Beyond the ordinary-TRIUMPH   THROUGH  HOPE

Graceful  Storyville  brings  to  you true   life  stories  of  triumph  over  shame,pain  and  disgrace  through  hope .Read  and listen to  how  many people survived  trying  times  and how many  worked out  of poverty  and  pain through  hope. What  do you do  when you are  alone  trying  to  figure  out  what  to do  with  nowhere  to go-Look  Up !.

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Storyville

 How  kindness and hard work  payed  back  as  the  main book  character  triumphed   through  hope in a  book

by  Chinyere  Nwakanma

Sunday 24/05/2026   23:26  P.M  BST

Images   and  Video  Copyright©     -Graceland  Books  and  Allied

Images  by  Tochi  Nwamadu  from the  book  -The  Palmwine  Tapper and the  lost  tortoise  by  Chinyere  Nwakanma

                              The  Palm wine  Tapper  and the  lost  tortoise-The  Story

Being  versatile  in my  works  as  a children's  writer,means  that I have to think  deeply  about  each  character  plot and the  impact  of the  tales  on the  young minds reading them, as the tales  must  reflect  positive  role modelling  to be  effective and  combining  the  arts with  my background  in  science  and  spreading  hope  is  something  I  have  found  very interesting and amazing over the years .The  art  of  story making comes  to  me  naturally , as     I  did  master  the  art  so many    years  ago, being  a kid who  listened  to many adults  that read  folktales  for  me,  having  read  lots  of  engaging interesting stories  from  across  continents,  including  folktales  from the  African  continent and the British  ancient  tales , with the  amazing imaginative   stories .The  character plots  coupled with the  movies  that  I  watched  in kid's  channels  over  the years, did  help  me  to  develop the  art  of  conceptualisation. The  Palm  wine  Tapper  and the  lost  tortoise  is  a book  I  find very interesting,  as  I wrote the  book  to get kids  to imagine  what life  looked  like  in the  ancient  continent of Africa as told in the  story , though life  has today moved  on  from  the  ancient days  of the  palm  tapper tales ,to the  glitzy  modern streets  of  Abuja , Lagos, Johannesburg ,Capetown  and Nairobi which  are  now world  class cities,  but  part  of  the  developmental processes for  kids  includes  getting  them to imagine  the  abstract, the  virtual  and  the real  world events  that help to  shape their  thinking which is what  the literature  writers  combine  to  get out  great  books and  stories for  kids.Getting the  kids  to  think  about men climbing on  trees  to  find food, rather  than going to  the posh  counters  of  the  supermarkets  in this book  has  been  amazing.Life  in ancient Africa  might  have  evolved  to  become  more  complex , but  many  people who grew  up  in the  ancient continent  ,do  always  remember  the  tales  of the  struggling  hardworking  tradesmen,who  climbed trees to  feed their wives  and kids.They  had  skills  that  were  alien to  the  developed  world , but they  are  some of the  most  famous  and  successful tradesmen  in the  continent of  Africa  during the ancient times, with  many of  them   combining the art of  tree  cutting  of the palm fruits  used  in making  the  African  red  oil and black  soaps ,the  coconuts  and the  fermenting  of  the palm  wine  as tradesmen.And the tale  touches on kindness, hard work, enterprise  and hope  for the kids  ,which  many    times  parents  find  difficult  to pass on to  their kids by  direct  counselling.A  simple  tale  could be the quickest  way to  pass  information to kids  as  they  find  stories  very  engaging  and interesting,which  has been done  across  generations.And  we are  delighted  that  we will  be writing  more  about  storytelling  on Storyville in this  online  magazine.

     The  Story of the  Palmwine  Tapper  and the lost  Tortoise by  Chinyere Nwakanma

Long time ago lived Timo the palm wine Tapper in a distant village. He was loved by everyone because of the sweet wine that he sold to them.

