Author & Illustrators

Atinuke Books

L is for Love

Picturebook

A beautiful first L book of words perfect for pre-schoolers learning their ABC, reading aloud at storytime and for gifting to new babies or parents.

A whole family set off to sell their luscious lemons at the market in Lagos. They leave before dawn with lamps in hand and loads on heads. They have quite an adventure ahead of them … over logs, on a leaky lorry, through lightning, past lions and leopards until eventually reaching Lagos. The city is bustling and loud – there are lots of legs to get lost between! – but they can finally sell their luscious lemons. Children will love sounding out the words in this playful, adventurous and vibrantly illustrated story set in West Africa.

Beti and the Little Round House

Atinuke & Emily Hughes

Chapter book

Longlisted for the Alligator’s Mouth Award. Selected as a Best Children’s Book of the Year 2024 by: The Wall Street Journal; Publishers Weekly; Kirkus Reviews; Books for Keeps; ALSC Notable Children’s Books; Centre for the Study of Multicultural Children’s Literature.

From two award-winning children’s book makers comes a charming collection of four stories for newly independent readers that celebrate a spirited little girl living in the heart of the wild countryside with family and friends.

Beti lives in a little round house in the green woods under the mountains. She lives with Mam, Tad, Baby Jac and her very own tiny goat called Naughty. With each changing season, there is always the promise of adventure! In playful, humourous and exciting stories with richly detailed and bucolic illustrations by Emily Hughes, world-renowned storyteller Atinuke draws on her own experience of building and living in a round house to create a truly magical sense of place. An unforgettable children’s book perfect for newly independent readers to immerse themselves in and embrace the natural world.

Brilliant Black British History

Atinuke & Kingsley Nebechi

Non-fiction

An eye-opening story of Britain, focusing on a part of our past that has mostly been left out of the history books: the brilliant Black history of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.

Did you know that the first Britons were Black? Or that some of the Roman soldiers who invaded and ruled Britain were Black, too? Join this fascinating journey through the ages to meet those first Britons, as well as the Black Tudors, Georgians and Victorians who existed in every walk of life here. The incredible journey through time is brought to life through Atinuke’s fascinating storytelling and illustrated scenes, detailed maps, and timelines created by illustrator Kingsley Nebechi.

From science and sport to literature and law, celebrate the brilliant Black people who have helped build Britain. Learn about key and complex historical topics such as the world wars, slavery, the industrial revolution, Windrush and the Black Lives Matter movement. This fascinating book will change everything you thought you knew about our green-grey British isles.

Baby Goes to Market

Angela Brooksbank & Atinuke

Picturebook

This classic story for toddlers and very young children is absolutely pitch perfect for EYFS classrooms.

Mama is focused on shopping for rice, oil, chilli peppers and flip flops. Meanwhile, her curious Baby, strapped to her back, is busy entertaining the stallholders and making his own collection of tasty treats. The story subtly introduces simple subtraction as Baby nibbles his way through bananas, oranges, sweetcorn and coconut. Early readers and listeners can busy themselves counting up and taking away one each time he charms a new stallholder.

Threading everything together is a beautifully told narrative. Rhythmic and repetitive sentences and carefully judged word choices (Baby ‘grins’ and ‘beams’ as well as laughs and claps) encourage joining in and would adapt well to role play and writing.

Meanwhile, Angela Brookbank’s colourful and vibrant illustrations add yet another dimension, capturing the cheerful buzz of a bustling West African market, the warmth of a loving mother and the mischief of a lively baby.It’s lovely to be able to recommend a story that develops language and numeracy and all the while is great fun to share. Don’t pass this one up!

Too Small Tola Makes It Count

Atinuke & Onyinye Iwu

Chapter book

Lockdown is over and Too Small Tola has returned to the crowded family flat in Lagos, Nigeria. Even though she is back home and safe, there are still plenty of problems for Tola to solve – including her own. She may be small, but she is also thoughtful and kind and clever – and there really is no problem too big for Too Small Tola.

