Suitabook
Teju’s Shadow
Sope Martins
CC BY 4.0Credits & Licence
Originally published by Book Dash. Writer: Sope Martins. Illustrator: Ndumiso Nyoni. Designer: Aisha O’Reilly. Editor: Alison Ziki.
Cover resized and converted to WebP; artwork unchanged. Suitabook’s AI guidance is a separate assessment.
Original Book on Book Dash: Teju’s Shadow (opens in a new tab)- Reading
- Pause at the shadow scenes and invite the child to notice how Teju’s feelings change. If the bedtime scenes feel unsettling, read them together and let the child set the pace.
- Themes
- Fear and comfort: Teju is frightened by his shadow and says he is scared of the dark. His mum gives him a hug and makes shadow puppets with him; later he enjoys playing with his shadow. The story treats Teju’s fear as real to him and shows his mum responding with comfort and shared play, rather than dismissing him.
- Worth knowing
- Teju is visibly frightened, shouts at his shadow and struggles to sleep when the light goes off. The dark-room scenes may feel suspenseful to some readers.