For MIMI Mama's: Akissi: Feline Invasion

((  Written By: Mia Leheluka  ))  Following the the critical acclaim and success of Aya de Yopougon, Marguerite Abouet (Ivory Coast) is now dedicating all of her time to writing.  (Even more impressive, she is also the director of a charity that she created to help children in Africa get better access to books.)  Earlier this summer, Abouet teamed up with long-time collaborator, illustrator Mathieu Sapin (France), to release another beautifully illustrated graphic novel—Akissi: Feline Invasion—a series of vignettes aimed at a younger audience.

The children’s book follows Akissi, “a true adventurer, full of silliness and fun,” her brother Fofana and her friends as they get into trouble for their neighborhood exploits.  In the vignette “Good Mums,” for example, Akissi borrows a neighbor’s baby and tenderly feeds it a stew concocted from discarded scraps found in the market.  According to the publisher, readers can expect this and other vignettes where: “the neighborhood cats are pursuing [Akissi] to steal her fish, her little monkey Boubou almost ends up in a frying pan, and she’s nothing but a pest to her older brother Fofana, but ... nothing will scare her for long!”

I thoroughly enjoyed the Aya de Yopougon series, and am looking forward to sharing this one with my younger nieces.

((  Photo Credits:  Book Cover Art  ))