Dim's Write Stuff

Alishba The Great could be a tale touted as moral-driven and whilst helpful notions of self-belief and esteem feature on every page, this picture book by Faeza Samnakay and Sam B , is in fact a delightful and colourful ode to finding one's inner strength and siblings. Alishba hails from a land of antelopes, elephants and passionfruit vines. From the first glowing illustrations depicting Mt Kilimanjaro, we might deduce it to be Tanzania. She is as vibrant as the colours shown to depict her, bold, bouncy and well educated. As she grows, we learn about four precious gifts her family bestows upon her. I personally think her most obvious gift is her nurturing family but more about that later ... From each of her parents and brothers, Alishba receives a cape, each a different colour, a tangible, solid reference to the aphorism that accompanies it: Care, Courage, Determination and Flair.  Her relations take great pains to explain what each truism means for her and any future she forges ...