Mama's Sleeping Scarf by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

MAMA’S SLEEPING SCARF
CHIMAMANDA NGOZI ADICHIE’S DEBUT INTO CHILDREN’S BOOKS
 
A joyful exploration of family life, written by one of the most outstanding contemporary authors of our generation
 

HarperCollins Children’s Books will publish Mama’s Sleeping Scarf by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, writing as Nwa Grace James. This stunning picture book was published on the 5th September and is illustrated by the brilliant Joelle Avelino.
 
This beautiful family story follows a young girl called Chino as she plays with her mama’s sleeping scarf through the day. Running with the scarf, Chino weaves together little incidentals of home life into a glorious celebration of the power of a mother-daughter relationship, and the gentle joys that build a perfect day.
 
Exquisitely written with compelling simplicity, this is a heartfelt homage to family love. A compelling debut picture book from one of the most important voices in literature today, brought into glorious technicolour through the vibrant and contemporary illustrations of Joelle Avelino.
 
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie wrote Mama’s Sleeping Scarf for her daughter, who was three years old at the time. The story, energetic and full of joy, is inspired by the Adichie family and portrays an ordinary day in Lagos.
Mama’s Sleeping Scarf is a picture of family life happening, with its natural hourly rhythms, and all the miracles of the everyday, as seen through the eyes of a child.
 
Chimamanda said, “I decided to write as ‘Nwa Grace James’ which is roughly ‘daughter of Grace and James’ because I wanted to honour my parents. I lost them both recently, I adored them, and it’s become so important to me to hold on to their beautiful memories. It is even more meaningful to write this book as a daughter, for my daughter. It feels like a metaphor for how love never dies, how we remain connected to those we love even after they are gone.”
                                                                                          

​Chimamanda Ngozi is the New York Times bestselling author of the novels Purple Hibiscus, Half of a Yellow Sun and Americanah – which was a New York Times Best Book of the Year – as well as such essays as We Should All Be Feminists. A recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, she divides her time between the United States and Nigeria. This is her debut children’s book.
​
Joelle Avelino is a Congolese and Angolan illustrator who grew up in the UK. She obtained a BA (Hons) in Illustration with Marketing from the University of Hertfordshire. Joelle has illustrated several titles, including the twenty-fifth anniversary edition of Baroness Floella Benjamin’s classic memoir Coming to England.