There is a commonly accepted belief that the black man is the last in the line of quest for knowledge. This is often claimed to be the reason Africa is still less developed in comparison with other continents. 

However, as a son of Africa, I have noted that despite the exaggerated claim of a lack of love for the bookshelf amongst the African elders, there's a growing hunger for book knowledge among the young black youth. The African elderly men have chosen to educate the African child as a way for redemption from the gnawing fangs of poverty in a world where the educated form the elite members of the community and the ignorant man is only a victim of the system under the pity of the intellectual

However, aside from book knowledge acquired in class, I majorly wish to look more into the kind of knowledge bestowed upon the young ones by the story tellers of fiction works. Knowledge acquired from fiction books is arguably more satisfactory and applicable than classroom non-fictional learning. This is supported by the arguments below 

1. Story-telling style of learning is more connected to African indigenous education where our grandparents used to teach the young ones using folk stories imbued with lessons and wisdom for the young to learn from around the fire place in the evening hours.This is also true of the fiction works of renown African writers like Ngugi Wa Thiong'o, Adichie and Chinua Achebe where the writers develop characters with different habits and how each habit contributes to the development or downfall of the characters.n addition, most African fiction works emphasizes the need to respect traditional culture and so the young ones will learn to accept the African mode of life and embrace it, especially the aspect of morality.
2. Secondly, reading a fiction book is more enjoyable as compared to classroom learning which is at times associated with boredom. So, this is a double benefit as the child enjoys his/her hobby while learning at the same time.
3. Reading literature also exposes the child to the different cultures and habits of different people from all parts of the world. This is often lacking or less emphasized in the syllabus content of school subjects except those students majoring in literature and history. This teaches the child how to easily cope up with the culture of the community he or she might encounter in the future.
4. Additionally, a story gives a child virtual experience of a situation and a more practical approach to the situation which improves the problem-solving skills of the child. This makes the child to mentally mature at a much younger age

5. And finally, most writers make a lot of research and imbue their works with a lot of knowledge and theories drawn from multiple subjects. A child who reads such a book surely gains all the researched knowledge of the writer(then imagine your child reading numerous writers' works)

   As I conclude, the African child's quest for knowledge through fiction books is a much acceptable approach. It's not without truth that the world's greatest men are all great readers of all kinds of books excluding classroom notes. Enriching the black child with book knowledge is the only way to redeem the continent as we blacks get to dig out the hidden knowledge and learn more about the world we live in.

   I conclude with a call for further action from the government and other organizations in charge of children and the youth to provide schools and communities with well stocked libraries accessible to even those who can't afford to purchase these books which are at times unaffordable and inaccessible as we save the future generations from the world of ignorance and exploitation.