Dora the Explorer, Curious George, Super Why, Arthur, Little Bill…I can go on… These are all fantastic cartoons and I would suggest you get your child to watch them; but the problem is, there is no African influence in any of them…
How then does your child come to understand his place in the world? How does he learn to appreciate his culture, the values and the beauty of his country?
Fortunately, there are some excellent African cartoons and we have dropped them below:
1) Ajapa the tortoise: Ajapa is an educational character from the Nigerian tales of the tortoise. Ajapa encourages the following values – success, longevity, family, honesty, wisdom, culture and education – in the books. In each story, Ajapa finds himself in an interesting situation and uses his crafty brain to get himself out of it.
The books are now being adapted to short educational films. The Day The Tortoise Broke His Shell is the first one.
2) Tinga Tinga Tales: Based upon animal creation stories from all over the African continent, Tinga Tinga Tales brings to life tall tales of how your favourite animals came to be the way they are today.
3) Bino and Fino: Bino and Fino is an African educational cartoon about a brother and sister who live in a modern day city in sub- Saharan Africa. In each episode Bino and Fino, with the help of their friend Zeena the Magic Butterfly and their family, discover and learn things about the world.
4) Bouba and Zaza Protect The Earth: “Bouba & Zaza” is a children’s books collection initiated by UNESCO Dakar and the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA). The aim is to develop quality teaching materials adapted to an African context.
The series covers topical subjects affecting the lives of African families that parents are sometimes reluctant to address. These include various topics such as war and conflict, the HIV/AIDS pandemic, the issue of water resources and environmental protection.
5) StoryCove Book Movies: The mini movies are based on the story cove book of world folktales.
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