Curse of the Akoma Stone: chapter reading guide

English-language edition | October 2026 | bernard.ink

Curse of the Akoma Stone

Kwame's Magic Quest #4 | Reading guide | By Bernard Mensah, illustrated by Natasha Nayo.

Teacher notes: start here

For emerging readers aged 6-8 and adult-supported book groups. Five reading sessions cover all 20 chapters. Read four chapters together, then allow 15-20 minutes for talk and one response; reading time varies.

Spoilers: share one session at a time

Each pupil page is followed by teacher-only suggested responses. Print the pupil pages separately to avoid revealing later events. Pupils need their own or a shared copy; this guide does not reproduce the story.

Printed page numbers

References use the printed story page numbers in the July 2025 Scholastic edition, paperback ISBN 9781338843378. The supplied digital file contains two-page spreads, so its PDF page numbers differ. Check references against your edition.

Support and stretch

Read aloud, offer paired talk, adult scribing, pointing or drawings. Invite a page or picture clue. Extend confident readers by comparing two moments or revising a prediction; do not make handwriting the measure of understanding.

Story and real life

Magic, curses and the Cursed Realm are fiction. The story draws on Ghanaian cultures, but its invented events are not descriptions of everyday Ghanaian life. Discuss worries through the characters; everyone may pass.

Chapters 1-4 A celebration with a warning

Read printed pages 1-18 first. Talk with a partner; answer with words, pictures or an adult's help. Find a page or picture clue for each idea.

Which four types of magic do the students show at the Opening Ceremony? Choose one and describe its effect.
Why might Kwame feel uneasy about Elder Z? Find an action or expression that gives him a clue.
What has the Boni already told Kwame? How does this warning change the mood of the celebration?

Draw one performance. Add the magic type and a detail that makes it exciting.

A page or picture clue that supports one answer ...

Teacher notes Chapters 1-4

Suggested responses

The four types are Sun Wielder, Weather Handler, Earth Breaker and Time Bender. Examples include a bright sun, a rainbow with rain and hail, raised earth, and slowed or sped-up time (pp. 12-16). Principal Wari also performs the Fire Bird spell (pp. 16-17).
Elder Z searches for Kwame, questions whether he should keep the Omni, and watches him with a smirk (pp. 8-9, 14). These are reasons for suspicion, not proof of her full plan.
The Boni warned that a great evil was coming (p. 3). Readers may contrast the joyful performances with this warning. Accept different descriptions of the mood if supported by a detail.

Support and stretch

Support: revisit one illustrated performance and let pupils point or describe it orally. Stretch: compare what Kwame knows with what his friends know about the warning.

Listen for

A relevant story detail, an explanation of a character's action, and a distinction between what the book shows and what the reader predicts. These are possible responses, not a script pupils must repeat.

Chapters 5-8 From suspicion to evidence

Read printed pages 19-38 first. Talk with a partner; answer with words, pictures or an adult's help. Find a page or picture clue for each idea.

What does Fifi do when he notices that Kwame is missing? What does this show about their friendship?
How do Kwame and Papa-Kow work together to cross the river in the race?
What do Baaba and the boys hear in the music room that connects Elder Z to the forbidden spell?

Draw or label two contributions to crossing the river: one from each partner.

A page or picture clue that supports one answer ...

Teacher notes Chapters 5-8

Suggested responses

Fifi goes looking for Kwame, listens to his worries and offers help from their friends and Quainoo (pp. 20-22). His actions suggest concern and loyalty.
Papa-Kow suggests an ice bridge. Both boys cast the bridge spell, and Papa-Kow adds wind so they can skate across (pp. 30-31). Both ideas and actions matter.
They hear a voice criticise Elder Z because the spell caught two children instead of the intended child. Elder Z answers that she will find another way to get the calabash (p. 37). This is stronger evidence than her earlier smirk. Esi and Fifi were caught; Kwame was the intended target (pp. 31-33, 37).

Support and stretch

Support: read the music-room scene aloud and separate what was heard from what was guessed. Stretch: explain how the evidence changes an earlier prediction. In real life, children should tell a trusted adult about a worry; they do not need to investigate danger.

Listen for

Chapters 9-12 Help, fear and a difficult choice

Read printed pages 39-54 first. Talk with a partner; answer with words, pictures or an adult's help. Find a page or picture clue for each idea.

How does Elder Lami help the group find a way to free Esi and Fifi?
What frightens Kwame in the mirror room? What does he decide to do even though he is afraid?
What makes following the Boni through the moving maze a difficult choice?

