Literacy Blog

When we speak or write to each other in the same language, it’s easy to assume that we share the same understandings. Yet we also know that it’s quite possible to 'miss' one another - both as we speak, and when we read what someone else has written. In face-to-face communication, because we are there on the spot, we have a relatively good chance...

Once upon a time. These are the four words that have forever changed the way I see the world. They were the doorway to an unseen and unknown world for me, taking me on a different adventure every time I lifted up a book; an experience that did not cost me a thing. Indeed, I could travel the world at a flip of a...

Lisa Cohen is a storyteller, facilitator, children’s story author, programme developer, early childhood development advocate and creativity sparker. She is currently the Portfolio Manager of Parenting Programmes at Ilifa Labantwana and Programme Manager for the Our Story, Your Story Project with Clowns Without Borders South Africa. Lisa speaks about her own journey with stories and its personal and political meaning: Story-time with my dad was my...

Stories should be available and accessible to all children and adults. That's why we made sure our World Read Aloud Day story is available for free in all 11 official languages. On top of that, it's being offered in another language by Sign Language Education and Development (SLED). SLED collaborated with Story Bosso runners up, Kerrin Kokot and Jayne Batzofin, to produce an amazing video of the story 'Neo and...

Nozi Ngomane is a storyteller, writer, mother, daughter, assistant teacher and traditional healer. She is currently a Project Manager for Kwesukela Story Events and Chair of Alexandra Amakhono Project which develops the youth through the arts. This article was written with the support of Patty Akriel. Since the beginning of human development, there has been storytelling, and music was used to accompany it. Some argue that...

How important are visual images for children as they learn to read? Although I am no specialist in literacy, my extensive experience lecturing Illustration to students in South Africa and the UK, along with the picture book workshops I give to hundreds of children in five different countries, inform my view that visual literacy deserves attention. For illustrators, illustrations do far more than decorate and...

The birthday of the great Swedish children’s writer, Astrid Lindgren, is being celebrated this month. As we continue to seek ways to motivate and deepen reading habits among children and adults in South Africa, this offers us a moment to consider what we might learn from a life dedicated to advocating for human rights and writing for children. Lindgren was extraordinarily prolific and is known...

Currently the Marketing Manager for the Africa region for Cambridge University Press, Wonder Chabalala has worked with and been inspired by books all his life. He developed a passion for the industry after becoming a part-time bookseller for a large retail company while studying, and since then has been in the book industry for 22 years in both retail and publishing. Wonder shares powerful ideas of...

Children’s Grief Awareness Day is a reminder that children feel and experience grief and pain as acutely as adults. They may experience a wide range of emotions – anger, depression, confusion, frustration, anxiety – but they may not yet have the words to identify and express these emotions. And because they have not yet learned to verbalise emotions in the way adults do, children are...

Dr Garth Japhet is the founder and chief executive of Heartlines, a value-based media campaign and printed resource organisation. Heartlines has developed a series of books titled ‘Stories That Talk’, which assist educators and caregivers in encouraging early literacy skills and learning around values. Sally Mills (Nal'ibali networks and communications coordinator) and Japhet explore the role of stories in helping children cope, and understand difficulties and...

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Mark my words: Literacy through culture

'Once upon a time' with Yvonne Chaka Chaka

Our Story, Your Story: Finding meaning

Video: World Read Aloud Day and South African Sign Language

Musical storytelling

Reading the pictures

Astrid Lindgren and the legacy of reading

Creating collective change through stories

The healing power of stories

Stories: The emotional fabric of society