“As young Funke earns promotion from Primary Four to Five her parents decide to send her to the rural village to spend her long holidays. It proves to be a life-changing journey in magical discoveries. Funke makes the emotional transition from the cement house in Ijebu-Ode to the rustic mud and farmhouses in Ode-Omu, Gidi, Dagbolu and sundry villages of Southwestern Nigeria. Memories of Grandma is a treasure-trove interweaving farming, hunting, going to the market, telling stories and sharing songs. Every new page contains surprises, new vistas, such as finding out that Grandma’s bank happens to be a cloth, and mistaking cocoa pods for the biggest okra ever seen. Funke Treasure Durodola’s Memories of Grandma takes us deep into an enchanting world in which all things are fresh and new even in their oldness. Life throbs in this well-told story of tropical rapture, a book for all time”
– Maxim Uzoatu -Poet and Art Critic.
“How kind of Funke -Treasure Durodola to let us into the private places of her wonderful childhood, sparking our memories of how great our lives have been. She reminds us in this telling, that there was safety and wisdom at grandmother’s knee. We love the memories of food, language and sounds and smells from our family homes that assure us that we are really worthwhile and special. Treasure, lovingly gives us the contrast between the traditional and the modern as we see the generation move forward through the eyes of a little girl. I did not want the wonderful stories of grandma to end. This is an excellent book for youth and adults alike and I will thoroughly enjoy reading it with my grandchildren”.
– Princess Carroll Ayo Durodola – Author (US)
“This enchanting little book for children spoke volumes to me, read to my inner child and took me places in the heart I had forgotten about. Funke-Treasure Durolola is a master story teller, an owner of beautiful words and stories that will keep every child and adult entranced.”
– Ikhide R. Ikheloa – Literary Critic and Columnist (US).
“I keep reading ‘Memories of Grandma’ by @Funke_Treasure and I keep seeing a new TV show targeted at children but that will be enjoyed by the family; I keep hearing a new radio programme on culture/family/educational broadcasting; I keep seeing a documentary on growing up in the country side; I keep seeing a literature text for pupils in Western Nigeria (and who says it can’t be used in any other parts of Nigeria); I keep seeing a new comics magazine; I keep seeing an entire enterprise that can rise from this lovely book. And I have never been more serious…”
– Taiwo Obe – Founder, Everything Journalism Group on Linkedin (Nigeria)
“We will buy five copies to distribute to kids for review and discussion at the Kiddies segment of the Lagos Book and Art Festival, scheduled for November 15-17 (2013) at the Freedom Park in Lagos”
– Toyin Akinosho – Committee for Relevant Art (CORA), Nigeria
