This image is the cover for the book The Gift

The Gift

When Leo opens his birthday presents, he receives an amazing gift: a pen! Inside it, Papa says, are many beautiful things.  But how do you get them out? None of his friends can guess. Super-Zombo doesn’t get anywhere by blowing on it, and Coco-Tembo thinks it’s too tiny to hold anything important. Maybe Leo’s mama will know how to reveal all the wonders inside… 

This warm, charming story is a perfect introduction to the joy of writing. Like Leo, young readers will discover how a simple utensil can express all the words in the world—even one’s own name.

Albertine The Prix Albertine Jeunesse 3-5 Years Shortlist (2025)

Alain Serge Dzotap, Delphine Renon

Alain Serge Dzotap is a children’s author, poet, and literacy advocate. The Gift (Eerdmans), his English-language debut, was praised as “a beautiful look at the wonder of creativity and self-expression” by Kirkus Reviews. Alain’s books have received the Saint-Exupéry Valeurs Jeunesse Prize and have been included in the International Youth Library’s White Ravens catalog. Alain lives in Cameroon, where he has been awarded the country’s medal of knight of the order of merit.

Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.