Book Sprint Namibia launches four new children’s books
Four new children’s books were recently launched by the German Embassy and Goethe-Institut Namibia, as part of the, ‘Book Sprint Namibia’, an initiative aimed at having children read books by the age of five.
The Embassy said the four books ‘Open Your Eyes, Minda!’ by Nicole Abdinghoff, Romeo Sinkala, and Silas Shiimbi, ‘Myra’s Friends by Charmaine //Gamxamus, Belia Liebenberg, and Benisa Nghiivali, ‘I Want to be’ by Lucia Shali-Paulus, Mitchell Gatsi, and Rauha Shagandjua and ‘Who tickles Tula?’ by Laura-Jo Scriba, Silke van der Merve, and Tutaleni Ilonga, are about children and animals experiencing little adventures.
“The stories convey messages about the importance of friendship and family, that it is okay to wear glasses, or that boys and girls are free to decide who they want to be when they grow up,” they added.
They further explained that the children who were in the audience eagerly followed the storytelling and were happy to have four exciting new storybooks for their bookcases.
Cultural Officer at the Embassy, Clarissa Judmann said the books are there to encourage children to read more.
“I hope that the books will teach them that reading is not just for school, but can be fun and take them to a fantastic world. The idea to produce children’s books came up last year when Nicole Abdinghoff, one of the authors and project leaders of the initiative, heard about the South African organisation, Book Dash. Book Dash holds one-day workshops with creative volunteers who then develop their own children’s stories to significantly reduce the time and cost of reading such books,” she explained.
The authors, illustrators, and designers of the four books presented their works and read them together with an eager audience of children, friends, and relatives of the creators and interested guests the books are available for download and reproduction at https://www.goethe.de/ins/na/en/kul/bib/booksprint-namibia.html
