Who we are

We are two Nigerian mothers, writers, and lifelong readers, with careers spanning business, publishing and communications.

Since 2020, through Tani Series, we have created children’s books that centre Nigerian children and culture, while donating books to children in under-resourced communities. Years of publishing for children showed us how much affordability, availability, and distribution determine who gets to grow up with books. By 2025, we decided that creating excellent stories was not enough. We needed to make them easier for more children to access.

Why Karanta Kids

Our name comes from “karanta”, the Hausa word for “to read”.

We chose creative stories, rather than curriculum-led content, because stories let children step into other lives, understand perspectives beyond their own, exercise their imaginations, and discover new possibilities for themselves. Just as importantly, they make reading exciting for children, which is crucial to our mission of making it easier for families to build a reading culture and foster creative development.

Digitally, our free Karanta Kids app puts original, representative stories directly into families’ hands. It is designed for purposeful engagement, so stories are short, there are no ads, and children use parent-managed profiles. In person, our storytelling and creative experiences give children more ways to engage with stories and exercise their imaginations through writing, drawing, play, and making.

Our Made by Kids programme amplifies stories written by children both digitally and in print. We edit, illustrate, and publish their work, giving young writers the experience of seeing their ideas taken seriously. We also publish selected Karanta Kids stories in print and donate them to children and communities.

Meet the team

Foluke Oyeleye

CEO & Co-founder

Foluke is a children’s author and business leader with more than 25 years of experience building and growing businesses across Africa. Her career spans corporate finance, telecommunications, consumer businesses and board governance, including co-founding Econet Wireless Nigeria (now Airtel Nigeria) and serving in senior leadership positions at Honeywell Group. She currently sits on several corporate boards.

She is also the author of the I Am A Nigerian In… collection, which introduces children to Nigerians working and excelling across different fields. At Karanta Kids, Foluke brings together decades of commercial and leadership experience with a longstanding commitment to creating better stories and possibilities for children. She holds an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Foluke Oyeleye, seated, wearing an orange suit.

Adebola Rayo

COO & Co-founder

Rayo is an award-winning children’s writer and communications strategist with 15+ years of experience. She has written for senior government and business leaders, led global communications for an international nonprofit, and founded a strategic storytelling company working across writing, design, publishing, and communications.

She has years of operations experience, taking ideas from concept to execution and building and leading creative teams. At Karanta Kids, Adebola leads operations, growth, and partnerships and helps shape the platform’s editorial direction, drawing on the strategic, creative, and operational strengths that have defined her career.