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Archbishop Desmond Tutu to Create Picture Book with Zondervan

by Nonikiwe - Editor on 04 May 2012   |   

Christian publishing house Zondervan has signed Nobel Peace Prize-winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu to collaborate with bestselling author and illustrator Nancy Tillman to produce a picture book telling the creation story from Tutu’s Children of God Storybook Bible.

Tillman will illustrate Tutu’s narrative. The South African activist first published the book with the Grand Rapids publisher in 2010. Zondervan holds world rights and plans to release the book in spring 2014.

RELATED: Zondervan announces 3-book deal with former President Jimmy Carter

The Children of God Storybook Bible rose to the No. 1 spot on the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association bestseller list and was published worldwide in 14 languages, including six African languages in South Africa. Zondervan has sold 50,000 copies of the Bible in the U.S.

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Book details

• Children of God by Desmond Tutu, illustrated by Various
  EAN: 9780310719120
  Find this book with BOOK Finder!

African Culture Promoted Through Books in Canada

by Nonikiwe - Editor on 13 Jul 2011   |   

Many North Americans have a skewed vision of Africa, says local Zimbabwean artist and graphic designer Jacqui Terry. She is on a mission to correct that image for the sake of Canadians who will benefit from the rich cultural traditions of the Southern African nations and for her fellow immigrants from Africa, especially the children whose growth into healthy, contributing adults relies on a positive self image and a strong connection with their heritage.

Terry earned her BA in Fine Arts at the University of Cape Town in South Africa and worked in Botswana before moving to southern Ontario five years ago. Terry has a deep appreciation of the arts and traditions of these countries. Quoting the UN’s Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Terry states that “Africa is the most linguistically diverse continent in the world. People speak close to 2,000 different languages which is a third of the world’s linguistic heritage.”

If the languages are lost, so too is the culture and this concerns her, as does the negative portrayal of Africa by North American media as a continent perpetually in need. Terry asserts, “There is a deep well of cultural richness and wisdom that Africa has to offer Canadians.” Bridging the gap in vision between the North American media-version of Africa and the Africa she knows and loves will benefit the children of African immigrants, those with African heritage and those with a connection to the continent and who feel the need to connect with these traditions, as well as the broader Canadian community.

This was Terry’s motive for working on the book project with author Selu Mdlalose of Vezani Publsihing. “How Zebby the Zebra Lost His Stripes” is the first of a series for children. “Zebby” tells a story of identity lost and found; a theme Terry believes resonates with all children, but especially those growing up in a culture different from their family’s place of origin.

“Zebby” is available in English as well as, Shona and IsiNdebele, and Setswana. This makes “Zebby” an excellent teaching tool for Southern African parents who want to nurture their children’s connection to their culture of origin. Venancia Nyandoro of Kitchener in Canada says that “Zebby” is “a great resource for our kids to learn Shona and Ndebele. It’s an exciting story and they want to read it over and over again. The pictures make them laugh, and they really enjoy reading the Shona story even though they don’t understand all the words, but it is amazing how quickly they learn them!”

• Read complete article at the Zimbabwean

East Africa Children Poorly Taught

by Nonikiwe - Editor on 12 Jul 2011   |   

While three East African countries have achieved on school enrolment levels, majority of pupils continue to demonstrate incompetence in the two most important aspects of basic education.

A report dubbed “Are our children Learning” shows that children in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda perform poorly compared to the established curriculum standards. The report appears to hold a different tone than another one from Uganda’s examinations body, which points to a slightly brighter outlook.

Uganda boasts of approximately 8.3 million children in primary school, compared to 2.3 million before the programme in 1997. But as the report, prepared by Uwezo, an initiative to improve competencies in literacy and numeracy in East Africa, indicates, there is nothing to be proud of if majority of pupils, though in school, are not able to read and later on deal with numbers.

The tests were for Primary Two and administered to 145,730 children from 79,286 households in 2009/2010. The assessment was done on children between the age of six and 16. But findings indicate that investing in inputs alone has limited impact, and that fresh thinking focused on incentives for learning is needed. Further, it shows that children in the three countries perform poorly compared to established curriculum levels.

