Trends in Ghanaian Children’s Literature

Summary

The art of story-telling is widespread in Africa and traditional folktales are found all over the continent's diverse cultures. Indeed, folktale culture forms part of African night entertainment in the rural communities. Interesting characters feature in almost every tale. For instance, there are tricksters such as the spider, Ananse, among the tales of the Akan of Ghana. The tortoise, the hare and the rabbit are also tricksters in other parts of Africa. Folktales have been the embodiment of entertainment and education for Ghanaian and other children across Africa.

However, there is a need to investigate the relevance and role of these folktale characters as well as their influence and presence in the entertainment and education of the Ghanaian child. In a society that is gradually moving away from the traditional performance art of story-telling, it is important to explore current literatures for children to identify writers who write purposefully for the contemporary Ghanaian child.

In his novel, First Term Surprises, Lawrence Darmani depicts the lifestyle of children in second cycle institutions. He writes a series that follows the three terms of the Ghanaian educational calendar. The novel breaks down the school activities as the writer weaves his story around the curriculum for each term. Although it is a work of fiction, it establishes an authentic storehouse of information reflecting the educational and social life of the Ghanaian teenager in school. In Ruby Yayra Goka's novel, The Lost Treasure, the author takes young readers on a journey to a different part of Ghana where the child is not in school but engaged in illegal work. Again, a work of fiction passes down authentic information inbetween the lines of artistic creativity. On the other hand, Meshack Asare's novel, The Cross Drums, intertwines traditional myths and folktale cultures from the North of Ghana to tell a story that includes child heroes of whom the Ghanaian child would be proud.

These examples indicate the existence of a kind of literature that meets the needs of Ghanaian children. However, one must delve into the various types of supplementary materials used in teaching literature to the Ghanaian child. It is equally important to draw the attention of educators and all education stakeholders to the imperative of including relevant Ghanaian literature in mainstream curricula by showing the lack thereof and the factors that perpetuate it.