Chinua Achebe for children: Chike and the river

Written in 1966, Chinua Achebe has tried to write a wee story for children. A preventive ban from the mother, no money, Chike’s only problem should be the school, the homework and so on. Instead he has a desire: to be as all of his friends and be able to tell about a travel in a ferry boat across the river Niger. The ferry-boat, however, has a price: a shilling. He tried to ask money to his uncle, but he did not settle him. From the first chapter, we can recognise Chinua Achebe and his style, his passion for proverbs that here are often assimilate through the figure of the teacher who has left a vivid memory in the young boy. Then, we can know the common habits used in Nigeria to live and play, their passion for soccer. It is a story in which every one of us can understand how important is try to do our best to achieve our goals in life, despite anyone around us is supporting us. It is a story in which we can understand that sometimes the rules our parents gave us are just a way to over protect their own children. At the end of the story, the lesson Chinua Achebe want to tell to the world is that, even in the most dangerous situation, we can be able to hack it and receive even a final reward. It is also demonstrate that is not always a successful way to be too miserly and fond to the money. Chkaima Maitea had learn also from this story new words as for example the importance to resolve a conflict with a friend and to avoid to become a little imp, promising anything to the other people that it is impossible to honour from the beginning.