Literacy Blog

Born in the Eastern Cape, Sonwabiso Ngcowa is an emergent young author. Passionate about literature and social development, he uses writing and stories to uplift those around him. In this article, Ngcowa explores how reading and books bridge a divide between all cultures: With life being as busy as it is in the modern world, our opportunities to meet new people and connect with each other...

South African author Linda Rode is well known in the children’s book world as an avid collector and lover of fairytales. Having authored three prize-winning children’s books of her own, compiled and contributed to a further 12 children’s anthologies and translated numerous of books and stories for children, her storytelling style is perfect for reading aloud: Since it’ll be three to four years before the...

Award-winning South African author Maxine Case reflects on the role of intergenerational storytelling in preserving family history and supporting children’s literacy development: During the school holidays, my sisters and I would join our cousins at our grandmother’s house. With 10 children underfoot, Ma had little time to devote to any of us, but she was fond of me. Like her, I was a bookworm. Ma knew...

Phiwayinkosi Mbuyazi is igniting the minds of teenagers and contributing to the advancement of South African indigenous languages through his translation of scientific books. In this process he has invented almost 500 new isiZulu words. Mbuyazi spoke to us about the importance of nurturing mother-tongue languages in the educational and academic world: Of all the creatures in the animal kingdom we, the humans, are the only...

Verushka Louw, a children’s bookseller who works at an independent bookshop in Cape Town (The Book Lounge), tells us how important it is to choose the right book at the right time for children: I was a library child. We moved around a lot when I was younger and I did not have many of my own books, so in each new town I soon...

Jonathan Jansen, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of the Free State, speaks to us about what PRAESA's Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award means for the literacy landscape of South Africa: Growing up amidst the poverty and hardship of the Cape Flats, I remember one thing from my childhood—it was how the presence of books would come to change my life forever. My mother was a nurse...

Sally Mills, Networks and Communications Co-ordinator at Nal’ibali, explores how the work of literacy activist Mpho Khosi inspires literacy: The streets are alive and so are the minds of the young people who walk them. Brisk with triumph, pounding with frustration, clumsy with desperation or tripping with excitement, the streets feel the beat and the urgency of the youth and give rise to a voice...

Mandla Langa is a South African poet, short-story writer and novelist. He is also the Executive Vice-President of PEN South Africa, an endorser of the Nal’ibali children’s literacy rights poster. Mandla spoke to us about the importance of literacy in allowing children to fulfill their potential: The need to entrench the culture of reading among children was impressed on me recently. During the Easter weekend...

Koketso Ratsatsi is a collaborator in the Mohlakeng Youth Movement – a team of young people working in the Mohlakeng township south of Randfontein to grow a culture of reading in the community. Here's her wise take on how we should all take ownership of literacy development: Knowledge is powerful and, transmitted through reading, it is one thing that no one can ever take away...

The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (ALMA) is the richest award in children's literature, and one of the richest literary prizes in the world. The award recognises "authors, illustrators, oral storytellers and promoters of reading" whose "work is of the highest quality." The objective of the award is to increase interest in children’s and young people's literature, and to promote children's rights to culture on a global scale. Nal'ibali is proud...

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Building bridges with books

In praise of reading aloud

How family storytelling helps us grow

A conversation to expand mother-tongue thought horizons

Choosing books for children

What PRAESA's award means for literacy in South Africa

The art of the spoken word

Unleashing the latent potential of the young

Imagining a literate South Africa

PRAESA wins the 2015 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award