The Writers’ Block: Onaolapo Dagunduro

When the going gets tough, Onaolapo Dagunduro gets writing. 

An accountant by day, she started penning children’s stories to help comfort her two daughters after the Dagunduros were forced to evacuate Fort McMurray during the wildfires of 2016. She started self-publishing them during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“My children are my inspiration,” says Onaolapo. “A lot of times I’m just being a mom, trying to tell a story, to teach a lesson, that leads to a funny story that leads to another one, right? So that’s my journey.”

Positive thinking 

Resilience, patience and kindness are the main themes of Onaolapo’s books. Her first, Not So Thankful for Thanksgiving, stars a disappointed turkey who learns to appreciate what he has. She published it in 2020, weeks before the October holiday and at the height of the pandemic. 

“I definitely needed a distraction, I needed something to keep the children positive,’ says Onaolapo. “The response [to Not So Thankful for Thanksgiving] was amazing. A lot of people called me and said they love the book, the book inspired them. I was like: ‘Really?” So I published the next book.” 

My Big Welcome, printed in 2021, was inspired by Onaolapo’s elder daughter, Kuishe, after the Fort McMurray wildfires. The Dagunduros decided to stay in Edmonton, which meant Kuishe had to go to a new school. She was six years old and afraid her Grade 1 classmates wouldn’t accept her. 

Instead, they embraced Kuishe with open arms. “They came all around her, they were touching her and saying ‘She’s going to be with me!’” says Onaolapo.

“My daughter actually left feeling like a bit of a celebrity. She feels welcomed. To be able to see that in kids, that there was love, there was kindness, there was acceptance, it made losing our house, moving to a big town, it made it possible to live in Edmonton.”

A city of immense opportunities 

Onaolapo says she and her husband, Oluwafemi, felt a similar welcome to Edmonton, even if it wasn’t quite as boisterous as Kuishe’s first day. The couple are originally from Nigeria; Onaolapo emigrated to Canada with her elder daughter in 2010. 

“It’s given me the opportunity to see things, meet people and just grow as an author. The opportunities are immense. I love Edmonton. It’s amazing for my kids, too. They’re settled, they have more friends, they’re learning. Any city has its challenges, but so far, it’s been amazing. I get inspiration from everywhere—we go to the library a lot, we go to church, we meet friends. I love being downtown, just walking through the streets. There’s something about it that makes you want to believe.” 

Embracing Canadian culture 

My Big Welcome is the first in the “Emelia’s Adventures” series about Onaolapo’s daughter and her experiences in Edmonton. There’s also My Snowy Summer, about trying to make the best of an August snowfall, and My Little Trouble, inspired by Kuishe’s relationship with her younger sister, Feranmi. 

Some of Onaolapo’s books come with lesson plans for teachers, downloadable for free on her website. All three titles in the “Emelia’s Adventures” series are also available in French. 

“My kids and I actually started learning how to speak French,” she says. “As a Canadian now, it was important to me to have the books in French to embrace the Canadian culture and make them accessible to all Canadians.”

The Writers' Block series features yeg-cellent authors and their latest work. Read the other chapters:

• Rollie Pemberton, Bedroom Rapper: Cadence Weapon on Hip Hop, Resistance and Surviving the Music Industry
• Carrie Armstrong, Mother Earth: Plants for Health & Beauty
• Titilope Sonuga, This is How We Disappear
• Premee Mohamed, The Annual Migration of Clouds
• Myrna Kostash, Ghosts in a Photograph
• Adriean Koleric, Trakovi: The Slav With No Remorse