Our Books
Great books speak directly to their readers. They can act as mirrors that reflect one’s reality, or as windows that invite the reader into a world of new ideas. To date, we’ve helped create more than 1000 unique titles -- mainly for children -- written, illustrated and published in 45 developing countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Oceania. Our books contain several scripts, including Bengali and Amharic and two titles coded in Braille.
For a full list of books published with CODE’s support, click here (PDF)
To access the CODE Collection, housed at Library and Archives Canada, click here.
Featured Book
"Treeland: The Land of Laughter" - 1st Prize Burt Award for African Literature 2009
Treeland is an imaginary land in an imaginary era. It is populated by a jolly people that love two things above everything else: laughter and trees, hence, Treeland: The Land of Laughter. Between pearls of laughter Treelanders tend their trees and forests with loving car. They never cut down trees, or act in any way that would destroy their natural environment.
As Treeland’s warrior King Majabe nears 100 years and despite his smiling and laughing face, he is worried for not having a male heir. He has a willful, assertive, charming and very beautiful daughter, Princess Zuri, but in Treeland, daughters are not expected to reign. Zuri must marry so her husband could become the heir to her father’s throne. But she has no intention of marrying any suitor chosen for her. A struggle of wills and wits ensues between Zuri and her father and the age old patriarchal traditions that he represents. In the midst of this struggle, Treeland is attacked by a tree-cutting people with no veneration for either tree or human life. Will Old King Majabe manage to save his Kingdom? Will Zuri survive the coming ordeals imposed by war and an arcane tradition and ascend Treeland’s throne?
The tale is at once traditional and current, conventional and unconventional, modern and post-modern, existential but optimistic.
The story won first prize in the Burt Award for African Literature competition in 2009. It is published by Mkuki Na Nyota.
