When Children Tell Their Own Stories: The Thoughtful Voice of Benedict Gwao
By Adonis Byemelwa
Benedict Gwao does not write to be praised. He writes because he notices. At nine years old, that habit, quiet, steady attention to people and places, shapes everything he puts on the page. His book, Sharing Is Caring: Stories of My Family to Yours, is built from those observations: how adults speak to one another, how children learn by watching, how small actions reveal larger values. The result is not a show of precocious talent, but a thoughtful record of childhood lived with intention.
The stories Benedict tells are drawn from everyday life. Family members appear often, not as distant figures of authority but as guides whose actions leave an impression. Friends and classmates move through the pages naturally.
Teachers, church gatherings, trips to the beach, and visits to grandparents form the background of a life that feels recognisable and grounded. What stands out is the care with which these moments are remembered. Benedict treats them as meaningful, as experiences worth holding onto and passing forward.
That attentiveness gives the book its emotional centre. Kindness, sharing, discipline, and responsibility are present throughout, yet they are never presented as rules. They emerge instead through lived experience: parents modelling hard work, relatives caring for animals, gardens tended patiently, and lessons learned quietly over time.
Benedict’s younger sister, Janice, appears as a constant companion in this learning, expressing herself through drawing, painting, songs, and movement. Their shared curiosity feels unforced, shaped by observation rather than instruction.
Anna Meleiya Mbise, Benedict’s mother and a writer herself, sees this attentiveness as the heart of her son’s storytelling. “Children are always learning, even when adults think they are just playing,” she says. “Benedict listens closely. He watches how people behave. Writing helps him make sense of what he sees.”
As the founder of the Anna Mbise Pan-African Mobile Library, she has spent years advocating for children’s access to books. For her, Benedict’s work represents what can happen when that access is combined with encouragement and patience. “The goal was never to rush him,” she adds. “It was to allow his voice to grow naturally.”
That sense of natural growth is important, especially in a literary culture that sometimes rushes to label young writers as exceptional without acknowledging the process behind the work. Early drafts of Sharing Is Caring showed moments of repetition and wandering focus, signs of a young writer still learning how to shape ideas.
Those moments were addressed through careful editing and mentorship, not by erasing the child’s voice, but by guiding it. The finished book carries that balance clearly: structured enough to be coherent, open enough to remain honest.
Prof. Joseph Mbele, a retired ORLAF University professor based in the United States and an accomplished writer and scholar, was involved in editing the manuscript. He describes the experience as refreshing. “What struck me was the sincerity,” he says. “These are not stories written to impress adults.
They are written to communicate. That makes them powerful.” Prof. Mbele believes the book belongs to a tradition that is often overlooked. “Children’s stories written by children themselves are rare, yet essential. They give insight into how young people see the world before adult expectations reshape that vision.”
Book editor Prof. Mbele describes the book as part of a rare tradition in which children speak for themselves through storytelling. Photo: courtesy
The environment surrounding Benedict has clearly played a role in shaping his confidence as a storyteller. Growing up in a home where books are present and writing is part of daily life has given him tools many children do not have.
However, those tools alone do not explain the sense of purpose that runs through his work. What distinguishes Benedict is his way of connecting storytelling with responsibility. For him, a story does not end when it is written. It continues when it is shared.
That belief has guided how the book has been distributed. Copies have been shared with school libraries, family friends, and children in orphanage centres across Tanzania and beyond, including in South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Liberia, Ghana, and the Ivory Coast.
For Benedict, stories are meant to travel, carrying messages of care and connection. “When children read stories written by another child, something changes,” Anna Mbise observes. “They realise their own voices matter too.”
That idea resonates beyond Africa. Several educators and literacy advocates in the United States have welcomed Sharing Is Caring for its authenticity and warmth. Dr Linda Harris, an early childhood education specialist based in Minnesota, describes the book as “a gentle reminder that children understand far more than adults often assume.” She adds, “Benedict’s stories invite readers to slow down and notice the small things. That is a skill worth teaching.”
In New Jersey, community librarian Michael Torres has introduced the book during multicultural reading sessions. “Children respond immediately,” he says. “They recognise the feelings, even if the setting is different.
The book opens space for conversations about family, sharing, and empathy.” For Torres, the fact that a child writes the stories adds to their impact. “It levels the room. Children listen differently when they know the author is someone like them.”
These responses highlight another strength of Benedict’s work: its ability to cross borders without losing its local grounding. The stories are deeply Tanzanian in their settings and experiences, yet the emotions they carry, curiosity, affection, and responsibility, are universal. That balance allows readers from different backgrounds to enter the book easily, finding familiarity in experiences that might initially seem distant.
Still, the book does not pretend that childhood is always simple. Beneath the warmth of the stories lies an awareness that not all children experience the same stability or opportunity. That awareness surfaces quietly, through moments of gratitude and reflection rather than overt commentary. It suggests a growing understanding of difference and inequality, handled with care and restraint.
As Benedict continues to grow, challenges lie ahead. Writing demands patience, discipline, and the willingness to revise ideas repeatedly. There will be moments when enthusiasm fades or other interests compete for attention. Acknowledging this does not diminish his achievement. Instead, it places it within a realistic path of development, one that allows room for change and growth.
Prof. Mbele sees this early publication not as a destination, but as a beginning. “This book is a foundation,” he says. “What matters now is that the child continues to read, observe, and write without pressure to perform. The voice will mature with time.” That perspective aligns with Anna Mbise’s own hopes. “The aim is not many books,” she says. “The aim is meaningful writing, whenever it comes.”
What Sharing Is Caring: Stories of My Family to Yours ultimately offers is a reminder of what becomes possible when children are trusted with their own stories. The book does not seek to teach through instruction, but through example. It shows a child learning from family, community, and environment, and choosing to pass those lessons forward through words.
For young readers, the book opens a door to self-expression. For adults, it offers a rare chance to listen, to hear how the world sounds when described by a child who is truly paying attention. That attentiveness, more than age or achievement, defines Benedict Gwao as a writer. As Prof. Mbele puts it, “This book deserves to be read, not because a nine-year-old wrote it, but because it is honest. Honesty is the beginning of all good storytelling.”
