How Book Dash nurtures South Africa鈥檚 young readers
| Johannesburg
When Thokozani Mkhize was growing up in South Africa in the 1990s, she devoured storybooks from all over the world. She read Chinese myths and Greek legends. There were Hans 海角大神 Andersen fairy tales and 鈥淕oosebumps鈥� novels.
The one thing she never read though were South African stories.
鈥淎t the time I wasn鈥檛 really thinking, why do none of these characters look like me?鈥� she says. 鈥淏ut as I grew up, I realized there was a gap.鈥�
Why We Wrote This
How do children become readers? Simple as it sounds, they need books 鈥� lots of them, to explore and enjoy whenever they want. This nonprofit aims to turn that into a reality for every South African child.
So when a friend told Ms. Mkhize, a graphic designer, about a nonprofit organization called Book Dash, which recruits volunteers to write and design South African children鈥檚 books, she jumped at the chance to make things different for the generation after her.
Book Dash also intrigued Ms. Mkhize because of its unusual model 鈥� it challenged volunteer writers, illustrators, and editors like herself to create a full children鈥檚 book, in a single 12-hour 鈥渄ash.鈥� That allowed the organization to leapfrog most of the traditional costs of publishing and distribute more than a million copies of its books to households on a shoestring budget.
For Book Dash, like Ms. Mkhize, getting books into the hands of more South Africans has always been a question of social justice. Elsewhere in the world, having a large collection of books at home has been shown to be just as significant as the parents鈥� education level for determining how far a child will go in school, from the University of Nevada, Reno. have shown that having books at home correlates to not only better reading skills, but better math and technology know-how as well.
But nearly 60% of South Africans don鈥檛 have a single book at home, by the South African Book Development Council, and 78% of fourth graders in the country can鈥檛 read for meaning 鈥� to understand a story or argument in a text听 鈥撎齛ccording to conducted that year. Of the 50 countries surveyed in that study, South Africa finished last. And like most inequalities in the country, literacy levels are highly racialized, due in part to a long history of separate and unequal schooling that funneled resources into white schools and deliberately withheld them from Black ones. Eighty-seven percent of students who took in Zulu 鈥� an indigenous language spoken mostly by Black South Africans 鈥� failed, for instance, compared with 57% who took it in English.
One primary reason so few households have books, says Book Dash Director Dorette Louw, is that they simply can鈥檛 afford them. Around South African children live in poverty. And the fact that so many families are priced out of the glossy picture books on store shelves in turn more, because printing is more expensive in smaller quantities.
鈥淲e were devastated by the idea that having a book was a luxury good in South Africa,鈥� Ms. Louw says of the organization鈥檚 founding.
Quick creativity
Book Dash鈥檚 model is deceptively simple. The organization, started in 2014, recruits professional writers, illustrators, designers, and editors to volunteer for daylong marathon book-creation sessions.
Using only a rough idea developed ahead of time by the writer, teams of four 鈥� a writer, editor, illustrator, and designer 鈥� meet and spend 12 hours honing the story, writing and editing the text, drawing the characters, and laying out the book.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of camaraderie that develops, sitting around a table bouncing ideas and helping each other work,鈥� Ms. Mkhize says. She鈥檚 participated in four 鈥渄ashes鈥� since 2015 鈥� including two virtual events during the COVID-19 pandemic 鈥� as a designer, responsible for laying out the text and illustrations. Her favorite work, she says, is a brightly colored book called 鈥淯nathi and the Dirty, Smelly Beast,鈥� about a girl and her adventures with her dog.
To date, Book Dash has produced more than 100 different books, sprawling across topics ranging from the quirky 鈥� , a sloth searching for 鈥� to the profound 鈥� , . Although the majority were originally written in English, many have also been translated into other South African languages. The country鈥檚 publishing is by titles in English and Afrikaans, which account for nearly 90% of all book sales here.听That means few children have access to books in their first language, says Ms. Louw.听听
The organization then distributes its books through literacy organizations and other educational charities. It also makes the PDFs of all its books freely available on its website, and sells print copies via an online bookstore for 40 rand ($2.80) each.
In the rural community of Mtwalume on South Africa鈥檚 east coast, a community organization called Thanda has long distributed Book Dash books to children to help encourage them to read at home.
鈥淲e have a library, but we noticed kids were often reluctant to give the books back,鈥� says Janet Duma, who works on Thanda鈥檚 literacy programs. 鈥淣ow anytime they want to read, they can grab a book from their shelf. They have books accessible to them at all times.鈥�
Reading at home
That mission became especially urgent in March of last year, when South Africa鈥檚 schools abruptly shut down as the country went into a coronavirus lockdown. As was the case in countries around the world, parents suddenly became teachers, often without any of the online support systems available to families in wealthier communities.
鈥淥nline learning isn鈥檛 an option if you don鈥檛 have a way to get online,鈥� says Kirstin Nash, the head of marketing, communications, and partnerships at Thanda. So Thanda, which once ran after-school reading programs for local kids, began designing at-home activities like puzzles, art projects, and treasure hunts themed around Book Dash books, and sending Ms. Duma and her colleagues to show families how to use them.
When South Africa鈥檚 second wave of COVID-19 infections crested in January 2021, Mtwalume was especially hard hit, Ms. Duma says. That month, Thanda distributed a Book Dash book called 鈥淐ircles,鈥� about a mother and son vulture pair who watch an old antelope die, and the new circle of life that begins as nature reclaims his body.听 听听
鈥淚t鈥檚 not just our bodies we leave behind when we die,鈥� the mother explains. 鈥淲e also leave our lessons and our love and our memories.鈥�
鈥淚t was a way to help kids talk about their grieving process,鈥� Ms. Duma says. 鈥淎nd for families to have those conversations together too.鈥�
For Ms. Mkhize, the designer, that鈥檚 exactly what she hopes her books will accomplish.
鈥淵ou see yourself in these stories and these characters,鈥� she says. 鈥淵ou can feel, 鈥業 am normal, my experiences are normal, and my stories are important too.鈥欌��
