Book Review: My Birthmark, My Gift
The class was full. About 20 young children were waiting. I had delayed by 10 minutes and it didn’t stop them from rushing to greet me, the moment I opened the gate.
‘’Look, Aunty Esther don come’’
As usual chants of ‘’Aunty Esther oyoyo’’ filled the air.
About 5 of the kids rushed to meet me at the gate and collected my bag. We got into the class we normally hold our sessions, and after our preliminary shenanigans, set into the business of the day, proper.
‘’Where are the books’’?, I asked.
They were brought forward.
They had taken turns to read the book for a week and it was time for the review.
‘’Before we go further, who enjoyed reading this’’?
All hands went up.
Then some took turns to summarise what they read in the book. I had to stop that session as it was already dragging and every child wanted to give his/her own summary.
After this, we paid particular attention to the themes in the book over other areas of discussion.
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My Birthmark, My Gift by Chibuzor Miriam Azubuike, a 66 paged children’s storybook, chronicles the story of a young girl called Chedo who was born with a very visible birthmark on her arm.
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A very talented girl who could use the same hand to draw masterpieces, she suddenly became the subject of envious classmates who bullied her nonstop. This led to low self-esteem, and the quest to erase the birthmark.
This quest led to self-harm that almost cost her the use of her hand and gift. Events later would discourage her from this act.
She learned her lesson, healed from the self-inflicted wound and went on to compete at the state level where she won the drawing competition and bagged a scholarship.
The book comes in boldly-spaced characters and colourful drawings for each chapter, making it easily readable for children.
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Themes we explored include Bullying.
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Most of the participants had been a subject of bullying. I also took the time to solve a particular bullying case that had been reported by a child before that day. I’ll discuss this in another writeup. Let’s say it was a surreal teachable moment for all the kids.
Birthmark: Most of the kids could identify their birthmarks. Most were hidden in their bodies. And it was never something to be ashamed of.
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Envy/jealousy: Almost every child had a story to tell in regards to this. We further traced the genesis of envy and most of them opined that people envied them when they seem to be doing well or even better than others in class.
I smiled.
These kids were already learning Life 101. People will suddenly start becoming antagonistic of you when they see a flicker of hope in you.
One of the participants, Nanma said:
‘‘Aunty Esther, in school, our teacher said we should meet those who understand the subject more than us so they can explain further. Some students do meet me I have also been asked to explain some topics in class and while doing it, you can see some of the students sneering at me. After the class, they suddenly start getting angry at me for no reason and sometimes even look for something to make jest of me. It feels bad when they do this but I know they are just envious of me’’.
You see say no be only adults day vex when person don dey ‘’blow’’, abi? Everybody dey collect o. Both young and old. You wey dey envy people way no do you anything, continue, you hear? You get your mates for children section.
We discussed how this act should never stop them from being them. I also gave some tips on how to overlook this.
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Greed/ Gluttony. Mr James, Chedo’s neighbour was so greedy he wanted to eat everything set before him in Chedo’s house. Not only that, he wanted to make quick money and sold her a bad cream.
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Cheating: It was not enough that Mr James had eaten Chedo’s food, it was bad enough he had to cheat Chedo by asking for her mother’s necklace in exchange for the bad cream. Neighbours, ordinarily, should look for the well-being of others, not to cheat and bring harm their way.
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Talents/Gifts: Most of the kids were able to identify their gifts and talents. They almost didn’t want to leave this particular point. Each child could state what gift/talent they had. To make it easier again for them to identify, I had explained how they could identify their gifts.
‘’What is that thing/ those things you do effortlessly that others may struggle to do?’’
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Some identified speaking/talking. Some drawing. Others, singing, dancing, and the likes. Then we x-rayed how much they were utilising their gifts and talents and what they could do to gain mastery of this. Chedo was always drawing and this helped her gain mastery. If you don’t do anything about your gift/talent, you’d never develop it to the point where it stands you out from every other person.
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Good friends/support system: Chedo had a friend who always supported her while she seemed to be doing better than her. While others were teaming up against her for no just cause, her friend Kay, continued to encourage her to focus and practice for her upcoming exhibition. I asked who had such friends and while some hands were up, most hands indicated that their friends would get angry if they were doing better than them.
I explained that while some friends may get envious/sad/jealous over their success, they should NEVER be that friend but rather be like Kay, who was always there for Chedo.
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Cause and Effect: We talked about the cause and effects of our actions. Chedo, using a bad cream on her hand, led to wounds that almost stopped her from competing at drawing competition.
Mr James had to run away from his house alongside his family after it was discovered he sold the wrong cream to Chedo and took her necklace. Eka, the chief bully, had her own ‘’birthmark’ revealed after she fell down during the sports competition. Our actions have consequences and we should be careful what energy we give out.
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Affirmations: Chedo’s mother built her self-esteem and helped her affirm herself every morning. There’s a need for such positive affirmations amongst children and adults daily. This helps boost their confidence and prepares them to face the world daily. What you affirm, you attract and manifest.
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We had a great time as it was already getting dark due to the shorter days/long nights we are experiencing. Once it’s past 6, everywhere suddenly becomes dark. We also ate some cake. One of our members had celebrated her birthday on Sunday and the mom sent our share of the cake.
In all, My Birthmark, My Gift has been a good read for the children. With the exception of very few spelling/grammatical errors experienced, and some not-so-believable scenes (like Mr James running away with his family instead of apologising to Chedo’s parents, and the cost of the cream, plus a little inconsistency with Chedo’s age (6 and 7),)
has done well to put this down in writing. Another contribution to children’s literature. We can never have enough of such positive books for kids, can we?
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Did I tell you the kids enjoyed this?
As we made to leave, Peculiar David, one of the kids, asked me;
‘’Aunty Esther, please can I collect the book to read again? I will return it on Sunday.’’
As she was still talking, 3 more kids echoed the same sentiment.
‘’Why not? Just take turns again to read them. I’ll collect them on Sunday. , I replied.
Our book club ensures we take turns to borrow books and read if they are not enough to go round one child per book. A meaningful way to keep the kids engaged.
And like the kids said, thank you, Aunty Chibuzor for ‘’My Birthmark, My Gift’’. We enjoyed reading it.
Mmuah!.
‘’Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words… and heed the things which are written in it….
— Revelation 1:3 —
Oya, bai bai.
#BecauseVictoriesDoNotComeByAccident.
