In a panel discussion at a recent PRAESA event in Cape Town, Professor Genevieve Hart, gave the following statistics about libraries in South Africa. The library statistics come from foreword by Arts & Culture Minister Mthethwa to the DAC booklet “The State of Libraries in South Africa” August 2015 – then DAC’s briefing to the […]
Some encouraging news Read More »
A remarkable team of musicians and storytellers will assemble in Simon’s Town Library on 13th February to work with 25 children from Red Hill informal settlement and their community worker Buyiswa Ponti. Blaq Pearl will facilitate song and story writing, Marlene Winberg will tell stories, violinist Anele Mhlahlo and guitarist Dirkie van Staden will work
Red Hill Workshop 13th February Read More »
IBBY, the International Board on Books for Young People is proud to announce the shortlist for the 2016 Hans Christian Andersen Award – the world’s most prestigious children’s book award: Authors: Cao Wenxuan from China, Louis Jensen from Denmark, Mirjam Pressler from Germany, Ted van Lieshout from the Netherlands and Lois Lowry from the USA.
IBBY Announces the Shortlist for the 2016 Hans Christian Andersen Awards Read More »
IBBY is the International Board of Books for Young People, representing national organizations working with children and books all over the world. Here is an extract from their new year’s message. 2015 was a worrying year with terrorist attacks and wars that have made millions of scared people take flight in search of a safer
New Year’s message from international book body Read More »
Lesley Beake and Jay Heale give some very last minute choices form their very favourite books (today). It might be different tomorrow! Lesley: I have chosen books for older readers, there is a huge choice for the smaller children, but Guess how much I love you (available in any bookshop around Christmas) remains a favourite.
Book choices for the end-of-the-year trip to the library! Read More »
CBN was delighted to facilitate the donation of the children’s book collection of our beloved book editor, Jay Heale when it arrived at Enlighten Trust in Hermanus. Jay’s move towards retirement (but not quite retirement!) in Napier meant that his children’s books were looking for a home. The busy, popular library of Enlighten Trust in
The Jay Heale Collection Read More »
The latest Bookchat Newsletter, Number 212, kindly supplied -free of charge – by Jay Heale.
Bookchant Newsletter 212 Read More »
In the last year Children’s Book Network have been connecting with theatre organisations in and around Cape Town. One such organisation is Jungle Theatre. Just as we thought we were finishing our year, they offered us the opportunity to share their production ‘Butterfly Dreams’ with some of our youth, so of course we accepted, delightedly!
CBN has completed a series of fifteen workshops over two years in Clanwilliam – twelve of them with funding from the department of Water and Sanitation in collaboration with PGS Heritage and Clanwilliam Living Landscape Project (CLLP) as part of the Clanwilliam Dam Community Project (CDCP). The History: CBN has been working with children from
Final Report on Clanwilliam Dam Community Project (CBN) Read More »
The words ‘Jay Heale’ and ‘children’s books’ go together like, well, like Piglet and Pooh. Following a distinguished career doing just about everything in books – from writing them to selling them – Jay has decided to quieten things down and do a little more gentle reading of his own after retiring to Napier in
A less exacting role – and a donation for CBN Read More »
Over the past eight months – and with a run up for six months before that, CBN has been working with the children of the Cederberg on a series of workshops considering the million-year heritage of the valley of the Olifants River. This series of ten workshops (some of them four days in duration) was
Final Time in the Valley workshop Read More »
CBN is about books, but we also hope that the children we work with are inspired to dream their own dreams and set their sights high. Many of our facilitators are, in their own lives, examples of doing just that. Here is a picture of what it looks like when a dream comes true. The
This is what dreams look like Read More »
Nearly four years ago, Children’s Book Network gave a workshop at Red Hill informal settlement above Simon’s Town. This was at the instigation of a group of Swedish librarians – and a drama teacher – who were interested in projects to do with reading and encouraging children to love books. They not only encouraged what
The project that wanted to fly … Read More »
The story of the book Fly, Eagle, Fly! presented by Jay Heale Fly, Eagle, Fly! has become the most famous picture-book story in South African children’s literature. It has a past, a present, and probably a long future. PASTThe basic story was used as a parable by the Ghanaian preacher James Aggrey, who was born
This is the song of welcome sung by Red Hill children at the triumphant arrival of Johan Wiklund after his epic flight from northern Scandinavia. The words are by Lesley Beake and the song was workshopped by Blaq Pearl, with assistance from Rosemary Bangham. We are the children of Red Hill Children are the future!
Three years ago, in a CBN workshop given at Red Hill informal settlement, Michael Buwa wrote about his dream. His dream was to fly. Yesterday that dream came true. This is what he said: ‘It was wonderful when I was flying, and so beautiful … I was very excited and a little bit afraid, Johan
The boy who wanted to fly Read More »
Delighted doesn’t come near what we felt when Leif Lindquist, on behalf of four Rotary Clubs in Skellefteä, presented CBN with a most beautiful piece of card with the words R220 000 printed on it! This amount of money is the result of very hard work in Skellefteä, where CBN has been the focus of
Wonderful donation to CBN from Sweden Read More »
Several dreams came true yesterday in an emotional day of welcome and much thanksgiving for CBN and our friends from Sweden and Rotary International. If you have been watching this website, you will have noticed the escalating excitement as a small plane (a 1935 De Havilland 60 Moth biplane flown from Stockholm Barkarby Airport to
Dreams do come true … Read More »
Johan Wiklund is on his way on the last short hop to Cape Town. CBN is ready to meet him! This flight from northern Scandinavia to the very tip of Africa is an amazing inspiration to our children here in South Africa. There will be press coverage in many newspapers both here, in Sweden and
One little aeroplane! Read More »
On Saturday 24th October at 3.10 pm, Swedish pilot Johan Wiklund will land his Moth bi-plane in Stellenbosch having completed an epic flight across Europe and Africa from northern Scandinavia. Children’s Book Network will be there to meet him and to sing a special song of welcome after his incredible adventure. We are giving a
Cape To Cape Flight Read More »
