Literacy Blog

Thabiso Mahlape is a publisher with Jacana. She recently launched a new book imprint, BlackBird Books, which seeks to provide a platform and publishing home to both new voices and the existing generation of black writers and narratives. Thabiso believes that relevant South African stories are the key to a culture of reading: When I was about five or six, I didn’t know about books, about reading for...

Do you read to your children regularly? Many parents who read to their children do this as part of their children’s bedtime routine. They cuddle up to their children and read a story or two before it’s time for their children to drift off to dreamland. Bedtime stories are an easy way of helping your children to relax at the end of a busy...

Nal'ibali's Storyplay Co-ordinator, Nadia Lubowski, travelled to KwaZulu-Natal to train and support ECD practitioners in their implementation of the Storyplay approach. In this piece, she relays her personal and professional experience in helping spread the power of stories: We had been driving since 7am, we had visited six early childhood development (ECD) sites by mid-afternoon. My thoughts were meandering between endless questions and absorbing and experiencing...

Catherine Kell, Associate Professor of Linguistics specialising in literary studies at the University of the Western Cape, speaks to us about the danger of the single story and necessity of different narratives: A group of lees-mammies (reading-mommies) talked to me about story-telling in their lives when they were young children growing up on wine farms in the Western Cape where their parents worked as labourers....

Omphile is a 13-year-old Grade 7 learner at Prinshof School for blind and visually imapired children. She has congenital glaucoma and therefore has limited eyesight. Omphile has always enjoyed reading – perhaps because everyone else in her family reads – and would like to encourage adults and older caregivers to help other blind or visually imapired children experience the joy she has found in...

Reading and telling stories are important activities that encourage children to develop their imaginations, excellent memories and increase their vocabularies. As part of our broader ‘Story Power’ campaign, we embarked on a two-day programme of ‘Healing through Stories’ workshops designed to use stories – written, told and read – to help children to make sense of their hardships, in a fun environment where play...

This Women’s Day we salute local librarians, teachers and literacy activists for being inspiring change-makers in their community. The literacy librarian: Edith Khuzwayo Edith Fezeka Khuzwayo, the Managing Librarian at the Murray Park Library in the City of Johannesburg, is one of those community members who should be celebrated not just on Women’s Day but every day of the year. In addition to managing the day-to-day running...

Youth Month is a good time to reflect on the past. Our past. It is when we take a moment of silence to remember those who died to liberate us. It is important to remember. And stories are an essential part of remembering. Stories enable us to view past events as if we were part of it. As readers, we are able to step into...

With US paediatricians now prescribing reading with children as part of their essential care, Malini Mohana speaks to local experts to see how they think the power of stories can shape children’s social, cognitive and emotional wellbeing. Storytelling is the primal way in which human beings organise and compartmentalise their experiences. We’re not just narrators of things that happen around us; we’re also the narrators...

They're just words on a page, but books can take you places and open up worlds of wonder, enlightenment, and imagination for your children. This June, Gus Silber reflects on the role his own father played in shaping his future through books and stories and the power of parents to pass on this important tradition. I grew up in a house without walls, and a...

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The undeniable relevance of South African stories

Why stories are not just for bedtime

Nal'ibali research: A glimpse into child’s play

The dangers of the single story

Helping blind and visually impaired children discover story worlds

The healing power of stories

Women's month: Literacy superwomen

South African stories for South African youth

Reading to young children: The cognitive benefits

Calling on dads to pass on a love of reading this Father's Day