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Freedom Day

27/04/2022 by Sarah Bradfield

In a country like South Africa, freedom was not afforded to everyone. Blood, sweat, and tears are what lead to the first democratic elections that took place on this very day, 28 years ago. Race was no longer considered a factor in the voting process and South Africans could rejoice over Apartheid’s demise. 19,7 million people casted their vote for their government of choice, resulting in Nelson Mandela from the African National Congress, being inaugurated as the first black president of South Africa.

Freedom Day is an important day to acknowledge because it was the start of a reformed society that began to embrace difference and welcomed notions of freedom of expression and choice. People of colour were finally able to express themselves freely through their writing and certain books were unbanned. Works such as ‘And a Threefold Cord’ by Alex La Guma, ‘I Write What I Like’ by Steve Biko, and ‘Amandla’ by Miriam Tlali were a few of these books that were unbanned.

One book that every South African child should read on this day is Nelson Mandela’s ‘A Long Walk to Freedom’ abridged by Chris Van Wyk. This book details Mandela’s journey in a beautifully illustrated work that makes the concept of Apartheid and the significance of freedom easily understandable. Another way you could teach your kids about this day is by taking them to one of the many museums that have wonderfully curated exhibitions. Learning through live interactions and experiences is one of the best ways to ensure that your children remember what they are learning. Robben Island and The Apartheid Museum are good options to visit, and if you’re lucky, you might even receive free entrance if you go on the day!

The 27 April is a day that we should remind our children to shoot for their dreams as anything is possible if you put your mind to it. The freedom fighters that resisted Apartheid are a prime example of this.

Kahlil Gibran’s famous quote: “Life without liberty is like a body without spirit” is a moving description that sums up the importance of freedom.

Mother Earth Day

22/04/2022 by Sarah Bradfield

April 22^nd is UN Mother Earth Day. A day that raises global awareness of the challenges to the well-being of the planet and all the life it supports. Mother Earth Day also recognises a collective responsibility (as called for in the 1992 Rio Declaration), to promote harmony with nature and the Earth, to achieve a just balance among the economic, social and environmental needs of the present and future generations of humanity. (https://www.un.org/en/observances/earth-day).

At the United Nations General Assembly in September 2015, 193 countries adopted the 2030 Development Agenda and 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). International cooperation on climate change is closely linked with the other principal concern of humanity – how to achieve sustainable development for global prosperity. Climate change, biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation threaten the achievement of all of the SDGs, including Goal 4, Quality Education, that Book Village is most closely aligned with. (https://www.unep.org/resources/making-peace-nature)

We’ve been looking for the best ways to get talking about climate change and the environment with the children at Cosmo City Primary. Ultimately, we enjoyed spending time on ‘Climate Box’, an interactive platform from the UN (https://climate-box.com). The toolkit provides to be highly enriching with the inclusion of a textbook, quiz, maps and posters – all aimed at primary and secondary school children.

Many books on the subject are quite alarming and wouldn’t make for good bedtime reading. We recently read ‘My Friend Whale’, by Simon James to the Grade 1s. We were enjoying the book until it just ended, as unexpectedly as the ‘Diary of Anne Frank’, with the friendly whale simply disappearing.

But there are some beautiful, hopeful books too, and these are the ones we chose to read to the children for Mother Earth Day.

‘The Brilliant Deep’, by Kate Messner tells the story of the environmental scientist Ken Nedimyer, founder of the Coral Restoration Foundation and how he is saving and regrowing the world’s coral reefs.

Another lovely picture book ‘What on Earth is That?’ by Sarah Savory is a story about a pangolin, the most trafficked mammal on earth.

‘I am Farmer: Growing an Environmental Movement in Cameroon’ by Miranda Paul and Baptiste Paul is the true story of how environmentalist Farmer Tantoh is transforming the landscape of Cameroon. It is a beautiful, inspirational story and the quote at the end of the book is poignant – “It doesn’t matter where you come from – you are never too small or insignificant to contribute to the long-term sustainability of our planet. By doing simple things to the best of your ability, you are improving the world.”

Human Rights Day

21/03/2022 by Sarah Bradfield

“To deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity” – Nelson Mandela. This quote captures the essence of why every year on the 21^st of March, Human Rights Day is celebrated in South Africa. This day acknowledges those that fought against the pass laws in the Sharpeville Massacre of 1960 and on a broader scale, for democracy. Tragically, 69 people were unrightfully killed by police officers in the Sharpeville Massacre. The protestors’ rights to life, dignity, equality, and freedom of movement were stripped away from them. Thus, this event is a reminder of how pertinent it is to learn from history and ensure that an atrocity like this does not occur again.

