#77 Countries, One African Hero: Why We're Opening 77 Library Doors for Akiti the Hunter
It started with a question I couldn't answer.
My son asked me why the heroes in his storybooks never looked like him. Not villains, not sidekicks — heroes. The ones who go on the journey, face the danger, and come home changed. He was looking for himself in the stories he loved, and he couldn't find himself anywhere.
I didn't have a good answer that day. So I decided to write one.
That question became Akiti the Hunter — a children's book series rooted in Yoruba mythology and African storytelling traditions, built around a hero who is brave, imaginative, and unmistakably himself. I never set out to build a global brand. I set out to answer my son.
What happened next surprised me.
Today, readers from 77 countries have discovered Akiti the Hunter through our website. That number isn't just a traffic statistic to me — it's a signal. It tells me that the hunger my son felt for representation isn't unique to him, or to one household, or to one country. It's global. Families everywhere are looking for adventure stories that let their children see African identity, Yoruba culture, and Black heroism rendered with courage, beauty, and joy — not as a lesson, but as an adventure they get to go on.
Along the way, Akiti the Hunter has climbed into Amazon's Top 5 Bestsellers and earned a #1 New Release ranking. The series has been recognized by Indie California and the Indie Author Project, and is supported by TeachingBooks educational resources for classrooms. A fourth book in the series is already underway.
But rankings were never the point. The point was always my son's question, multiplied by every child asking some version of it.
So here's what we're doing about it.
Our mission is to place one million books into children's hands — not someday, but deliberately, one library, one classroom, one home bookshelf at a time. We want culturally representative adventure stories to be something every child can reach for, not something they have to go looking for.
That's why BAPS Animation Studios is launching the 77 Countries Library Challenge: a campaign to open 77 new library doors for Akiti the Hunter, connecting more children with African folklore, creative writing, art, character development, and animation — the same elements that make representation more than a checkbox. Done well, it teaches children two things at once: that they can be the hero of their own story, and that other cultures are beautiful, powerful, and worth admiring.
This is where I need your help.
We were discovered in 77 countries. Now we're opening 77 library doors — and I'd love for you to be one of them.
📚 Consider
for your library or school collection
🎨 Host an author visit or a "
" workshop
🤝 Sponsor books for a school or underserved community through Non-Profits organization we support:
🏠 Add the series to your family's home library: "Suggest a Book/Purchase" to the Librarian
🌍 Introduce us to a library anywhere in the world
(see SF Public Library and Oakland Public Library )
https://youtube.com/shorts/ujcJXzT-oLw?si=DTUxBZlLRA4MWvDB
https://youtube.com/shorts/ogy_51BF6yo?si=DKx5ibT2GjKm9O6l
If you're a librarian, educator, bookseller, literacy advocate, corporate sponsor, or simply a parent who believes every child deserves to see themselves as the hero — I'd love to hear from you.
Discovered in 77 countries. Now opening 77 library doors. Let's make it happen together.
Learn more at
Denise Mobolaji-Ajayi Williams writes the Akiti the Hunter series under the pen name Bolaji Ajayi.
