Sheni and Teni

You want your kids to grow up knowing and talking about where they come from. And you want them to see themselves in the games they play and the stories they read. But mostly you want them to be happy, confident and kind and to have fun playing games with each other and with you! 

As a Nigerian living and working in the City in London, I’ve always felt a little like I was missing something. Staying connected to Nigerian culture through food, music, media and literature gives me a happy balance between my everyday life and something much deeper – a sense of belonging and a shared understanding of where I’m from and who I am.

When I had my babies, two boys, I knew that they needed that reinforcement too. That connection. But none of the toys or books at nursery showed anyone that looked like them. I went to the local shops, the big shops… and then I looked online. There weren’t many books with charact​​ers with brown skin and there were no games showing off the amazing cultures and people of Africa. I decided to do something about it and Sheni and Teni was born.