Human rights serve as a trajectory for the way people should be treated and should treat others. One particular right that should be focused on in a South African context, is the right to education. Although human rights are enshrined in our constitution, there is still significant work to be done to actualise these rights and not just ensure that everyone can access an education, but further, a quality education. According to a 2016 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), eight out of ten grade 4 learners cannot read for meaning across all languages in South Africa. These statistics are concerning, but it does not mean that many South Africans are not trying to change the course of these statistics. One of the key areas affecting literacy rates is the provision of resources. Book Village aims to combat this and hopes to make reading more accessible to young South Africans through our online literacy programme.

We, at Book Village believe that education is the tool to empower the youth to live comfortable lives filled with opportunities. Book Village is dedicated to honouring the right to education by giving children the skill of literacy. Being able to read, not only allows for a sense of enjoyment, but it also enables children to grow their understanding of the world and make it a better place for all.

Happy Human Rights Day from Book Village!

Library Week 14 – 20 March 2022

16/03/2022 by Sarah Bradfield

Benefits Of Reading Aloud - Several Children's Books Laid Out On A Table

The Library and Information Association is celebrating Library Week 14-20 March 2022 with the theme of Re-Imagine, Re-Purpose, Re-discover…Libraries! https://www.liasa.org.za/.

Libraries continue to be affected by COVID and many are still unable to provide services to the communities they serve. With this in mind, the theme for Library Week 2022 will look at the ways in which libraries are having to reimagine and repurpose their services and spaces so that communities will rediscover and see the benefit of their libraries.

The traditional hard-copy book library at Cosmo City Primary 1 school (where we are conducting our trial), was refurbished and re-opened in 2015 with funding and support from (the now closed) School Aid charity and the Peter Cundill Foundation. The Bookery NPO catalogued and covered the books that can be accessed in the library, as well as contributed towards the librarian’s livelihood for 3 years. The library was a thriving and much loved part of the school from 2015 until the beginning of 2020, when it was closed for book lending due to COVID. The book lending service of the library remains closed, and this has probably been the fate of many libraries across South Africa.

But the Cosmo City Primary library has been re-imagined! It is still a busy, thriving space and it’s still devoted to books and reading. In one corner the government’s Reading Champions take small groups of grade 2 and 3 learners and help them catch up on some of the learning time that’s been lost due to COVID. We work in another corner of the library, surrounded by lovely books, which sadly cannot be borrowed anymore, but the children often get a story read to them which they enjoy. All children and teachers at the school are able to borrow books from the Book Village digital library at any time – and they’ve been loving it. We’ve been focusing on the grade 1s this term, and they have become wizards at logging in, navigating around the library and borrowing their own books. We’ve been amazed by their progress in interacting with technology.

The Cosmo City Primary community really values books, reading and their library space, even though the library has gone digital. And for this, we think the children there are lucky to be surrounded by individuals who will encourage a safe space for learning and furthering the education of these young students.

Back to School Books

18/01/202218/01/2022 by Sarah Bradfield

The summer holidays are coming to an end for our public schools this week, and unless you were lucky enough to get your Hogwarts letter by owl post, you probably aren’t anticipating a lot of magic at your school. But good teachers everywhere will be sure to take their children on many fun adventures during the year.

Boarding schools provide the perfect setting for great magical or mystery adventures; parents are out of the way, strong friendships are formed and there’s always a villain somewhere in the mix. Most of us who have never been to boarding school, and attend ordinary, everyday schools, can only visit these schools through books. Whilst my sister and I devoured Angela Brazil’s boarding school stories and Enid Blyton’s Malory Towers as kids, they would be rather old fashioned for today’s young readers, and anyway there is much more exciting stuff to read. Here are some of our favourites:

The Harry Potter series by JK Rowling first published in 1997, have since become an essential part of any childhood, with over 500 million copies of the books sold. I think every child should be encouraged to read the books, or to listen to the audio books read by Steven Fry, which are excellent.

I absolutely loved Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson. Two interwoven mysteries set in the private Ellingham Academy “where learning is a game”. The main character, true-crime lover Stevie Bell is starting at the academy with an ambitious plan – to solve the cold case involving the kidnapping of Ellingham’s wife and daughter 75 years before. The great thing about this book is that it’s part of a trilogy. The story follows directly on in The Vanishing Stair and concludes in The Hand on the Wall. And just when you think the adventure’s finished, Johnson comes out with another Stevie Bell stand-alone mystery The Box in the Woods.

The young adult novel, Looking for Alaska by John Green follows the main character and narrator Miles ‘Pudge’ Halter to boarding school where he goes looking for a “Great Perhaps”. I liked the characters and enjoyed the pranks they pulled off together. In the course of the book Pudge grows very close to his friends and becomes fascinated by Alaska. The description on the book jacket is accurate I think. “Poignant, funny, heartbreaking and compelling, this novel will stay with you forever”.

The Spud series of books by John van de Ruit are a hilarious (slow -)coming- of -age story about John ‘Spud’ Milton and his antics with his friends at the elite boys’ boarding school in South Africa in the 1990s. These books had a big following when they were published in the mid 2000s, and I think a new generation of children would still enjoy reading the adventures of Spud, his friends and eccentric family.

