Blog Tour: Aziza's Secret Fairy Door by Lola Morayo, illustrated by Cory Reid

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for an exciting, new chapter book, Aziza's Secret Fairy Door. 

It's the first title in a magical-adventure series from creative duo Lola Morayo, aka Tọlá Okogwu and Jasmine Richards, and I was delighted to catch up with this busy pair to learn more about their new book and hopes for the future of inclusive publishing.

Firstly, I'm intrigued by your pseudonym 'Lola Morayo'. How did you come up with it?
Tọlá: Jasmine actually came up with it, but my one stipulation was that it should reflect my Nigerian heritage. She did a great job: 'Morayo' means 'I've found joy' in Yoruba and I love that 'Lola' rhymes with Tọlá.

When did you decide to partner up and how does your creative collab work in practice?
Tọlá: I found Jasmine through the BookTrust Represents initiative. Her company StoryMix was looking for new writers and I had just decided I wanted to move to writing full-time. I reached out to her just as she was looking for a writer for Aziza and when we met, everything just clicked and fell into place.

Aziza's story is exactly the kind I love to tell — one featuring Black characters in a positive and inspirational light, where their Blackness is front and centre but isn’t the entirety of their story.

Jasmine is such a phenomenal writer and editor and what she's doing with StoryMix is game-changing. I'm incredibly privileged to get to work with her.

Aziza's Secret Fairy Door is such an exciting, inclusive addition to the magical-adventure genre. Where did the idea for the book come from and why did you decide to pitch it for younger children?
Jasmine: Fairies represent freedom and confidence to be yourself. They have an enduring appeal — you only need to look at the success of the Rainbow Magic series to see why children love these stories.

As a parent, I felt like fiction for younger children was an intensely white space in the market and, for this particular book, I kept thinking, why shouldn’t a Black girl get to inhabit the fairy space? I wanted to use my skills to change all of this.

Series fiction is so important to build children's reading 'muscle' from a young age and we hope Aziza will help them to do just that. We’ve already had some great feedback from teachers!

Aziza is a young, caring and dynamic Black heroine. How far is she inspired by her namesake from West African folklore?
Jasmine: Names are important in a story. For the longest time, in my head, Aziza was called Mia. Mia is a perfectly lovely name but I wanted something that sounded magical and unforgettable because that is how I imagined her character.

When I read about the Aziza fairy creatures that appear in West African mythology, I knew I'd found the perfect name. This little girl would be named Aziza — the name being one of the many golden threads that weave together to form her cultural heritage. It's also a nod to her absolute fascination with all fairies.

Did African or Caribbean storytelling traditions play a part in either of your childhoods?
Tọlá: Unfortunately not. My family moved to the UK when I was six, and much of my childhood was spent acclimatising and assimilating into this new culture. It didn’t leave very much room for exploring stories, never mind those from Nigeria.

I first discovered the power of storytelling as a child when I read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and, for the longest time, this book shaped the way I thought stories should be told. Discovering and learning more about African storytelling traditions has been the most interesting part of writing Aziza and my new middle-grade book. It has encouraged me to play around with different structures, realising there are so many ways to tell a story.

Other fairies and magical beings in the story are drawn from features of lesser-known world myths, which is such a refreshing change from well-trodden Norse, Roman or Greek tales. Which one of you is the mythology enthusiast or is it both of you?
Tọlá: I think it's definitely both. I devoured Greek, Roman and Norse mythology as a child. I've always found these stories fascinating but it never occurred to me to look closer to home till relatively recently. There is so much richness and beauty not just in African and Caribbean mythos, but also in the world beyond Western influence. We've only just begun to explore these stories. Unfortunately, many were passed down through oral tradition so have been mostly lost now. This is both sad and also exciting as it presents an opportunity to reimagine them for this new generation.

What would you say to those who don't see a need for broader representation in children's literature in the UK?
Jasmine: Inclusivity in children's fiction matters. If young readers from under-represented backgrounds continue not to see themselves in books, they will choose other forms of media that better reflect them. These same children are less likely to grow up to be authors and the cycle of under-representation will continue. 

Representation, or the lack of it, affects all of us. Children who are exposed to different cultures, viewpoints and backgrounds, through reading books, will grow up to understand and change the world for the better.

For all of these reasons, at StoryMix, we write and draw the characters that we didn't get to see in books when we were younger.