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Zambian Lubuto Library Project Realises Education Vision

by Nonikiwe - Editor on 20 Jun 2011   |   

SUB-SAHARAN Africa faces serious social and economic challenges, yet none is greater than the devastation that the HIV/AIDS pandemic brings to the continent’s children.

As adults become sick and many die, vast numbers of young people are left without able caretakers, resources and without hope.

But in the heart of Lusaka is the Fountain of Hope where the Lubuto Library projects are providing safe and beautiful refuge that opens the world of learning to Africa and to some of Zambia’s vulnerable yet valuable children.

In buildings that faithfully reflect indigenous design, the Lubuto Library is a refuge of literacy, learning, self-expression and cultural enlightenment for the orphans and vulnerable children left out of schools.

June 2, will forever be remembered with fond memories by the less privileged lads at Lusaka’s Fountain of Hope, as the day was significant to them because the Lubuto Library project president Jane Meyers launched the ‘New literacy Tools for Zambia’ at the centre.

The project would definitely open many doors for the orphans and other vulnerable children whose single door was closed.

Located in Kamwala Township, Lubuto Libraries offers young people educational opportunities, fostering their intellectual and emotional development and participation in society.

At the first library opening ceremony in Lusaka, first republican president Kenneth Kaunda declared the initiative as “a brilliant idea,” a place to help vulnerable children “grow in knowledge and power.”

He described the library as a place where “we are still holding on to humanity.” Lubuto made significant progress in 2009 towards realising its vision for the libraries projects as centres for a range of educational enrichment opportunities for vulnerable children and youths in sub Saharan Africa, in enhancing knowledge.

The first library was opened at the Kamwala Fountain of Hope Foundation while construction of the second facility at the Ngwerere School in Lusaka’s Garden Township was completed in November 2010.

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European Comic With an African Flair

by Nonikiwe - Editor on 25 May 2011   |   

A young woman navigates shallow men, self-destructive friends and the newly erected class ladder in the prosperous city of Abidjan.The West African nation of the Ivory Coast won its independence from France in 1960, and thanks to agricultural development, it enjoyed a flourishing economy until the early ’80s. This graphic novel by Abouet, an Ivory Coast native, and French artist Oubrerie, is set in 1978, as Aya, the 19-year-old heroine, becomes increasingly aware of how money is reshaping her family and friendships. Her father, a manager for a local beer company, takes pride in his car, TV set and other trappings of a steady paycheck; her friends Bintou and Adjoua are obsessed with landing a wealthy husband, and they have enough free time to pursue suitors at the disco; Aya, for her part, aspires to attend college and become a scientist. This is mainly a breezy, colorful snapshot of middle-class Ivory Coast life at the height of the country’s boom years, in a tone that’s underscored by Oubrerie’s simple, loose and playful lines. And Abouet has imagined an appealing array of characters notable for their foibles, especially the imposing Mister Sissoko, the head of the beer company. (The TV show Dallas is visitors’ first reference point when entering his palatial estate, speaking of how closely the country took its cultural cues from the U.S.) A serious story is embedded in all this, though: Bintou and Adjoua both battle for the attentions of Sissoko’s son, Moussa, and when Adjoua becomes pregnant, the ensuing pages spark some interesting observations about the country’s class distinctions and the urge to save face. Given the intelligence that Abouet brings to the story, it’s unfortunate that Aya ends so abruptly, but it’s not a fatal flaw. The appendix, with a glossary, recipes and notes on native clothing, is a nice touch.A smart and sweetly comic glimpse of a time and place in Africa that get little attention in the West.

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The comics audience familiar with Drawn & Quarterly might consider them an alternative or small arts publisher, but regardless of size, this publisher’s catalog reflects the kind of broad sensibilities we’d expect of large book publishers. Alternative comics, indie, art, etc. can be used to describe D&Q, but this is publisher of both fiction and non-fiction. Comics just happen to be the medium in which the company works.

Their recent English-language version of the graphic novel Aya by Marguerite Abouet & Clément Oubrerie is an example of D&Q’s diverse line of adult-oriented comics fiction. The winner of the 2006 award for “Best First Album” at the Angoulême International Comics Festival, Aya is a comedy – at once social, romantic, and domestic – built around the straight-laced Aya, a 19-year old African woman, with her mind focused on homework and a future professional career. The story is set in the Ivory Coast in the year 1978, a kind of economic golden age for the West African country.

