By Ray Ukuame

Tobe and her best friend fantasise about having their mothers to themselves for a few hours…

Ouida books held a brilliant book launch event for Mazzi Odu’s debut book, Get Rid of Your Phone Mummy on the 8th of March 2025. This picture book, published by the Tanja Imprint of Ouida Books, is their third published book in 2025, following The Brevity of Beautiful Things and Mrs. Kuti, both released in January. Ms Sharon Adeoye-Ajanlekoko, one of the editors at the publishing house kicked off the event by addressing a crowd of hundred guests, including the author’s family members. 

This children’s picture book comes courtesy of Lola Shoneyin’s Bookstorm initiative—a comprehensive and detailed plan to revolutionise the children’s book industry by upskilling and empowering authors, illustrators, editors, graphic designers and other professionals required to boost output within the publishing ecosystem. One of their goals is to publish one hundred children’s books before the end of 2027. Judging from the quality of the story and Adulphina Imuede’s strikingly beautiful illustrations, they have made a great start. 

The book is about a young girl named Tobe who feels ignored by her mother who spends too much time on the phone. Exasperated, Tobe and her best friend fantasise about having their mothers to themselves for a few hours. As if in response to the frustrations of innocent children, the fierce, magical Uduak appears, looking like a glamorous Efik version of Tinkerbell.

During the book chat with Lola Shoneyin, Mazzi Odu provided the backstory of the book. A power blackout denied her access to books and her tablets forced her to make up a bedtime story for her daughter, Tobe who the book’s protagonist is named after. The author told us how she reads with her daughter frequently and how, when it comes to telling stories, her daughter is her “first reader”. 

Mazzi outlined her motivation for finding a publisher. Put bluntly, she asserted that parents (herself included) spent a lot of time on their phones. To illustrate her point, she asked the children in attendance if they thought their moms spent too long working on their devices. The call-out struck most of the mothers and fathers in attendance as all the children raised their hands.

Without being preachy, Mazzi Odu’s book presents a message we can all learn from. If parents continue giving attention to those digital rectangles, it could put an emotional gulf between them and their children, especially when they have experienced a childhood of feeling deprioritised. As one of the guests observed, if not curbed, this trend could result in children deprioritising their parents in favour of electronic devices. During the Q&A session, Mazzi Odu confirmed that there were more books in the pipeline.  

The event ended on a celebratory note with photographs with family and friends, a book signing and tasty refreshments. The publishers and the author all smile and for good reason. It was a memorable book launch for a spectacular book.