What stories should African children grow up hearing?

Every child grows up surrounded by stories. Some come from grandparents at night. Some come from school books. Some come from cartoons, films, YouTube, TikTok and video games. Some come from church or mosque. Some come from the neighbourhood, whispered by older children.

These stories teach children who the heroes are, what is brave, what is funny, what is shameful, what is possible — and who they themselves might become.

For many African children, the stories on their screens come mostly from elsewhere: American superheroes, European princesses, Japanese anime. Those stories can be wonderful. But if they're the only stories, children may grow up believing that heroes, beauty and adventure belong to other places and other faces.

What stories should African children grow up hearing — and why does it matter so much?

Why stories shape who we become

Psychologists have long studied the power of stories. Stories help children:

• Understand emotions — their own and others'.
• Learn values and consequences.
• Imagine possibilities.
• Build language and vocabulary.
• Develop identity.

Research on "narrative transportation" suggests that when people become absorbed in stories, their beliefs and attitudes can shift. Stories are powerful teachers.

The Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie gave a famous TED talk in 2009 called "The Danger of a Single Story." She described how, as a young girl, she read British and American children's books and wrote stories about characters with blue eyes who ate apples and talked about the weather — because she thought books had to be about people unlike her.

"The single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story." — Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, "The Danger of a Single Story" (TED, 2009)

Her TED talk has been viewed tens of millions of times — a sign of how deeply this idea resonates.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's TED talk "The Danger of a Single Story" is one of the most-watched TED talks, with tens of millions of views. (TED) The message: children need many stories, including stories that reflect themselves.

1. Folktales and trickster stories

African folktales are some of the oldest and cleverest stories in the world.

• Anansi the spider (Akan, Ghana, and spread to the Caribbean): a clever, greedy, funny trickster who often outsmarts bigger animals — and sometimes himself.
• The tortoise (Yoruba, Igbo, Fon and many others): slow but cunning, famous for tricks that often backfire.
• The hare (East and Southern Africa): a quick-witted trickster.

These stories teach through humour: cleverness, greed, pride, cooperation, consequences. They also train children to spot tricks — useful in a world full of scams and fake news! See How to read a health claim shared online.

Joke break: Anansi once tried to keep all the world's wisdom in a pot. He tied it to his belly and tried to climb a tree. His small son said, "Father, tie it on your back." Anansi realised his son was wiser than all the wisdom in the pot — and dropped it. That's why wisdom is everywhere today. It's also why every parent should occasionally listen to their children.

2. Epics and heroes

Africa has great epics, often told by griots (jeli) — oral historians and musicians:

• The Epic of Sundiata (Mali): the story of Sundiata Keita, who overcame disability and exile to found the Mali Empire in the 13th century.
• Stories of Queen Nzinga (Ndongo and Matamba, in present-day Angola), a brilliant diplomat and warrior who resisted Portuguese colonisation in the 17th century.
• Yaa Asantewaa (Ghana), the queen mother who led the Ashanti resistance against the British in 1900.
• Stories of Béhanzin and the Agojie of Dahomey (Benin).

These are African children's "superhero" stories — real people with real courage. See How illustrators bring history to young readers.

3. Stories of everyday life

Children also need stories about ordinary people like them: going to school, playing football, helping at the market, dealing with siblings, making friends, facing problems.

Examples:

• "Aya of Yop City" (for older children and teenagers) shows everyday life in 1970s Abidjan with humour.
• African Storybook's many picture books about daily life in African languages.
• Local children's books about neighbourhoods, markets and families.

When children see their own lives in stories, they learn that their lives are worth telling.

4. Stories of scientists, inventors and builders

Children should know that Africans invent, discover and build:

• William Kamkwamba, who built a windmill from scrap in Malawi.
• Kelvin Doe, who built a radio station in Sierra Leone.
• Wangari Maathai, the Kenyan scientist and Nobel Peace Prize winner.
• Arthur Zang, the Cameroonian engineer behind the Cardiopad.
• Local scientists, doctors, engineers and entrepreneurs in their own country.

