child,  this is the first time I've written a book for children. It's very different from writing for adults. I had more fun writing for children.  It's not easier, but creatively,  it's more liberating. 

What are your long term goals? I hope to work with 1Child1Book to print more copies of the book locally in Nigeria and to produce more titles from the Tales of Mr Tortoise. Also,  some well-off parents in Nigeria have been asking us to sell the book to their children.  For that reason, we plan to make the book available for sale in the coming months (for those that can afford it),  so that we can use proceeds from the sales to produce more copies to give to the children the charity work with.

 

Isossy Children celebrates diversity through global clothing for children. Why do you think diversity matters for every generation?

 The world is a global village, and it is important that we learn about our cultures and others'. This helps in educating our minds and fostering good relations.

What words of wisdom do you think every child should grow up knowing?

When I was a child,  I wish I knew that wanting to be an adult was overrated.  My little words of wisdom are from a nursery rhyme my grandma taught me: 

Work while you work

Play while you Play

To be useful and happy

This is the way...

 

Twitter - @kemiogunniyi 

For 1Child 1Book Press Inquiries and Updates:
Telephone:        08082993595 or 08061151960
Email:                  info@1child1book.org
Website:             www.1child1book.org