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A review by mldavisreads
Too Small Tola and the Three Fine Girls by Atinuke
adventurous
hopeful
reflective
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Early chapter book, contemporary realistic fiction. Tola is a young girl who lives with her grandmother, older brother Dapo, and older sister Moji in Lagos, Nigeria. These books are told in vignettes, with three stories per book.
The first story centers around chores. While Grandmommy sells groundnuts on the street corner, the children are to clean out the stones from the bag of cheap rice. But Moji is studying and Dapo is practicing football (soccer). But when Grandmommy's heirloom earring goes missing, it is Tola that saves the day.
In the second story, Grandmommy gets sick with a bad fever. The neighbor helps Tola get malaria medicine from the pharmacy, but it takes all of the family's savings. While their grandmother is sick, the children take up her job as a street hawker to be able to buy food. Dapo would rather hang out with the mechanics though.
The last story has Tola experiencing a bit of jealousy as she sees girls with fine shoes, jeans, and hair. But when Grandmommy braids her hair and Tola gets to go out with it, her happiness has some of those girls actually envying her.
These stories are full of love and culture. I listened on audio so I didn't get to see the illustrations but I did enjoy them in the first book. Beautiful series and I look forward to more.
The first story centers around chores. While Grandmommy sells groundnuts on the street corner, the children are to clean out the stones from the bag of cheap rice. But Moji is studying and Dapo is practicing football (soccer). But when Grandmommy's heirloom earring goes missing, it is Tola that saves the day.
In the second story, Grandmommy gets sick with a bad fever. The neighbor helps Tola get malaria medicine from the pharmacy, but it takes all of the family's savings. While their grandmother is sick, the children take up her job as a street hawker to be able to buy food. Dapo would rather hang out with the mechanics though.
The last story has Tola experiencing a bit of jealousy as she sees girls with fine shoes, jeans, and hair. But when Grandmommy braids her hair and Tola gets to go out with it, her happiness has some of those girls actually envying her.
These stories are full of love and culture. I listened on audio so I didn't get to see the illustrations but I did enjoy them in the first book. Beautiful series and I look forward to more.