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Abby's Aquarium Stops by the Book Lounge for Storytime this Saturday

by Nonikiwe - Editor on 09 Nov 2011   |   

Do join us for a reading about fishes and other creatures that live in the ocean. Heidi de Maine is a qualified Marine Biologist and this is the second book in the series Abby’s Aquarium Adventures, a local series of picture books about marine life. Abby works at an aquarium and she loves sharing her love of the sea with children, in this book she takes the kids to find out more about the “big eaters” in the aquarium. Do find out more about Abby’s world (and Heidi’s) at www.abby.co.za

Storytime is every Saturday at 11am.

• Visit The Book Lounge

IEB Exams Get Going Around the Country

by Nonikiwe - Editor on 03 Nov 2011   |   

Today is D-day for thousands of the matrics who write exams set by the Independent Examinations Board.

Nearly 9000 pupils from 176 schools are sitting for the board’s exams. They include 8305 full-time and 523 part-time candidates.

The exams started on October 10 and pupils have already written several subjects, including German, Portuguese, consumer studies and tourism.

Most pupils, however, are writing their first paper today – 7911 pupils write the English home language paper and 453 the English first additional language paper .

The pass rate for the board’s exam last year was 98.4%. The state schools’ rate was 67.8%.

Education expert Graeme Bloch said the standards of the board’s exams and those of the Department of Basic Education were similar.

“The exams are all checked by Umalusi and I have a lot of faith in them,” he said.

Umalusi, which is responsible for quality assurance for all matric exams, said last month that it had moderated and approved 76 Independent Examinations Board question papers.

• Read complete article at Timeslive

IBBY SA Honour List Books 2012

by Nonikiwe - Editor on 03 Nov 2011   |   

The following announcement was made on Wednesday 26 October 2011
at a function held at the Centre for the Book in Cape Town:

These titles were nominated as IBBY SA’s Honour List Books 2011

1 Afrikaans author: Linda Rode for In die Nimmer-Immer-Bos.

2 English author: S.A. Partridge for Fuse.

3 Translator: André P. Brink for the Afrikaans translation of Die avonture van Alice
in Wonderland.

4 Illustrator: Joan Rankin for the illustrations of Just Sisi.

IBBY South Africa is one of 74 international sections of the International Board on Books for Young People.

IBBY SA serves as an umbrella body to bring together everyone involved with books and young people: readers, writers, illustrators, translators, editors, librarians, publishers.

The Honour List books will be presented at the IBBY World Congress in London 23–25 August 2012 as having made a special contribution to the recent literature for children and young people in South Africa.

For more information, contact
IBBY SA Chairperson
Robin Malan
at robinmal@iafrica.com
or on 076 169 2789

In die Nimmer-Immer-Bos
Tafelberg
ISBN:9780624047674

Fuse
Human & Rousseau
ISBN:9780798150873

Die avonture van Alice in Wonderland
Human & Rousseau
ISBN:9780798151511

Just Sisi
Human & Rousseau
ISBN:9780798152204

Book details

• In die Nimmer-Immer Bos by Linda Rode, illustrated by Fiona Moodie
  Book homepage
  EAN: 9780624047674
  Find this book with BOOK Finder!

• Fuse by SA Partridge
  Book homepage
  EAN: 9780798150873
  Find this book with BOOK Finder!

• Just Sisi by Wendy Hartmann, illustrated by Joan Rankin
  EAN: 9780798152204
  Find this book with BOOK Finder!

Winnie the Witch Storytime this Saturday at the Book Lounge

by Nonikiwe - Editor on 03 Nov 2011   |   

This Saturday we are celebrating the greatest most clumsiest witch in story world (I am sure there are others, but we love Winnie best). Come along and listen to some great Winnie stories and help us find Wilbur’s tail… oh dear!

Storytime is every Saturday at 11am.

• Visit The Book Lounge
  

• E-Readers With No Apps Help Spread Literacy

  by Nonikiwe - Editor on 03 Nov 2011   |   

  We often talk about the power of the Internet to spread knowledge and information globally, to make digital content accessible and affordable. But as we’re also often caught up in the “latest and greatest” gadgetry, sometimes we overlook that broad promise of global education and accessibility.

  Such is the case, one might argue, with the news last week from Common Sense Media about the so-called “app gap” — the disparity between children in low-income and higher income families and their access to mobile applications.

  There’s little denying that the popularity of mobile devices — Androids and iPhones and tablets — has afforded a concurrent explosion in exciting new educational apps. The touchscreen screens, the accelerometers, the size, and the portability of these devices has enabled whole new genres of software and of imaginative and educational gameplay.

  But if we focus on the “app gap” — those who have iPads and those who do not — are we ignoring or obscuring other aspects of the digital divide? Are we overlooking the potential for widespread dissemination of and access to information by rushing to prioritize that information bundled in the shiniest new package?

  • Read complete article

• New Afrikaans Book Tackles Werewolf Problems

  by Nonikiwe - Editor on 24 Oct 2011   |   

  

  Is jy dapper genoeg om in die kas te loer? Die kas in Denver se kamer is die geheime ingang na ’n kasteel vol monsters. Denver en Meyer het al hope pret saam met die monsters gehad. Maar daar is iets fout in die monsterkasteel. Flaffie die weerwolf is in ’n BAIE slegte bui. En as ’n weerwolf vies is, moet jy liewer nie met hom sukkel nie …

  • Visit Lapa

  Book details

  • Weerwolfprobleme by Jaco Jacobs
    EAN: 978 0 7993 4960 3
    Find this book with BOOK Finder!