Baby, Sleepy Baby

Angela Brooksbank & Atinuke

Picturebook

A bedtime lullaby for the special baby in your life.

Baby, sleepy baby, I’ll sing down the stars
Till they dance right into your room.

A beautiful and lyrical book that celebrates the warmth and tenderness of wrapping baby in night-time’s embrace. Based on a Nigerian lullaby sung to Atinuke by her father, this story delights in the magical moments shared with a whole family and their baby at bedtime.

Too Small Tola Gets Tough

Atinuke & Onyinye Iwu

Chapter book

Tola may be small, but she’s very determined!
Too Small Tola lives in a flat in Lagos with her sister, Moji, who is very clever, her brother, Dapo, who is very fast, and Grandmummy, who is very bossy. One day Tola discovers the secret of multiplication and division. She is so happy!

But then there is news of a deadly virus, and news of lockdown too. Moji goes away to live and study with her teacher and Dapo goes off to live and work with his boss. Grandmummy cannot go out to work so Tola does instead.

Tola goes to live with a wealthy couple, the Diamonds. She cleans and washes and scrubs, scrubs, scrubs. She befriends the other workers too. But she soon learns that even the wealthy Dimonds have problems of their own. And when it comes to solving them, Tola proves once again how kind and clever, mighty and resourceful she truly is.

Too Small Tola

Atinuke & Onyinye Iwu

Chapter book

This story is set in Lagos, Nigeria and gives an insight into the everyday life for one Nigerian family.

The story focuses on Tola, who is the youngest in the family and she is not only the youngest but she is also the smallest – although Grandmummy, who looks after the family is also very tiny. Each member of the family has their own distinctive characteristic – Moji, who studies hard and Dapo, who is obsessed with football.

The book has three chapters and each has a clear message for the reader. Even though Tola is small, Tola shows that she is both strong and determined in all situations but also kind and caring. The stories show how being kind to others often brings benefits. In one story Tola has soft drinks, ice-cream and doughnuts having carried home the heavy shopping of many of the people who live in the block of flats. In another story, her kindness helping Mrs Shaky-Shaky, an elderly resident of the flats she lives in, is repaid when the residents stand together against the bully boys who trip Tola up as she carries water back to her family. In the final story, Tola’s thoughtfulness for the tailor who breaks his leg and is unable to take measurements from his clients around the city, is repaid by the tailor making a beautiful outfit for Tola.

This book helps to diminish stereotypes of non-descript ‘African’ settings and replaces them with a clear picture of life for a family in Lagos. More importantly, the author skilfully crafts believable characters that appeal to all children and couples this with a message that goes beyond the national boundaries of the story setting.

The No. 1 Car Spotter

Atinuke & Warwick Johnson Cadwell

Picturebook

Oluwalase Babatunde Benson is No. 1. He’s the No. 1 car spotter in his village. The No. 1 car spotter in the world!

The start of an exciting new series about the irresistible No. 1, whose hobby is car spotting but who is good at solving all sorts of problems for his village.

When the family’s cart breaks down and there’s no way of bringing goods to market, it’s No. 1 who devises the Toyota Cow-rolla and saves the day. He runs errands for his family and helps Mama Coca-Cola feed the busloads of people who stop for her delicious fried akara. No. 1 even helps Grandmother get to the medical centre when she can’t afford treatment.

No. 1 is bright and plucky and resourceful – a fantastic new character in what will undoubtedly prove to be a brilliant series!

No 1 Car Spotter

Atinuke & Warwick Johnson Cadwell

Chapter book

Oluwalase Babatunde Benson is No. 1. He’s the No. 1 car spotter in his village. The No. 1 car spotter in the world!

The start of an exciting new series about the irresistible No. 1, whose hobby is car spotting but who is good at solving all sorts of problems for his village.

No. 1 is bright and plucky and resourceful – a fantastic new character in what will undoubtedly prove to be a brilliant series!