Aya wants to be a doctor, much to the chagrin of her working class father, Ignace, though she gets encouragement from her mother, Fanta. Aya’s ambitions set her apart from everyone around her, especially her two close friends, Adjoua and Bintou. The only ambitions these young women have concern going out to party and have a good time with young men. Eventually, this duo finds itself at odds over Moussa, the only son of a prominent and wealthy family.

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Book details

• Aya by Marguerit Abouet
  EAN: 9780224081849
  Find this book with BOOK Finder!

Kenyan Youths Raise Literacy Levels

by Nonikiwe - Editor on 23 May 2011   |   

Nairobi—Samuel Macharia Kago, Scofield Awiti Muliru and Sophie Ngele Njaramba sought to be the change they wanted to see in their society. The final year Anthropology students at the University of Nairobi hatched an initiative called Literate Kenya that will seek to address and bridge gaps in the education sector through various programmes. The idea behind Literate Kenya is making a difference through education which is amplified in their Vision: Learn to make a difference.

This comes at a time when literacy levels in Africa are wanting. Over the past years the literacy levels in the continent of about one billion people has improved but by a slight margin. The lower literacy level can be attributed to several factors, such as availability as well as accessibility of education facilities and resources, a poor reading culture, political instability in states such as Liberia, South Sudan as well as the socio-cultural context of a people. The initiative is about youths helping other youths and not waiting for the government to affect their lives; it is driven by the urge about doing something to change the situation. Literate Kenya programmes are based on issues such as: Education, Peer Education on issues of sexual responsibility. Girl Child Absenteeism, Environment conservation, Incorporation of Information Technology into the education system and Relief aid. This year the Initiative is undertaking two main projects: The Books Drive and the Hanger Project.

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Changes to Dates and Venue of the 1st Biennial IBBY Africa Conference

by Nonikiwe - Editor on 18 Apr 2011   |   

Changes to dates and venue of the 1st Biennial IBBY Africa Conference – see below

Circulated by SCBWI (SA) for Prof Thomas van der Walt, CLRU, Department of Information Science, University of South Africa.

Enquiries: please contact Prof Thomas van der Walt

Fax: +27 12 4293792; e-mail: vdwaltb@unisa.ac.za

For more info go to http://www.unisa.ac.za/Default.asp?Cmd=ViewContent&ContentID=25142

1st Biennial IBBY Africa Conference: 31 August-2 September 2011

Venue: The Ranch, Polokwane, Limpopo Province

The travelling of stories: children’s literature and reading in and of Africa

Call for papers

· 31 August-2 September 2011

· Venue: The Ranch, Polokwane, Limpopo Province

· Organised by the Children’s Literature Research Unit, University of South Africa on behalf of the IBBY Branches of Africa

· Closing date for submissions: 15 June 2011

The following topics serve as suggestions:

The travelling of stories across borders and cultures

Children’s literature in translation

Folktales and imagination

Writing in indigenous/colonial/minority languages

Colonialism and post-colonialism in children’s literature

Traditional folktales and the modern tale

Cultural relevance of children’s books

The distinction between African children’s and adult books

Oral narratives and literary research

Converting oral literature into written literature

Literature for didactic purposes

The African diaspora and children’s literature

Reading across cultures

Library services for children

Reading in the information age

Comparative research in children’s literature and reading

Depicting reality in children’s books

Reading preferences of African children

Teaching children’s literature

Storytelling for young people

Publishing for children in the 2nd World

Abstracts of not more than 250 words that address particular issues regarding reading and children’s literature related to Africa and the developing world are welcomed.

Mail abstracts and direct enquiries to: Prof Thomas van der Walt, CLRU, Department of Information Science, University of South Africa, PO Box 392, 0003 Pretoria, South Africa Fax: +27 12 4293792 e-mail: vdwaltb@unisa.ac.za

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Recipients of the 2011 Astrid-Lindgren Award to be Announced this week

by Nonikiwe - Editor on 28 Mar 2011   |   

– To be awarded the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award is such a tremendous experience, says the Belgian illustrator Kitty Crowther, the 2010 recipient. On March 29th the recipient or recipients of the world’s largest prize for children’s and young adult literature 2011 will be announced.

