By retelling classic fairy tales and using familiar concepts like the alphabet, she introduces children to new cultures and stories in the hope it will encourage them to be open-minded. We had such a fantastic time creating “Jewels from Our Ancestors” that we’ve already begun working on a sequel, which is a collection of African-American proverbs. Familiar stories that can be retold again and again can help them build literacy skills, even before they are reading. Like if their mother tells them to go ask the neighbor for tomatoes and nobody is there, then the Ghanaians think there is no reason to go home.

Ghanaian Goldilocks - Audiobooks for Kids - Listen The Ghanaian Goldilocks - Audiobooks for Kids - Listen

I learned that sometimes Ghanaian boys are mischievous and they have a lot of guts to go into somebody else’s house and eat somebody else’s food and to also sit in somebody else’s chair and break it. I started giving myself permission to thrive, and to create relentlessly and referring to myself as ‘creative. I also pay attention to what I want them to know, and what’s not already out there, and create accordingly. Her most recent book, “Jewels from Our Ancestors: A Book of African Proverbs,” is a collection of illustrated wise sayings from across the continent of Africa. As a former bilingual Kindergarten teacher, Pizzoli developed a true love for children's literature during her decade-long career in the classroom.There must be a reason for the challenge and I try to find the unexpected benefit of it or create one. Even though the book is primarily aimed at children, I was drawn to how US-born Ghanaphile Dr Tamara Pizzoli (who lives in Italy) turned our idea of Goldilocks on its head by depicting the classic character as a Black boy from Ghana with a golden-tipped afro. A wise man named Don Folden once told me adversity guards the door to success, and, oh, how the last four years have proven those words to be true.

The Ghanaian Goldilocks by Tamara Pizzoli, Phil Howell

However, the tough times and learning how to navigate them really have polished me into a person who’s adept at spinning gold … in my daily affirmations I refer to myself as an artistic alchemist. The idea came to her one day while watching her eldest son Noah, who has a curly afrothat turns blondish on the ends during the summertime similar to title character Kofi (Goldilocks), play on the beach in Italy. There, she faced considerable adversity, but also found the courage to pursue her creativity full-time like she had always dreamed.The Ghanaian Goldilocks’ seamlessly weaves West African culture and themes into this beautiful modern re-telling. Punched plenty with beautiful illustrations by Phil Howell (the same genius who illustrates Kanye West’s alias, the college drop out bear, and designs for hip hop artist Pharrell), the children’s book invites imagination and chuckles, all the while providing memorable moments for life lessons. Like traditional kente cloth, West African culture and themes are woven seamlessly into the story of a boy with sun lightened hair named Kofi, better known to his friends and family as Goldilocks.

The Ghanaian Goldilocks - Pizzoli, Dr Tamara - AbeBooks

If you saw my posts on Cinderella Around the World, Trickster Tales Around the World, or Gingerbread Stories from Around the World you know I love comparing fairytales and folktales from different cultures, hunting for cultural differences and similarities. Pizzoli’s pages flow with a rhythm (iambic pentameter), good heartedness and lyricism (song and dance)—a wonder-filled look at the day in the life of a brown skin boy going through the paces of growing up and learning lessons in love, respect and honor. She converted The English Schoolhouse, a language school she owned, into a boutique publishing house, through which she also offers coaching and other services related to writing and book publishing.Using puppets, peg dolls, or anything that can represent the characters can help children get deeper into the story and build empathy and storytelling skills. He’s this brown kid whose hair turns blondish at the ends when he’s been playing on the beach in the summertime. It’s also a gift that the story will be shared; hopefully, it will help others avoid the mistake of trusting someone with a broken moral compass. I don’t care how many people like my posts on social media or how many followers I have—I remember when I first started out I thought that was important.