mutilation scars can sometimes be difficult. Other things that have helped families identify them are birthmarks the child had, the first words they said, and behavior similarities from the child that has been reincarnated. Families paid a lot of attention to these types of characteristics, and most of the time would go to an oracle to confirm that the child was an ọgbanje. Another sign of an ọgbanje is a child who frequently becomes very ill, or is often in trouble. In popular culture In the critically acclaimed novel by Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart (1958), the character Ezinma was considered an ọgbanje because she was the first of 10 children born to her mother that did not die in infancy. In the novel Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi (2018), the main character, Ada, contains multiple ọgbanje. In Francesca Ekwuyasi's Scotiabank Giller Prize-nominated novel Butter Honey Pig Bread (2020), the character Kambirinachi believes that she is an ọgbanje. In Ben Okri's Booker Prize-winning novel, The Famished Road (1991), as well as in the two other books in his trilogy, Songs of Enchantment (1993) and Astonishing the Gods (1995), the character Azaro is a spirit child, or ogbanje, who travels between worlds. See also Abiku References Igbo religion West African legendary creatures