There has been a paradoxical disproportion between the number of books published
for children and books published for adults. In 1982, according to Kotei, about 50 per
cent of the population was under 15 years of age, but only 5 per cent of the publications
were designed for them. Ninety per cent of African publishing was utilitarian non-fiction.
These figures have not changed much since that date.
Recent, heterogeneous, and usually little-known, literature for children in
francophone black Africa has been until recently the object of little research, but it is
gradually gaining ground.
The first identifiably African books for the young are schoolbooks, but ones which
broke with Western tradition; African writers were preferred, and the oral heritage was
drawn on. Examples are La belle histoire de Leuk-le-lièvre—cours élémentaire des écoles
d’Afrique noire [The Beautiful Story of Leuk the Hare— elementary course for the schools
of black Africa] (1953) by L.S. Senghor and A.Sadji, or the reading book by A.Davesne
and J.Gouin, Contes de la brousse et de la forêt [Tales of the Bush and the Forest]
(1936) which remain reference points. These books, and others which were not for schools
had a role in safeguarding oral literature. Animal fables have been illustrated in a
variety of ways: the Senegalese illustrator G. Lorofi used a cartoon form for the
adventures of the same Leuk, the clever hero of the West African tales, adapted from the
work of Senghor and Sadji; T.T.Minan gathered the tales of Tôpé, the crafty spider (Les
aventures de Tôpé-l’araignée (1985)); Amadou Hampâte Bâ gives us initiation tales in
Petit Bodiel (1976). The tale, rightly or wrongly assimilated into children’s literature,
provides an inexhaustible source inspiration for anthologies, illustrated books, or
original works such as La chanson de la vie [The Song of Life] (1990) of which V.Tadjo is
both the author and the inspired illustrator. This leaves little room for illustrated stories
depicting every-day life and reflecting the young child’s familiar world, such as J. de
Cavilly’s Papi (1978), O.Akpaka and T.Midiohouan’s Connais-tu Riga? [Do you know
Riga?] (1990), and R.Fadiga and D.Marteaud’s La case [The Hut] (1975). Customs, social
life and beliefs find their expression more in the form of the novel: they form the
framework (Le mineur détourné [The Miner Led Astray] (1988) by B.Sy, Halimatou (1987)
by A.Kanta, and.A.Banto Djerzon’s Ouly la petite danseuse [Ouly the Little Dancer]
(1980)), or become the subjects of contention (Quatre semaines pour grandir [Four Weeks
to Grow Up] (1992) by M.S. Diakité), being close to what can be called ‘educational’
novels (L’enfant noir [The Black Child] (1994) by L.Camara; L’aventure d’Albarka [The
Adventures of Albarka] (1981) by A.Clair and B.Hama). The social upheavals (Pain sucré
[Sweet Bread] (1983) by M.L.Martin-Koné), the onset of modernity (Le voyage d’Hamado
[Hamado’s Journey] (1981) by B.M.Say), the urban universe as place of all dreams and all
dangers (Le réveillon de Boubacar [Boubacar’s Christmas Eve] (1981) by J. de Cavally),
and the struggle to survive (Les enfants de la cité [The Children of the City] (1987) by
S.Njami) are a source of constant inspiration, while the references to the past, such as
the evocation of slavery or the colonial period, have a few echoes. There are some new
subjects, which, although rarely approached, show new trends: delinquency (La
mauvaise passe [The Bad Pass] (1990) by A.Diouri), political repression (Un matin pour
Loubène, [A Morning for Loubène] (1991) by P.N.Nkashama), and the place of women
(L’oiseau en cage [The Bird in the Cage] (1984) by D.Zanga-Tsogo). Non-fiction has been
the poor relation: examples are the historical La fin héroique de Babemba, roi du Sikasso
794 THE WORLD OF CHILDREN’S LITERATURE