Timo was very poor.He left  home every morning with his climbing robe on his shoulder singing his favourite tunes. It was a hard and a scary job, but Timo did not care, as he had to look after his wife and three kids. Whenever Timo was out, his wife sat at the gate, waiting for him to come back.She knew the risk he took each day to climb the trees to get money for food.You would hear her voice saying “Welcome” as he climbed down his bicycle ,bringing down the little keg of wine which served as a drink for the family and his  customers  .The money that he made could hardly help him to buy the basic things for his family. But Timo was not worried. He continued his job and hoped that a day will come when his fortune will change. One day Timo was climbing up the tree when he heard a squeaky noise. As he climbed up the palm tree the noise became louder. He decided to look down to see where the noise came from.He saw an old tortoise and he climbed down to see what was making it to groan.He came down to pick up the tortoise and saw its leg tangled with threads. He went to his bicycle, took his knife and began to remove  the threads  from the poor tortoise. When he finished freeing the tortoise, he took the tortoise back home. His wife was at the gate waiting for him to bring money and food home. But Timo has brought home a sick tortoise. His wife was angry and the villagers were disappointed, that they could not get their supply of their favourite wine  from  Timo. The story went round the village that Timo foolishly left his job for a day to look after a sick Tortoise. So that no-one had a drink for the day. But Timo went to look for herbs in the stream to tend his new pet and friend. After some days the tortoise became well and Timo kept it in a little house and fed it daily.One day a town crier from the neighbouring town of Umuofa came with a message that their king was looking for a rare old tortoise with a gift for anyone who has seen the lost tortoise.

The village town crier went about town with a flute, reminding everyone about the need to find the king’s tortoise.Timo was surprised that the tortoise was so precious to the king. He sent a message to the king’s guards that he has found the tortoise. The king was so happy that the hundred year old tortoise was still alive. He sent a message to Timo that he was delighted and Timo returned the tortoise to the king. But his fortune did not change.Timo returned home receiving just a thank you note from the king.Timo did not ask for any gift  but left to continue his work of  selling palmwine to the villagers. He did not worry that the king did not fulfil his promise to give a gift to anyone who found the tortoise.

After one year, everything about the lost tortoise was forgotten. One day the naughty tortoise wondered away again but this time it hid in the queen’s old shopping   basket The King was worried and remembered that Timo was not rewarded the last time he found the tortoise.But as his wife prepared for market, the tortoise jumped out of the shopping basket scaring her so much. The servants told the king that the tortoise has been found.Then he decided to reward the man who found it the last time. Timo was surprised because he did not know that the king would still remember him.Timo went back to see him. The king thanked him for rescuing and looking after his much loved tortoise. He told Timo that it was a gift from his great grandfather and it was well loved. He asked Timo about his job and was surprised that Timo was a palm wine Tapper. He gave Timo gifts of gold, silver and rare jewels which Timo sold and became very rich. He asked him to be his butler. Timo was happy and went home to sell his gold and became very rich.He had big houses but still made out time to climb the trees, just to supply palm wine to the king who made him rich.Timo could not believe how his fortune changed.

Now Timo was very rich that he did not need to tap any wine to make a living .He stopped climbing trees to supply to the villagers, who missed his palmwine.But he was still loyal to the king who made him rich. All the people who laughed at Timo and the tortoise came to apologise and called him a lucky man.His wife was happy and relieved that Timo did not need to climb the trees everyday for them to eat. This is end of the story  of Timo the Palmwine Tapper who rose from a village wine tapper to become the king's butler.

Copyright© Chinyere  Nwakanma  and  Graceland  Books  and  Allied   2020

Why storytelling  is  good  for  kids

Sometimes  I  sit back  to  recollect  some of the amazing  tales  we were  told  as kids  in the literature  classes  and they  give  me so much  joy.Storytelling  brings  the  sweetest  times of  childhood  back to  the memory  reminding  us  of the  times    we  read  the  amazing  colourful  well  illustrated  books  as kids.

Storytelling  has been  found  to  be  good  for  the emotional  and  cognitive development  of  kids through  the   building of  language skills, fostering empathy, and boosting cognitive abilities. It gives the children  safe spaces to explore  their emotions, find out more  about  the  world,the  environments,the  societies  across  continents,their  cultures  while expanding their imaginations  and  thinking horizons, as they  think  deeply  about  how  life  could  be  in other  places  different from theirs , this prepares them for future learning and life  beyond their own  cultures. This  brings  them  to places of  accepting  others  and the  uniqueness of the  different  human  identities  across  the  globe.Most  adventurous  kids  are  the present day  travellers ,who go to  different  continents  to explore  cultural  values  and find   out more about how people  are  living  and  what makes  us  different  from one  another  as humans  that live  in  different places  and in  different ways.It helps  to  develop   curious  minds  in kids  leading  them to  want  to  learn more  about our world , by  exploring arts  and  science  leading  to great  discoveries in  science  medical  cures and the development of  artistic  talents.The travellers  are  some of the  most  successful  storytellers,  with great  skills  in imagination  and they showcase  the  world of  different   cultures in  very  entertaining  ways.It  is  one  of the most amazing  skills to have  in  adult  life.The  ability  to  imagine    tales and bring them  to real life,  with  life  about  different  people,places  and things  put  down in  simple tales  that people  do  find  interesting  and easy to read ,understand and   watch on the  screens.