See The young engineers making tools for their communities and The women building new paths into science.

5. Stories about the future

African children also need stories that imagine the future — science fiction, fantasy and "Afrofuturism." Examples:

• "Iwájú" (2024), the animated series set in a futuristic Lagos by Kugali and Disney.
• Novels by writers like Nnedi Okorafor, whose books (for young adults and adults) imagine African futures and magical worlds.
• Films like "Black Panther" (2018), which, while made in Hollywood, showed a technologically advanced African nation and inspired many children.

Stories about the future help children imagine themselves as builders of tomorrow — not just inheritors of the past.

6. Stories that teach values

Many African stories carry values through proverbs and lessons:

• Ubuntu ("I am because we are"): the idea that our humanity is shared.
• Respect for elders — and the wisdom of children.
• Honesty, hard work, generosity, courage.
• Community and cooperation.

"It takes a village to raise a child." — widely described as an African proverb

Stories are one of the ways the "village" teaches.

7. Stories from the whole world

This doesn't mean African children should only hear African stories. Children benefit from stories from everywhere: Greek myths, Japanese folktales, Arabian Nights, Latin American legends, European fairy tales, American adventures.

The goal is balance: a rich mix, where African stories are present and valued — not missing. A child who knows both Anansi and Harry Potter, both Sundiata and Superman, has a bigger imagination and a stronger sense of self.

How to share stories with children

For parents and grandparents:

• Tell stories at bedtime, during meals or on journeys.
• Use your language. See The value of keeping African stories in local languages.
• Ask children to tell stories back — or invent their own.
• Record elders telling stories.

For teachers:

• Include African stories in reading lists.
• Invite storytellers and griots to class.
• Let students write and illustrate their own stories.
• Use games and play to explore stories. See Can play help children understand science? — the same playful approach works for stories.

For creators:

• Write, draw, animate and publish African stories for children.
• Make them fun, not just "educational."
• Share them in local languages and on accessible platforms.

The role of libraries and cultural spaces

Libraries, museums and cultural centres can host story hours, author visits and storytelling festivals. See The people keeping public libraries alive and Why cultural spaces need young visitors.

An illustrative family tradition

Imagine a family in Cotonou (illustrative) that starts "Story Fridays." Every Friday evening, someone tells a story: Grandmother tells a tortoise tale in Fon. Father tells the story of Béhanzin. Mother reads a picture book about a girl who builds a robot. The eight-year-old invents a story about a zémidjan that can fly. The teenager tells the plot of a science fiction film — with commentary.

Over months, the children learn folktales, history, science and imagination — and the family builds shared memories. Story Fridays become the most anticipated evening of the week.

Screens and stories: finding a balance

Children today spend a lot of time on screens. That's not all bad — screens can carry great African stories through animation, YouTube channels and apps. But parents and teachers can help:

• Seek out African-made cartoons, films and channels.
• Watch together and talk about the story afterwards.
• Balance screen stories with told stories and books.
• Encourage children to create their own videos or comics about local stories.

The goal isn't to fight screens. It's to make sure the stories on them include African voices.

Give children many stories — including their own

The stories children hear become the stories they tell about themselves. African children deserve stories full of clever spiders, brave queens, inventive engineers, funny neighbours and bold futures — stories that say: you belong in the story. You can even write the next one.

Keep reading: How illustrators bring history to young readers, What a museum can teach beyond its walls, and our Art & Culture section.

Questions

What are famous African folktales for children?

Anansi the spider stories, tortoise tales, hare trickster stories and many local tales about animals, ancestors and everyday life.

Why should African children read African stories?

They build identity, pride and self-recognition, while teaching values, history and language — alongside stories from the rest of the world.

What is "The Danger of a Single Story"?

A 2009 TED talk by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie about how hearing only one kind of story creates incomplete understanding and stereotypes.