Every Leaf a Hallelujah

Description

A Guardian Children's Book of the Year An environmental fairytale made for our times, written to be read by adults and children, from the Booker Prize-winning author of The Famished Road. In the forest near Mangoshi's village in Africa there grows a very special flower. Mangoshi knows that only this flower can save her mother's life. It can save her village too. All she has to do is find it. Ben Okri and Diana Ejaita have created a magical world of beauty and colour, an enchanting array of extraordinary trees, each with its own personality and voice. The chief among them, the great baobab, invites us into his branches to travel the world and see for ourselves the perils of not listening to nature. All around us, forests are vanishing, and no one is listening. 'It was a sheer joy to be able to read this. It is mysterious and magical and true. Children and those who read it to them will love it and long remember it. The illustrations are woven wonderfully around the words; the trees are with you, telling it, writing it. Once read we will know never to take trees or leaves for granted again. A powerful symphony of a story that will resonate for every reader. We hear the wind in the trees on every page. We only have to listen' MICHAEL MORPURGO

Ben Okri was born in Minna, Nigeria. His childhood was divided between Nigeria, where he saw first hand the consequences of war, and London. He has won many prizes over the years for his fiction, and is also an acclaimed essayist, playwright, and poet. In 2019 Astonishing the Gods was named as one of the BBC's '100 Novels That Shaped Our World'. Diana Ejaita works as an illustrator and textile designer in Berlin. Born in Cremona, Italy, and of Nigerian origins, her aesthetic pays homage to her lineage.

A love letter to nature and trees... Evocatively illustrated' * The Big Issue North * All the authority of an established folk tale * Observer * A beautifully lyrical kids' fable by the Booker Prize winner about the importance of the natural world with vibrant artwork form Diana Ejaita * The Sun * This meditative environmental fairytale conveys a sense of humanity's deep reliance on the natural world * Guardian * A vivid tale ... Okri can distil language to its essence, which makes him an ideal children's writer. Written in clear prose form, his sentences have a careful simplicity, but not at the expense of eloquent writing ... Okri speaks directly and with passion, but without loosening his grip on hope ... Every Leaf a Hallelujah is made more enchanting by Diana Ejaita's illustrations ... She decorates the narrative with bold, colourful prints, evocative of Matisse's cut-outs and the bright textile traditions of Ghana, Nigeria and Senegal * Financial Times *