             How  story telling  helps  in the  developmental  processes  of the  kids

          Storytelling  and   exploring  of  our  world through imagination  helps  children to

• Develop  new language skills and literacy: Stories introduce new vocabularies to  kids and they  help  to improve communication skills in kids. Children who listen to  stories frequently develop better listening  skills.Children  develop new  skills and   are  also  able  to retell  the  stories  and analyse  what they  have  heard  or seen to other people  even in adult  life.

• Empathy and Social-Emotional development: By exploring the book  characters' motivations, children learn to understand what others  feel  and learn  how  to  accept  other people's feelings  and  opinions. It serves as an emotional blueprint to safely process difficult situations  and feelings.Many  children who  have  lived  with  great story tellers,  have been found  to  be  empathic, sharing  easily  human  emotions  and love to others.

• Cognitive Development: Storytelling  helps  to keep  the memory alert, get people  to listen  and  stay  focused  and to  become  abstract thinkers. It helps children to  visualize complex  situations  and that strengthens their abilities  to  solve  diverse problems  latter in life.

• Building Resilience: Listening to  stories that  show challenges and triumphs,just  like as was  shared  in the  palm wine  tapper  story, helps children to learn how to adapt easily  to real-world challenges.It  helps them  to  build  resilience  and to become   confident  people latter in adult  life.

How    children could  be  helped  to  develop the  love  of  work  through  story  telling

The  news  that the youngsters  are  out of  work   and  education from  the radio was  not  a great  one  last  week  since  they  are  the nation's  future.We  are in worrying times as we were  all made  to know  that the  youngsters , even  the University  graduates  are  not  working  at  all even after training.The  concept  of getting kids  to  work , starts  from childhood and early years  through  teenage years and  adulthood. It  is  from the  early  years  that  kids develop  the  love  of  work or professionalism  during playtimes and  while  watching    the  adults  around them  especially  their  parents,relatives and  their  teachers going  out  and returning home after  work.They are motivated  to  pursue  work  when they see  how much their parents  earn  at the  end of the  month  and how  great  life  can be  with great  earnings in latter  life.

• Exploring  plays and  stories   do help  children  to  visualise  what  they will  like  to  become in  adult  life,making them to make  early  career  choices.It  also helps them to  stay  focused  on the  path  of  their career  decisions  as they  remember  successful  book  characters,movie characters  and  authors  in  adult  life. They  work hard to  become  successful  like  characters  they  have  seen in books  and  movies.