The nomination list for the 2011 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award is the longest ever and is made up of 175 candidates from 62 countries. Previous recipients are eligible to nominate candidates, and in the nomination process this year three previous recipients have proposed candidates; Banco del Libro (recipients of 2007), Katherine Paterson (2006) and Kitty Crowther (2010).

It has been a turbulent year for Kitty Crowther. Receiving the award led to her books being published in new editions all around the world. She has received numerous invitations to public events, and a lot of attention from international media.

– An amazing thing about the award is that when it comes to literary festivals and book fairs everyone knows who you are. I don’t have to do anything! People want to meet me anyway. Everywhere I meet people who are passionate about children’s literature.

The recipient of the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award 2011 will be announced on March 29th at 13:00 CET.

– There are so many worthy winners, Kitty Crowther says. I hope for a recipient who loves life, a true humanitarian like Astrid Lindgren was.

• Read complete article at Schoollibraryjournal

Hope Through Books for Children

by Nonikiwe - Editor on 23 Mar 2011   |   

While working with an international children’s organization struggling with the HIV/AIDS pandemic, I recently spent a month in Zambia, Swaziland, and South Africa. I visited homes, outreach centers, hospitals, and hospices. I heard hungry orphans laugh and saw the dying smile. I held the hands of ten-year-olds who, as heads of household, care for their younger siblings. I watched children without enough food for themselves share with each other and wait patiently in line for their bit of warm milk. I met many children, but I did not see one children’s book.

The presence of a book may seem insignificant compared to the overwhelming infection rates, the starvation, the death. In many countries, one out of four adults is infected with HIV or AIDS, and most are heterosexuals between the ages of 15 and 49. Few have access to, or money for, decent food or health care, let alone the ARV’s (antiretroviral medications). Seventy percent of all new HIV/AIDS infections and deaths in the world are now occurring in sub-Saharan Africa.

As the parents die, the children are left behind. Over 11 million children have become orphaned due to HIV/AIDS in this region, and their numbers keep growing. Stigmatized and forgotten, many are already infected. With little time left on this earth, quality of life is measured in small joys, like jumping rope, singing an ancestral song, or learning how to read.

Before my trip, I asked two of my publishers to donate a few boxes of my books to the orphans of Africa. I imagined reenacting my school and library presentation that I’ve been sharing with American kids for the past ten years. I would encourage the children in Africa as I had encouraged those in the States to read everything they could get their hands on. Write your own stories, I would tell them. Write about things that excite you, things you are passionate about. Use words to find out about the world, to explain your world to others. I didn’t realize that books were a luxury only the most affluent could afford.

Neither publisher sent books due to cost and bad timing. So when I returned home, I mailed a box of my books, along with other children’s books I was privileged to have on my shelves. The cost was incredibly reasonable using the U.S. Post Office’s media mail.

Yes, these kids need food. They need clothes. They need health care. They also need art. They need our books. A book in a child’s hands gives him/her access to the world, and perhaps, hope. If you would like to donate your books or help in other ways, please contact me at my website, sharonsharth.com. We can make a difference.

• Read complete article at Sharonsharth

Bridging the Education Gap in Burkina Faso

by Nonikiwe - Editor on 15 Mar 2011   |   

What started as a pen pal program between students at Archer Elementary School and students at Ecole Nagueswende in Burkina Faso, Africa, has evolved into a larger community fundraising effort to help the impoverished school and its students. Led by Archer Elementary teacher Laurie Tornese, the Burkina Faso school has received money for new desks, and future plans include funds to help build a new classroom.

For Laurie Tornese and her students, it started out as a pen pal correspondence.

But before they knew it, the small school in West Africa, with its 239 children and four classes, had somehow found a way into their hearts.

Now, over a year later, Tornese and her students at Archer Elementary School have planned a Read-A-Thon to raise $2,122, the amount of money needed for owner and founder Mathias Ouedraogo to build another classroom for his students at Ecole Nagueswende, a school in Burkina Faso, Africa.

The Read-A-Thon will be held on Wednesday, March 23 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. and will feature local celebrities such as Mike Potter from WCJB TV-20 and Storm Roberts from KTK 985 as well as other professionals in the community, who will read to the students and talk about their careers.

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