Blog Tour Review: Too Small Tola and the Three Fine Girls by Atinuke, illustrated by Onyinye Iwu

Eponymous Tola is back, in the much-anticipated sequel to Too Small Tola which was published early last year.

Too Small Tola and the Three Fine Girls is a charming chapter book of three short stories about the everyday life of Tola, and set in the megacity of Lagos.

Diminutive Tola is determined as ever, and we find her still living in a cramped apartment with her indomitable Grandmummy, sporty brother Dapo, and academic sister Moji.

In the first story, the squabbling siblings lose Grandmummy's precious earrings, and it falls to Tola to rectify the disaster before Grandmummy returns from her job as a groundnut hawker.

In the second, Grandmummy is seriously ill with a fever and the resourceful children conjure up ingenious ways to raise funds, not only to feed themselves but also to buy much-needed 'shop medicine' for their listless grandma.

In the finale, the title piece, Tola longs to be 'fine' just like the three rich girls she spies out shopping, but with gentle guidance from her observant Grandmummy, she realises there's more to life than expensive clothes, trainers, and the latest Apple gadget.

Skilfully written by multi-award-winning author Atinuke, the sharp narrative is pitched with reassuring rhythm and repetition, so each story and, indeed, each book can be read in isolation, which is ideal for transitional readers in lower KS2.

That said, there's consistency in the characters and setting as Atinuke cleverly picks up on elements from the first book to spark off new adventures in the second.

There are lovely callbacks to past experiences and objects, such as Tola's monopolisation of the doughnut treats, Grandmummy's heirloom jewellery, problematic bags of rice, and sister Moji's trademark A* frown.

Familiar friends Mr and Mrs Abdul and Mrs Shaky-Shaky reappear too, reminding us of the strength of community in Tola's close-knit multicultural neighbourhood.

As before, Onyinye Iwu ingeniously conveys — even in black and white — the vibrancy of community life through her well-conceived illustrations. The comic images pair perfectly with the lighthearted text, capturing each character's gestures and expressions to a T. Iwu draws details, such as food, clothing, hairstyles, and masquerade masks, with such care and attention, the unique blend of traditional and modern Nigerian culture is palpable.

Although the three stories are hilarious, there are points of gravity and real tenderness. The scenes where the siblings clock the severity of Grandmummy’s sickness, or when Grandmummy softens her formidable facade to painstakingly weave Tola's hair while telling tales of her 'absent' mother, felt especially poignant. We realise in these vulnerable moments just how much the family needs and loves each other, despite their daily squabbles.

During shared reading of the first story to develop comprehension skills, children in Year 3 could study the front cover and the first two illustrations to make predictions about the main character and story setting, drawing on prior knowledge of the prequel, geography, or their own cultural heritage. Then they could locate Nigeria and Lagos on a map.

Hot-seating the central character, Tola, would be a fun way to deepen children's understanding of her feelings/actions. They could also use images from the text to write speech bubbles (p18-19 would be great for this). They might consider how Tola's feelings change over the course of one of the stories using evidence from the text, perhaps plotting findings on a feelings graph.

Lastly, children could work in pairs or groups to compare Tola's life in Ikeja with their own, focusing on customs, chores, food, shops, clothing, schooling, and language. Supplementary non-fiction texts and vetted websites could support further research. In making comparisons between life in the UK and Nigeria, children will learn there are many similarities as well as differences to be celebrated.

Witty, forthright, and heartfelt, this contemporary trio of own-voice tales opens our eyes to urban life in a modern Nigerian city, making a refreshing change from overused traditional stories. As such, it is a must for schools and libraries.

Too Small Tola and the Three Fine Girls is now available in paperback at Bookshop. You can read my review of the prequel Too Small Tola here.

As part of Walker Books' Blog Tour, I also hosted a Q&A with author Atinuke and illustrator Onyinye Iwu. Read it here.

Thanks to Walker Books UK for permission to use images from the Too Small Tola book series. Text Atinuke, illustrations Onyinye Iwu.

Guide for parents and teachers

Genre	Narrative: stories from other cultures
Child-led interests (EYFS)	n/a
Age group (EYFS, KS1, KS2)	KS2 Year 3/4
Curriculum links/topics (EYFS/NC)	English Reading comprehension (Y3/4) – listening to and discussing a wide range of fiction, poetry, plays, non-fiction and reference books or textbooks identifying themes and conventions in a wide range of books discussing words and phrases that capture the reader’s interest and imagination checking that the text makes sense to them, discussing their understanding, and explaining the meaning of words in context asking questions to improve their understanding of a text 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 identifying main ideas drawn from more than 1 paragraph and summarising these identifying how language, structure, and presentation contribute to meaning participate in discussion about both books that are read to them and those they can read for themselves, taking turns and listening to what others say
Suitability	whole-class teaching, school/class library, home library, independent reader
General features	third-person narration, present tense, informal dialogue, repetitive story opener, adjectival descriptions, and some similes

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