Review: Children of the Benin Kingdom by Dinah Orji

Twelve-year-old Ada is a special child, and her aging adoptive Papa Eze has always known it. 

One day, herbalist Eze reveals a shocking family secret, sending courageous Ada on a treacherous journey, with friends Mbe and Madu, to discover her true identity.

Set in 12th-century West African Igodomigodo (later renamed as the kingdom of Benin), this pacy historical adventure by debut novelist Dinah Orji is essential reading for children in KS2, and it complements a whole-class study of this ancient civilisation (history). 

This fresh, enlightening 'own voice' tale will inform children about the sophisticated communities of Black settlers—in this case, the Edo—that developed the region of West Africa well before colonial invasion by the British.

The fictional storyline is skillfully entwined with authentic historical and culturally specific detail including rich language, much of which is expanded upon in the informative appendix, so as not to interrupt the sense of the main text.

Orji, whose Nigerian family grew up close to the location of the historical Benin Empire, transports readers masterfully to an unfamiliar world, taking us from Ada's village in the Igbo lands, to the outskirts of the Benin kingdom, and then deep into its heartland, the forest city of Edo. We learn about ancient Edo traditions, beliefs, political and economic structures including methods of trading. From spiritual ancestry to plant lore, exceptional artworks to divination, readers are totally immersed in Edo life, depicted during the last days of the powerful Ogiso dynasty. 

My only quibble is that the silhouettes of the protagonists on the front cover felt a tad anonymous, though the author's subtle character descriptions, particularly of Ada, go a long way to offset this. Also, Natalie Cooper's black-and-white images of Ogiso symbols of power, such as the 'aba' and 'eben', are lively additions that aid the imagination.

It's a highly original tale of loyalty, family bonds, and desire to learn the truth. Crucially it also brings into focus the importance of learning about the great pre-colonial African civilizations, and that our history is not defined by slavery. 

Children of the Benin Kingdom (Dinosaur Books 2020) can be purchased from Book Love.

Resources

BBC Bitesize: The Kingdom of Benin

History Association: Benin Resources

Guide for teachers and parents

Genre	Narrative: historical fiction/adventure
Child-led interests (EYFS)	N/A
Age group (EYFS, KS1, KS2)	KS2 (years 5-6)
Curriculum links/topics (EYFS/NC)	English reading comprehension (Y5/6) – continuing to read and discuss an increasingly wide range of fiction, poetry, plays, non-fiction and reference books or textbooks increasing their familiarity with a wide range of books, including myths, legends, and traditional stories, modern fiction, fiction from our literary heritage, and books from other cultures and traditions recommending books that they have read to their peers, giving reasons for their choices identifying and discussing themes and conventions in and across a wide range of writing making comparisons within and across books checking that the book makes sense to them, discussing their understanding and exploring the meaning of words in context asking questions to improve their understanding drawing inferences such as inferring characters’ feelings, thoughts and motives from their actions, and justifying inferences with evidence predicting what might happen from details stated and implied History: a non-European society that provides contrasts with British history – one study chosen from: early Islamic civilization, including a study of Baghdad c. AD 900; Mayan civilization c. AD 900; Benin (West Africa) c. AD 900-1300.
Suitability	whole-class teaching, class/school library, independent reader, home reader
General features	historical facts, conflict, specific historical period, dialogue reflects opinions of the time period, plot is fictional with lots of historical facts included, descriptions of setting and characters are authentic for the time period; unfamiliar vocabulary (e.g. wrappers, cowries, guord)

All the Black children's books that I review are checked against my Jericho Benchmark.