Blog Post – Books for Africa, Books from Africa
For my blog post I decided to focus on a project called Books for Africa, Books from Africa by the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) which is an exhibition of children’s books that are published by African publishers in Africa for Africans. This is a virtual collection of picture books and children’s literature that are available for African children in their languages. The creation of this exhibition is a celebration of African children’s literature published in many different languages spoken in Africa from a variety of publishing houses across the continent. This exhibition is important because it brings more readers and attention to publishing houses that choose to publish children’s books for African children. It is important to publish children’s books in many African languages because this shows respect for the heritage and culture of those who speak this language. Publishing children’s books in many African languages promotes childhood literacy and gives dignity to the local languages and self-pride to those who speak it. Publishing houses should be encouraged to publish and produce multilingual works like this so that the entire population can benefit, rather than only the urban, elites. The books included in this exhibition were reviewed from specialists in African children’s literature to ensure quality and authenticity. Although, the exhibition included many genres and formats of children’s literature, I wanted to highlight some specific works such as picture book The Day Gogo Went to Vote by Elinor Batezat Sisulu and the collection of folk tales Hadithi za Sababu (Stories about Why Things Happen the Way They Do) by Milton Rwacushaija.
The first work I wanted to highlight was the picture book The Day Gogo Went to Vote by Elinor Batezat Sisulu which was published in South Africa and published in English, Afrikaans, isiXhosa, isiZulu, SeSotho, SeTswana, and SePedi. This book tells the story of the first democratic election in 1994 in South Africa, and follows a grandmother, Gogo, as she makes the journey to vote which she had been waiting for her whole life. This book was praised by former South African president Nelson Mandela as “inspiring and moving” in its celebration of South African history. This book has been translated into many languages and is a celebration of freedom in South Africa. The second work that I wanted to highlight was Hadithi za Sababu by Milton Rwabushaija which is a collection of 13 Ugandan folktales published in Kiswahili meant to preserve storytelling and teach important lessons. This folktales explain various animal traits and behaviors while reflecting folk wisdom. There are overarching messages to share traditional culture and teach children to be moral and good human beings. These are just two examples of the works featured in this exhibition which highlight the works from African children’s publisher, authors, and illustrators.
Works Cited:
“Books For Africa, Books From Africa – IBBY’s exhibition of children’s books published in Africa.” International Board on Books for Young People, http://www.ibby.org/awards-activities/activities/books-for-africa-books-from-africa/introduction/?L=0. Accessed 22 Apr. 2019.
Rwabushaija, Milton. Hadithi za Sababu. Kampala, Uganda: Fountain Publishers, 2002.
Sisulu, Elinor Batezat. The Day Gogo Went to Vote. Cape Town, South Africa: Tafelberg, 1997.