Draw the maze moment. Label a feeling and an action that show Kwame keeping going.

A page or picture clue that supports one answer ...

Teacher notes Chapters 9-12

Suggested responses

Elder Lami finds information about the Akoma stone curse and the need for both special calabashes. She explains the journey and spells; Principal Wari supplies a protection spell (pp. 41-47). No one solves the problem without help.
His reflections become the green flame. Kwame fears becoming it, but chooses to keep trying for his friends; the mirrors break (pp. 49-51). Courage here includes feeling afraid.
The Boni guides him towards and through a dangerous maze, but he knows about its harmful power (pp. 52-54; earlier warning p. 3). Accept different opinions about trust with a reason. Help in one moment does not settle every question.

Support and stretch

Support: use the frame "Kwame feels ... but chooses ...". Stretch: compare the protection and advice from the adults with the guidance from the Boni. Keep discussion about the character; pupils need not disclose personal fears.

Listen for

Chapters 13-16 Breaking the curse is not the end

Read printed pages 55-72 first. Talk with a partner; answer with words, pictures or an adult's help. Find a page or picture clue for each idea.

Which spell from the Opening Ceremony does Kwame remember when facing the red-smoke creature? How does it help?
Why is the story not finished when the Akoma stone breaks? Name a new problem.
Why does Elder Z want Kwame's Omni rather than taking a special calabash from the hut?

Draw a cause-and-effect pair: something Kwame learned earlier and how it helps him later.

A page or picture clue that supports one answer ...

Teacher notes Chapters 13-16

Suggested responses

He remembers the Time Bender spell used to hold a student in place (p. 15). He uses it briefly to freeze the creature, buying time to use the Omni and Boni together against the stone (pp. 59-62).
Elder Z is trying to escape and has trapped Ms. Kumi in a time loop (pp. 63-64). She then traps other adults too. Later, other students and teachers attack (pp. 71-72). A broken curse solves one problem, not the whole threat.
The hut's protection was too strong, so Elder Z needed another Omni to get through it. She works for the Shadow Elders, who want the power of an Omni and the Boni together (pp. 68-69).

Support and stretch

Support: pair the ceremony illustration with the later encounter. Stretch: connect the capture of Elder Z to the wider threat from the Shadow Elders. Discuss the fictional conflict without reenacting violence.

Listen for

Chapters 17-20 Teamwork and an open ending

Read printed pages 73-85 first. Talk with a partner; answer with words, pictures or an adult's help. Find a page or picture clue for each idea.

Choose two characters who help protect Kwame in the hallway. Explain how their actions work together.
What changes for Fifi, Esi and Papa-Kow at the end of the Games?
Why do Principal Wari and Fifi remain cautious about the Boni? What is still unknown at the ending?

Draw your prediction for the next adventure. Label it "My prediction", then name a story clue.

A page or picture clue that supports one answer ...

Teacher notes Chapters 17-20

Suggested responses

Examples: Esi creates a bright light; Fifi holds attackers with stones; Papa-Kow and Baaba add wind; Quainoo uses a screech. Grand Elder Tani, Principal Wari and other elders capture the attacking elders (pp. 74-77). Credit specific contributions, not only Kwame.
They win an award with Kwame for Weather Wars. Their robe symbols later change as they reach Basic Magic (pp. 79-80). Elder Z has escaped; the celebration does not remove the threat (pp. 77-78).
Fifi remembers the Boni's harmful power. Principal Wari says its reasons for helping are still unknown and tells Kwame not to touch it (p. 83). The Boni says Okomfo Anochi made it and offers secret knowledge; Kwame agrees to learn (pp. 84-85). This is not proof that the Boni is safe. Its motives and the future danger remain open.

Support and stretch

Support: choose one helper and point to their action. Stretch: compare Fifi's view with Kwame's. Distinguish a prediction from a fact: the book has not yet shown what the secret knowledge will be.

Listen for

Teaching links

Suggested links: England Year 2 / lower KS2 reading discussion, inference and prediction; US Grade 2 RL.2.1 (questions and details) and RL.2.3 (responses to challenges). Adapt to pupils' reading development; this is not a complete curriculum or publisher endorsement.

Sources and teaching references

My evidence and prediction

After reading the ending, choose one idea about the Boni. Keep your story evidence separate from your prediction.

The book shows ... (name a printed page or picture)

This makes me think ... because ...

My prediction for the next adventure - this has not happened in this book.

One question the ending leaves me with ...