Children's literature in Kenya: a mirror of Kenyan culture?

Abstract

The article is based on the assumption that the present state of writing for children in Kenya could in fact be reflecting the current condition of the entire Kenyan culture, particularly the culture of letters in the country. Using as a reference point the well-known book on Kenyan children’s literature written in 1980s by Asenath Odaga, the author indicates the achievements made by Kenyan children’s literature within the last two decades (e.g., efforts being made by both international and local publishers to increase the number of books and variety of titles suitable for different age groups), as well as problems still existing in the field (one of the major ones being the shortage of books in indigenous languages, with possible exception of Kiswahili). The author states that these problems could be applied to Kenyan writing culture in general. The article also proposes some guidelines towards the improvement of the current situation.