Mlenga, who lectures English literature among others at the institution, was encouraged by a local banker, Felix Chitera after reading some of his work.

“The book is a combination of three stories, long in nature. The stories are about young people in rural parts of Malawi overcoming adversity to succeed in life. There is an overarching theme of the grace and love of God that helps us to survive. The stories also try to teach young ones some cultural activities that society may be forgetting such as putting on Manjelenjeza, a sort of a trinket, on a baby to encourage them to walk,” Mlenga said.

He further added that he thought of publishing after realizing the gap in children literature.

 The Toy Gun aims at encouraging young ones to work hard in school, aim high, trust God and be courageous amidst challenges. It tries to inspire the girl child to aspire for education and success.

Commenting on how the youth find books as archaic in this digital era, Mlenga had this to say; “Well, the digital era is being blamed by some quarters of causing a decline in the reading culture, as well as laziness and piracy. The book is trying to help revive a reading culture even in villages where phones and tablets are rare and a hard copy is treasure.”

Former students of Journalism at the Polytechnic Tanangachi Mwalwimba and Chapter Banda applauded Mlenga for publishing the book which they say will encourage students and lecturers to publish books which are beneficial to the youth and the public in general.

Mwalwimba had this to say: “I believe the combination of fiction and cultural aspect in telling the stories will help in teaching the youth our culture while at the same time promoting the reading culture.”

 The younger generation needs to know that without books, they are as good as hopeless. For books bring knowledge, wisdom and enlightenment.

 The book has been released by Montfort Media, and it can be accessed at its various shops in Blantyre, Zomba, Lilongwe, Dedza, Chikwawa, Mwanza at a price of k1500 each.