Ene Oloja

Why The Tortoise Has a Patchy Back is a Nigerian folktale that teaches children the importance of honesty and integrity in dealing with people in the journey through life and the severe consequences of deviating from such good character traits. The story centers on a cunning, deceitful, but very wise tortoise who is nonetheless especially loved by children because of his repertoire of interesting stories and adults because of his infinite wisdom. However, having captured the attention, love, and trust of the community around him, he abuses and betrays this trust by proffering an unsuspectedly underhanded solution to the community when they experienced a crisis. When the deceit is eventually discovered, the consequences are severe. This story not only creates an enhanced family atmosphere for parents and children as they read the story but teaches children character-building lessons. Children and readers are also provided with activities after each chapter to color and customize the story depictions/illustrations, thereby providing a personalized artistic involvement with the story.