Will there be a spin-off series for Black superhero Jamal Justice in the future? A graphic novel for children perhaps?
Jasmine: I may have mentioned that idea in passing to our editor over at Macmillan. How awesome would it be if Otis, Aziza's big brother, fell into a comic book and got to meet his hero? Would Jamal Justice be everything Otis expects him to be? So much scope for fun here. Then what if we did a cross-over for the series with Aziza and her friends from Shimmerton? Metaverse here we come!

What do you hope young children will take away from reading the series?
Jasmine: I hope they will learn that Aziza is a character who can hold her own. She is resilient and caring. She is a new kind of heroine for the fairy-genre scene, and one who is long overdue at that. We think children are going to love her! We certainly do.

I'm so excited about the next book. Can you tell us anything juicy about it?
Tọlá: I can't wait for the next book to come out. It's so much fun and we discover even more about Shimmerton and its many magical inhabitants. Let's just say Christmas is coming early!

If you could go through Aziza's secret fairy door today, what would be waiting for you on the other side (person, place or object)?
Tọlá: Honestly? Narnia. I've never given up the hope that I would one day step through a doorway into that magical world and, if any door could get me there, it would be Aziza's.

Jasmine: It would be a time machine so I can shoot forwards, a few decades, and see what our world looks like with more quality, representative books in it. I do feel like that is going to be our future.

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My review

Fairy-obsessed Aziza receives a fabulous gift for her birthday: a DIY fairy door. The only thing is she has no idea who sent it. 

Things get even more intriguing later that night when mysterious knocking causes Aziza to open the newly decorated door, and — you guessed it — she's whisked away on a whirlwind adventure to the enchanting fairyland of Shimmerton. 

On arrival, she befriends switched-on Princess Peri and nose-twitching shapeshifter Tiko, and together they take on the Gigglers, a hoodwinking trio of local fairies who need to be taught a lesson about kindness and why 'borrowing' without asking is wrong.

Perfectly pitched for Year 2 upwards to read independently or share with an adult, this sweet, well-crafted chapter book from Lola Morayo (creative duo Tọlá Okogwu and Jasmine Richards) is bursting with a delicious mix of adventure, fantasy and fairy tale. We have an action-packed quest to retrieve a rather crucial jewelled doorknob, vivid world-building and, of course, lots of lively magic. Plus there's a whole host of lovable, diverse characters and whizzy devices to enjoy, from fairies to goblins, leap stones to echo pads — and let's not forget the grumpy anthropomorphic clock! It's a satisfying smorgasbord of fantastical features, brought to life beautifully with engaging writing and playful images.  

Even in black and white Cory Reid's digitally finished illustrations are warm and whimsical, perfectly complementing the light-hearted text. His thoughtful detailing throughout gives a strong sense of the two contrasting settings: the magical fairy-realm and Aziza's real-world city flat which she shares with her family. The map of Shimmerton is also a delight to pore over — as an experienced illustrator making his debut in children's fiction, Reid is definitely one to watch!

The connection between the book's characters, myths and folklore is inspired. It offers children a wonderful way to start exploring lesser-known African, Japanese, Arabic and Persian stories. Handy notes at the back of the book explain how the main characters link to specific traditional tales. Our nuanced lead Aziza — named after wise fairies from West African folklore — is determined and dynamic, perceptive and principled and also keen to try new things — learning to fly being one thrilling example. 

Through Aziza, Black girls are represented magnificently within the fairy genre they seldom get to occupy. I chuckled knowingly at the mention of her silk night scarf — if you're Black, you’ll most likely get the cultural reference immediately! 

Aziza's parents write and illustrate graphic novels featuring superhero Jamal Justice, which reinforces the idea that Black adults are successful book creators too. The comic-book references are perhaps a knowing nod to Okogwu, Richards and Reid's own artistic professions, but also brought to mind the pioneering African-American writer and animator Dwayne McDuffie, best known for his inclusive superhero series Milestone Comics. 

At last, an uplifting fairy adventure for young readers with an endearing Black protagonist glittering brightly! Full of fairy dust, friendship and feel-good fun, it's the sweet, sparkly stuff children's dreams are made of and I can't wait to see Aziza fly high in her next adventure.

Aziza's Secret Fairy Door by Lola Morayo, illustrated by Cory Reid, is available to purchase from Bookshop.

Look out for the next title in the series, Aziza's Secret Fairy Door and the Ice Cat Mystery: coming soon in October!

Thanks to Macmillan Children's for my review copy of the book and inviting me on this blog tour.