JIMMY DIARIES SERIES

Growing up has its myriad of problem which few tend to notice apart from the child growing up. Or maybe this is because of the child's point of view? Anyhow, all of us have fond memories of what was and what might have been - life with brothers, sisters, parents, neighbors (and often, with grandparents). Children have little understanding of what is happening around them and we get entertained as they tell us from their own point of view. Many of the stories make us flash back to our own growing up and all the adventures we had - though we keep telling our own children to beware and to look out for accidents and strangers and what have you. To make a long story short, we all love children stories. The JIMMY DIARIES SERIES forms a collection of stories from Jimmy's memories of his growing up. We are entertained by adventure after adventure as Jimmy goes about his business, sometimes in the suburb of the city in which he lives - but majorly in the rural countryside where he spends school holidays with his grandparents - and later begins schooling. The narratives are humorous enough to pull kids away from the TV and to reinvent the age old tradition of reading. The stories are also good especially for English language learners because they incorporate simple idioms so the reader learns them in context. 

The name MATATA in Kiswahili means troublesome. Jimmy gets this name from his grandfather who has a reputation in the village - but, of course, his becomes the dimunitative KATATA. And then he acquires another name - KARDA - from an American priest. So as we meet him in JIMMY KARDA, he is already loaded. In this episode however, Jimmy longs to get away from the boring city estate where he lives - and especially away from his sister who he considers a BIG JUDAS. He gets his wish but, wait a minute! Things aren't as simple as they look! Read this tantalizing narrative of jimmy and see whether, like the countryside chief, you can give him a little advice about how to get along.

Our perception of people when we are young may be quite interesting whether it is how we view family members or neighbours. But again a kid may have mixed feelings - and therefore mixed reactions - to people which we may not necessarily understand. Unless, of course, we see things from his point of view. JIMMY and his ANCESTOR is a humorous narrative about a young boy forced to grapple with the reality of who his grandfather is when he is forced to visit him and live with him during the school holiday as his family goes through a series of incomprehensible changes. Jimmy however has his own kind of fun which is promised by this short novella and the many more in the series. 

There aren't many stories which focus wholly at teaching kids to improve their spoeaking and writing skills, especially those kids learning English as a second language. Even the ones available are just stiries which sometimes focus on morality and good behavior. The JIMMY DIARIES SERIES combines all three. It aims at telling kids stories that are muromour enough to pull them away from the TV and the mobile phone. The series also focuses on improving speaking and writing skills by teaching English idioms in the context of their use. This helps kids and teachers of young learners to avoid reliance on the dictionary and the textbook. After all, natural language learning for children has little to do with textbooks. In addition, these stories teach kids about behavior, relating to members of the family, neighbors, friends, strangers, nature and the environment. Jimmy and the Covid 19 Scare was a project undertaken in 2020 to sensitize kids about the Covid 19 - although it went a lot further. 

Although this is generally a storybook for children, JIMMY AND THE DODGER, like ALL its counterparts in the JIMMY DIARIES SERIES also go out to do a number of things. First, they have been made humorous enough to pull kids away from the TV. Second, they attempt to teach morals to children by examining a number of issues affecting children from parenting to bullying and the like to teach kids one or two home truths about growing up. Third, they are written with the ENGILS CLASS READER needs in mind. They go out of their way to teach lexical items in English including similes, metaphors and idioms. They are the FIRST OF THEIR KIND in this. They tell stories of Jimmy, a lonesome kid, which many children will identify with. Also, they oscillate from the suburbs of a city to the countryside to give kids a taste of both the town and country life. It is hoped that kids will find them interesting enough to read them again and again and therefore improve their written and spoken English by doing so. 

Boys will be boys. They will go out of their way to take advantage of one and all. They tell simple lies and get away with it. Sometimes they tell big lies that cause disasters. But they will never learn. They will never realize that the adult and parent world they deal with is a lot wiser than them; after all, it comes with experience. It is not always, however, that a boy will be mischievous out of malice. Sometimes they may be moved to action by circumstances beyond their control - and at other times emotions may be too much. This novella explores this side of children - why they tell little lies and take advantage of their parents and other adults around them.