• Catch Some Waves with Surfing Sally this Saturday at the Book Lounge

  by Nonikiwe - Editor on 24 Oct 2011   |   

  Surfing Sally is a story inspired by life at the south-western tip of Africa. It is a magical tale about the excitement of surfing.

  The author Mary Duncan and illustrator Wendy McKeag both live there, sandwiched between mountain and sea on the Cape Peninsula.

  On the surface, Surfing Sally is a story for 2- to 10-year-olds, about a salty-haired girl, two lively dogs, and a whizz of a time at the beach.
  She senses a whole life in the ocean, air and sky just as vital as each wave she thrills to catch and ride along.

  For Sally, surfing seems the ultimate way – dunked in sea, bathed in light, immersed in nature. Of course there are many other ways, wherever you are.

  So, actually, Surfing Sally isn’t just for 2- to 10-year-olds, but for everyone who appreciates the delights of our natural world.

  Come along and meet Mary Duncan and get some first hand surfing tips from her.

  Storytime is every Saturday at 11am.

  • Visit The Book Lounge

• South African Author Talks to Mothers About Postnatal Distress

  by Nonikiwe - Editor on 24 Oct 2011   |   

  

  Written with profound empathy by a psychologist who not only specialises in PND but has herself suffered from it, this book tells it like it is. Postnatal distress is becoming more prevalent and it is estimated that one in three women may suffer from it. It knows no boundaries and affects women of all ages, religions, ethnic, social and economic backgrounds.

  But although devastating and debilitating, PND can be overcome. Empowering her readers with pertinent information and wise counsel drawn from her own extensive research as well as the case files of the many women she has counselled, Linda Lewis takes them through the terrifying journey that was hers, and leaves them with a powerful message: you will recover. Learn how to

  – Bring back the joy and happiness you thought you have lost forever
  – Recognise symptoms and gain an understanding of what is happening to you
  – Beat the shame and misunderstanding
  – Avoid long-term difficulties
  – Explain your feelings to your loved ones so that they can give you the support you need to overcome this devastating condition.

  Filled with positive suggestions based on personal experience, this book is an indispensable tool for recovery.

  • Read complete article at Kidzworld

  Book details

  • When Your Blessings Don\’t Count: A guide to recognising and overcoming postnatal distress by Linda Lewis
    EAN: 9781920479046
    Find this book with BOOK Finder!

• Journalism Students Co-Author Crime Book Project

  by Nonikiwe - Editor on 24 Oct 2011   |   

  When a class of final year journalism students at the Durban University of Technology discussed a Daily News front page story about two serial hijackers earlier this year, little did they know that three of them would later be liaising with leading authors, including top South African crime writer, Mike Nicol, and journalism guru, Denis Beckett, about writing a book about the two dead men.

  The students, Joel Burton, Sandile Gumede and Sabelo Nsele, are currently undergoing training with the Durban-based investigative journalism agency, Roving Reporters. The young writers’ opening package of stories, Tale of Two Hijackers, was recently published in two parts by the Daily News.

  But this is just the start, compliments of a writing workshop with Beckett, and now the GetSmarter Write a Non-Fiction Story course run by Nicol in association with Random House Struik publishers.

  Beckett reckons the students’ work on the story of two juvenile-offenders-turned-serial hijackers, Vivi Mthembu and Siphelele Shezi, has potential to be a kind of South African version of Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood – a non-fiction novel detailing the gruesome murder in 1959 of Herbert Clutter, a wealthy Kansas, US farmer, his wife and two of their children.

  “You’re cadet journalists, barely a published word to your names, jointly or individually, and what you’re working on has potential to be a global hit,” Beckett recently wrote to the students.

  “The story hooks you from the word go,” says Nicol.

  • Read complete article at iOL

• UK Authors Have Strong Presence on Astrid Lindgren Award Shortlist

  by Nonikiwe - Editor on 24 Oct 2011   |   

  Quentin Blake, Neil Gaiman, Meg Rosoff and Michael Rosen are competing for the world’s richest children’s prize, the Astrid Lindgren Memorial award.

  The UK has mustered one of its strongest-ever showings for the SEK5m prize, with 17 candidates nominated for bodies of work “in the spirit of Astrid Lindgren”. In total 184 candidates from around the world are in the running for the award, a mix of authors, illustrators, promoters of reading and oral storytellers.

  “184 candidates or not, it feels very good to be nominated,” said the former children’s laureate Rosen. “It means that there are some people who think that what I’m doing is worthwhile. Producing children’s books is full of complicated emotions about worth and being nominated for the Astrid Lindgren is a very clear way to feel a bit less complicated about it.”

  Rosoff, whose novels have won the Guardian children’s fiction prize and the Carnegie medal, agreed. “There aren’t many awards where I’d be excited about being on a 184-member longlist, but the Astrid Lindgren prize is more like being invited to join an exclusive worldwide club. Some of the people I most admire in the world are on the list – Wolf Ehrlbruch, Jutta Bauer, Maira Kalman, Peter Sís, Ulf Stark, Morris Gleitzman, not to mention David Almond and Michael Rosen from the UK. And of course Shaun Tan holds the current title – a thrilling and brilliant choice.”

  Sitting alongside fellow British nominees including Allan Ahlberg, Michael Foreman, David Almond, Michael Morpurgo and Shirley Hughes, “it’s a great feeling to be a contender,” said Rosoff. “I was so pleased to be longlisted – though I wouldn’t say I’m exactly worrying about spending the money.”

  • Read complete article at Guardian