Alison Zimmermann, in collaboration with Dorette Louw, Programme Director of Book Dash
Can you remember a time, before you started school, when you may have been tucked cosily into bed at night, while an adult read a favourite story to you from a picture book? Did you ever sit on the carpet at nursery school, eagerly awaiting story time, when the teacher would read aloud from books that had beautiful, colourful illustrations? Do you recall holding a book in your tiny hands, turning the pages, and ‘reading’ to your grandmother, even though you hadn’t yet developed reading skills?
If you answered ‘yes’ to any of these memory prompts, then you are one of a very small, privileged percentage of South Africans who had access to books before starting school. A critical success factor for lifelong literacy and learning in children is early exposure to books and reading. But the majority of children in our country live in households and communities that simply cannot afford to buy and own books.
A critical success factor for lifelong literacy and learning in children is early exposure to books and reading.
A South African non-profit initiative – Book Dash – has a bold and innovative mission to get 100 books into the hands of every South African child, by age five, thus having a profoundly positive impact on their future learning, and on the country’s future economy. Owning books is a powerful, emotionally nurturing experience for children.
Book Dash was born out of a vision to make books available to all children by reducing the costs involved in traditional publishing. The project has been running since 2014, has won several awards, and gained international recognition for its innovation in solving a basic problem in literacy.
‘Flooding the country with books!’
Each year, Book Dash organises two 12-hour Book Dash events (usually one in Cape Town, and one in Johannesburg or Durban). From 09:00 on Saturday morning to 21:00 on Saturday night, 10 teams of volunteer writers, editors, designers and illustrators create and produce ten new children’s books. The storybooks they create contain characters and contexts that are culturally relatable to children. The books are produced under an Open Source license – anyone in the world can translate the books, download them onto compatible reading apps, or print them to give to children. There have been 14 Book Dash events so far; two of them were sponsored by the Goethe Institut and included creative volunteers from across Africa.
Early literacy is a foundation for lifelong learning, economic participation and individual well being
Book Dash has already enabled thousands of children to own their own books. Many partner organisations provide funding and channels to be able to distribute the books to children in community-based contexts such as ECD centres and clinics and hospitals. To date, Book Dash has partnered with more than 200 organisations to distribute 750 000 books to children. There is also a manual available for groups who would like to organise their own Book Dash-inspired events to create books.
Early literacy is a foundation for lifelong learning, economic participation and individual well being; Book Dash is making a profound difference in the lives of thousands of children, and in the future of South Africa!
[Picture permission: Book Dash]
Edited By: Alison Zimmermann
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