Showcase - Every Leaf a Hallelujah by Ben Okri Illustrated by Diana Ejaita

Today I'm so happy to be showcasing a wonderful children's book a new release from Other Press by Ben Okri,  Every Leaf a Hallelujah - An environmental fairytale made for our times, written to be read by adults and children, from the Booker Prize-winning author of The Famished Road. 

Enjoy!

ISBN-13: 978-1-63542-270-2
Publisher: Other Press
Release Date: 02-22-2022
Length: 112pp
Buy It: Publisher/ Amazon / B&N / IndieBound

ADDTO: GOODREADS

Overview:

The Guardian: Best Children’s and YA Book of the Year

An environmental fairytale that speaks eloquently to the most pressing issues of our times, from the Booker Prize–winning author of The Famished Road.

Mangoshi lives with her mom and dad in a village near the forest. When her mom becomes ill, Mangoshi knows only one thing can help her—a special flower that grows deep in the forest.

The little girl needs all her courage when she sets out alone to find and bring back the flower, and all her kindness to overpower the dangers she encounters on the quest.

Ben Okri brings the power of his mystic vision to a timely story that weaves together wonder, adventure, and environmentalism.

PRAISE:

“Ben Okri’s Every Leaf a Hallelujah is beautiful and wise—a true fable for our time. And Diana Ejaita’s illustrations are spectacular.” —Elizabeth Kolbert, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Sixth Extinction

‘It was a sheer joy to be able to read this. It is mysterious and magical and true. Children and those who read it to them will love it and long remember it. The illustrations are woven wonderfully around the words; the trees are with you, telling it, writing it. Once read we will know never to take trees or leaves for granted again. A powerful symphony of a story that will resonate for every reader. We hear the wind in the trees on every page. We only have to listen’ MICHAEL MORPURGO

Ben's Message to Readers

In the forest near Mangoshi’s village in Africa there grows a very special flower. Mangoshi knows that only this flower can save her mother’s life. It can save her village too. All she has to do is find it.

Ben Okri and Diana Ejaita have created a magical world of beauty and colour, an enchanting array of extraordinary trees, each with its own personality and voice. The chief among them, the great baobab, invites us into his branches to travel the world and see for ourselves the perils of not listening to nature. All around us, forests are vanishing, and no one is listening.

Ben Okri is a poet, novelist, essayist, short-story writer, anthologist, aphorist, and playwright. He has also written screenplays. His works have won numerous national and international prizes, including the Booker Prize for Fiction.

Meet the Illustrator:
Diana Ejaita works as an illustrator and textile designer in Berlin. Born in Cremona, Italy, and of Nigerian origins, her aesthetic pays homage to her lineage.