About FiWi Story

Stories from Jamaica, in the words we speak at home

Picture books told in Jamaican Patois with English on every page, so children hear the way their families talk and see it belongs in a book.

Mitzie’s Morning Adventures cover Ena and the Rickety Bamboo Bridge cover

In Jamaica, FiWi means “our”. FiWi Story means our story: the stories of our families and friends, our communities and our culture.

How the books work

Two languages on every page

Every FiWi Story book carries the story in Jamaican Patois first, with English beneath it. A child can follow either language, and a family can read both together. Each book ends with a Likkle Patois Dictionary that explains the words from the story.

Read

Picture books in Patois and English, in paperback and hardcover.

Listen

Songs to go with the books, sung by Judi Emanuel and written with Myal Akette. More on the way.

Watch

Animated films narrated in both languages, coming soon to the Ms Juds Kids YouTube channel.

Where it began

A real nurse, a family of storytellers

FiWi Story began with Ena and the Rickety Bamboo Bridge, written by Judi Emanuel in 2012 and inspired by the real Nurse Ena Dyke, a district midwife in West Rural Saint Andrew. The first pictures were painted by her granddaughter, Mickey Dyke, while she was still in high school.

Judi is a Jamaican singer-songwriter and children’s author, known to audiences as The Reggae Countess, and to family and friends as Juds. She writes the stories, sings their songs, which she writes with Myal Akette, and narrates the films.

Meet the authors and artists

Keep in touch

Hear about the next story

New books, new films, and a likkle bit of Jamaica in your inbox.

A likkle note now and then. Unsubscribe any time.
FiWi Story is the children’s imprint of Emanuel Road Records LLC, Vermont.
Close Menu