So remember, the first day back isn’t that bad! Here’s hoping for a fun and exciting school year with lots of magic and adventures for everybody.

Photo by Josh Applegate on Unsplash

9 Springtime Stories

18/09/2020 by Sarah Bradfield

In South Africa, September brings Spring celebrations and perhaps flowers in the classroom for some lucky teachers. At Book Village, we had a look at books in our library inspired by nature, and some of the books that will take you into the exciting, secret and terrifying gardens essential for every childhood.

Fiction Books

1.The Tale of Peter Rabbit, set in the wonderful and frightening vegetable garden of Mr. McGregor is probably one of the first books many children will remember being read to them. Peter is told by his mother not to go into Mr. McGregor’s garden, but of course he did and – you know the rest!

2. The children in The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett work together to plant their own garden of happiness. The magic of the growth and new life in the secret garden will make every child want to go out and experience the wonder of growing something for themselves.

3. Alice is desperate to get into the “loveliest garden you ever saw”. “How she longed to get out of that dark hall, and wander about among those beds of bright flowers and those cool fountains” as she peers out through the tiny door. From Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.

4. In The Tree Doctor, Dr Seuss’ Cat in the Hat and Dr Twiggles help Sally and Nick discover why their tree won’t grow. This is written for children learning to read and is perfect for Spring reading and Arbour Day celebrations.

5. We love Richard Scarry, and Lowly Worm Meets the Early Bird is another book for beginner readers to enjoy. Early Bird looks and looks for a worm to play with. He is about to give up searching when he meets Lowly Worm.

6. The Garden Thief by Gertrude Chandler Warner is a book in the Boxcar Children Series, perfect for children in grades 2-6 to read by themselves. Something strange is happening in the community garden! Who is stealing all the veggies?

We have many interesting non-fiction books that we hope might inspire children to think about nature. Here are three that we think our children will really enjoy.

Non-fiction Books

7. Counting Birds by Heidi Stemple is the award-winning story behind the first annual bird count in America. It is a beautifully illustrated book that introduces children to the idea of bird counts and hopefully will inspire them to get involved in conservation at home.

8. Eavesdropping on Elephants. Patricia Newman takes readers behind the scenes at the Cornell University’s Elephant Listening Project to see how scientists are making new discoveries about elephant communication and how they are using what they learn to help with elephant conservation.

9. South African children might have their own experiences of vervet monkeys and will surely enjoy Nicko, the Tale of a Vervet Monkey on an African Farm by Penny Haw. This is the true story of Alice Kirk and the adventures of Nicko, the baby vervet monkey that was found abandoned on her home farm in the Kwa-Zulu Natal midlands.

There really is a story for every season, and most of the books mentioned are available from the Gauteng Provincial Online Library.

The Quirks of a Digital Library

11/09/202009/09/2020 by Sarah Bradfield

Photo cred: Pen Waggener

We at Book Village have been loving the Gauteng Provincial Online Library during lockdown, but it really does have some odd quirks!

Unlike in a traditional library, digital books cannot be stolen, lost or overdue, but it seems that they can disappear from the library when the licence expires, which can be confusing! So you might be able to put a hold on the third book in the wonderful Cicero Trilogy – Dictator because the library once owned it, but you might never receive it unless the librarian decides to repurchase the licence. The other two books of the trilogy don’t seem to have ever been owned by the library, but you can make a recommendation for the library to buy them through the OverDrive website. So we’ve been busy recommending the purchase of obvious missing library books to the Gauteng Online Library.

Over the past few years we have worked in school libraries stocked entirely with donated books, and the best of these libraries all have some common features: entire shelves of Enid Blyton books, several copies of each Roald Dahl book, the middle book of, say, His Dark Materials Trilogy and, in the best libraries, extremely tatty and loved copies of some of the Horrid Henry books, Diary of a Wimpy Kid and if the kids are really lucky, the odd Harry Potter book and some new teen fiction. The non-fiction is usually a dismal collection of 1950s biology textbooks and random books about writing batch files for MS-DOS or the Natural History of Guam.

Book Village Digital Library

The Book Village digital library was bought from OverDrive as a curated collection of children’s books and generally only shares the best aspects of a traditional library. When having noticed a few quirks and gaps in the digital library, we asked them how they put the collection together.

They replied stating that they consulted with librarians in South African Schools and focused on popular South African authors and titles, as well as titles popular in schools internationally. They maintain the library by adding more copies of in-demand titles, as well as new releases and requests.

The Book Village library is indeed a wonderful collection of books and we think there will be books for every child to love. But we are quite sure that the kids would happily swop Anna Karenina for the 13 Storey Treehouse and The Lives of the Necromancers for anything by Philip Pullman.

We are always looking for new book recommendations and so if you have any ideas please email them to sarah@bookvillage.co.za.