Catalogues by Language

Since 2019, Puku has led a collaborative project with the University of South Africa (UNISA), the National Library of South Africa (NLSA), Biblionef South Africa, and IBBY SA to produce catalogues of recommended children’s books for early childhood and foundation phase readers in each of South Africa’s official languages.

Each catalogue is produced through a rigorous editorial process. An independent committee of reviewers, including academics, teachers, librarians, and language specialists, selects the best available titles in each language. The catalogues serve as authoritative reference tools for teachers, librarians, parents, and book buyers.

Catalogues are complete in isiXhosa, Setswana, Sesotho and isiZulu. Puku is raising funds for catalogues in Sepedi, Xitsonga, Tshivenda, Siswati and isiNdebele.

Lookout for the Puku ‘Ellie’ icon, indicating books selected for our Recommended Books catalogues.

“You can’t build a reading culture if you don’t know what you have. At Puku, we want to aggregate information and market books on the aesthetic, educational, linguistic, and literary value.” – Elinor Sisulu

Recommended Book Catalogues
for Early Childhood & Foundation Phase

Download Recommended Book catalogues for offline reference.

Language
Book Languages