Working  parents  do keep their  kids  comfortable  by  celebrating  their  birthdays ,buying them good  clothes  and shoes,paying off  bills  without  arguing in front  of kids.They  work  to avoid having their  kids  watch  their parent being thrown out  of the  homes  by  angry landlords and  bailiffs or  watch their  children  suffer  while  growing   in poverty  caused  by  worklessness.  Worklessness in  adulthood  is  developed     from  living and growing  in  workless  households  as parents and  adult  relatives  are  supposed  to  be good or positive role  models to their children.The  concept  of being hardworking is something that  could  be inculcated in children  right  from  kindergarten by reading  the imaginative  tales  of  the successful lives  of  hardworking  men  and women ,who  had   their  fortunes  changed  as they  were  working to  make  a  living  and to help  others   as told  in the  story of the Tapper  and the  lost  tortoise.According to the book,the  palm-wine  Tapper made  his  fortune  after he helped  to  find the king's  old tortoise  being rewarded by  the  king  when  he  found his lost pet.Exploring tales  of how  hard work  pays  for  children  and do  help  them  to grow into  adults  who  like  to  work,because  they learn't  as kids  that  hard work  pays. This  can be easily  be taught  through  stories and playtimes  at  the schools and  at home .There could  be  a  combination of things  that  can lead   kids not to work , even  after  acquiring  their  degrees from  the Universities.An  apathy  and lack  of love  for  their  chosen profession as has been  seen in  many  people,who  feel that  it is  too late  to change their  chosen professions , after  working  so hard  to  get  a degree,hence they  feel that  there  is nothing  left  for  them to do.And they  might  not  want to  pursue  other  trades  as  adults.Sometimes  when parents  have left  large  fortunes  for their  kids,there  might  not be any need for them to  worry to  work, as they  have  enough to pay up bills  throughout their adult lives.A  psychological apathy  to  work  could be developed by  kids  in adult life, if work didnot pay  for their  parents ,uncles and aunts.  Children  who  saw  their  parents struggle   to feed them,pursued by the bailiffs  for unpaid bills to pay  rents  ,while  being  thrown  about different  homes  and having nothing  to  show  for  years  of hard work, end up  seeing  work  as  not  a paying  option  , as they have  seen  their  families remain  poor or  even homeless after  doing so many  projects  or  work.They are  actually being  shown that they can  actually work  and get nothing out of it,so they  live their  lives  not trying at  all.They  live  with  no  work  and nothing , as their  parents who they saw   working hard  got  payed nothing  so they  feel  that they can actually  live the trend and be  sleeping, waking up  and hovering  about a their  parents  did.These are mostly  the people  seen around London doing  window shopping  with kids,during  what is  supposed  to  be  work  hours  for  adults.The  concept of  worklessness  becomes   a  generational  concept transferred  from generation to  generation to  the offspring's  raised  in such workless  households, where  kids  watch  their parents  live  from hand  to mouth  even after  studying  at  the Universities,especially  where  hardworking  parents  are  penalised  for  doing nothing  wrong  or  being  paid  nothing for  their  hard work, hence the  kids  grow  up  with the feeling that hard work  does not pay at all as they  have  seen with  their  parents.Kids  learn by  watching  what  happens at  home,schools  and the  worship places .Values  such  as  hard work  as  told in the palm-wine  Tapper  book  is   something  that kids  learn  from stories  and by  watching  their  parents  ,  relatives and adults  in their  family  social  circles.Parents being   out of  work all their  lives,being  poor  with  nothing  to  show  for  being humans ,while  kids  watch  their  layabout parents  is  a sure way to  get the kids  to  become layabouts  and   to  do  what  they have  learnt  from their  parents,  such as hanging  about  and  doing  nothing  all their  lives .They  come to  the point  of  feeling that it is  normal  to  go  about without  good  pairs  of shoes ,live  in tiny rooms,feed  on the  basics or  to  live with nothing in ragged  up homes  and shabby places ,so there  is  no  drive  to  work harder  as  they  move  on to  live  on the  basics  like their  parents did,  not  knowing  what  is  excellent  for  themselves  as  they  have never  known anything better.Such  groups  do  feel that  they can  do  with living  as mediocre  as  they  saw  many  of  their  parents  and family  members do.If their  mums  and dads  never  worked  where  will they learn serious  work  ethics.Most of the  people  being  spoken about ,lived  on streets  where  no one ever  worked and that is the  life they  grew  up knowing about-hanging  and  roaming  about  during  work times  or  simply  sleeping  during broad  day  light.The  COVID  19 experiences  also  meant  that  many   kids  got used to indoor  stays  and many  could  be  suffering  from the  aftermath -a  hidden fear  of  going  out,which is  a large  scale  psychological problem.It  all boils  down to  the  psychological  issues  some of them  might  have ,developed  through  years of  living  in fear  and  trying  to stay  safe  by  not  associating  with others, crowds  of people , who  might get them into  troubles,hence  many  of them live  in  isolation  even after  their university  years.The  apathy  towards  associating with people  developed  by those  who  grew  up  during the  COVID  19 years  could  be  a  major issue ,many  of them  do sit at  home  as they do  not  have  the  needed social  skills to mix  up  with  people  of  different races and colours  at their  work and  social places.Some  of them get  paid, fixing  up things at home  for  their  parents  as  one  mum told  everyone in the tabloids about  her son who  she  pays  to  fix  up  her  things  .  Such  groups   feel  that  they are  making  enough  hanging  around  with  little  to do  at home.Exploring the option of making  life  better through  work  is  great  for  society  and countries  as  economies get  better   when many  people  are  working  especially  the younger  people.

Graceful

Princess -A  Story  of  hope  in the  midst  of  pain

Sunday 24/05/2026  18:34   P.M  10mins

Video  and  Image  courtesy  Graceful - The Images   are  for illustration purposes only