Akissi: More Tales of Mischief - Akissi (Paperback)

The best word I can use to describe the Akissi stories is simply "joyous". Ultimately this is a book that doesn't need critical dissection; it needs to be lived not analysed, absorbed not over-thought. A standout celebration of childhood. Once again Marguerite Abouet & Mathieu Sapin bring Africa to vivid, vibrant life in a way that both appals the sensibilities (seriously Akissi, stop borrowing people's babies without their permission to play with!) and amuses uproariously in equal amounts. The autobiographical element from Abouet is crucial in that it offers a genuine quality to the stories, and having lived the life allows them to forgo any sentimentality. Instead Abouet imbues the stories with a sense of adventure that should speak loudly to so many American children reading it, possibly facing a cloistered, overbooked day-to-day existence. Akissi's life must be a dream come true.