Africa ABC and Africa 123 are two new children’s books designed to teach young learners about Africa and its rich cultures, wildlife and geography.

The impact of Black children seeing themselves, their heritage, and people who look like them reflected positively in educational materials can contribute to confidence, identity, belonging, and wellbeing. This outcome is what prompted author Kenneth Allen’s development and launch of Africa ABC and Africa 123.

Allen was initially compelled to action like many entrepreneurs, by a gap, in his case, of visibility in many early years’ educational resources of positive representations of Africa.

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At Melan Magazine, we are no strangers to highlighting the importance of representation and the power of seeing yourself reflected in society. Kenneth Allen spoke exclusively to us about his own personal experience. “Growing up in Britain during the 1970s, I was surrounded by images and narratives that rarely celebrated Africa or people of African descent.

“The history I encountered in school largely began with slavery, leaving little understanding of the rich civilisations, scientific achievements, kingdoms, and cultures that existed long before. As a child, this absence of positive representation shaped my sense of identity in ways I did not fully understand.”

It wasn’t until Allen reached adulthood that he was able to flip the script and began doing his own research on African history, which included a visit to Egypt in 1995. Allen said: “Standing inside the Great Pyramid of Giza became a life-changing moment. Seeing first-hand the achievements of one of the world’s greatest ancient civilisations gave me a profound appreciation of Africa’s contribution to humanity and transformed how I viewed myself and the world around me.”

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Those experiences began to shape his idea of ensuring that future generations based in the diaspora would not grow up with the same gaps in knowledge that he had.

Decades later, Allen is proud to have fulfilled that ambition. He recently celebrated the launch of his two new children’s educational books, Africa ABC and Africa 123, produced by his own publishing company, Lumin Books.

The books are intended for children aged 3–5 and aligns with the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). Allen describes the vision for his books as being about supporting young learners to build strong literacy and numeracy skills while fostering curiosity, confidence, empathy alongside a celebration of the Motherland.

He said: “Africa ABC book introduces young children to literacy while gently celebrating Africa’s remarkable heritage. As children learn each letter, they also encounter inspiring people, kingdoms, monuments, inventions, and cultural achievements that demonstrate Africa’s central place in human history. The aim is not simply to teach the alphabet, but to nurture curiosity, confidence and pride through positive educational representation.

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Africa 123 book does similar, but with numeracy. “While children develop counting and number-writing skills, they are introduced to Africa’s extraordinary wildlife, landscapes, natural resources and biodiversity. By connecting mathematics with the natural world, the book encourages an appreciation of the continent’s richness and global importance.”

Both the Africa ABC and Africa 123 books would make excellent additions to the bookshelves of children from all ethnicities. Every child should be able to see the world’s diversity represented positively and to understand that Africa is not only the birthplace of humanity, but also a continent of innovation, resilience, beauty and achievement.

Buy Africa ABC
£8.99
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Buy Africa 123
£8.99
Shop here