Bedtime stories | Network News
What a busy, beautiful day in this beautiful, beautiful land! How lucky you are, little one, to be a child under the African sun! Sweet dreams, sweet dreams. I love you. Good night. So ends Jennifer Lindridge’s Goodnight, South Africa, after learning about the elephants in Kruger and Table Mountain sleeping, about Joburg pausing the daily hubbub and the surfers going home in Durban. About Pretoria’s Jacarandas, and the dolphins dozing in the sea off Port Elizabeth. This is a lyrical bedtime love letter to South African children, with enchanting imagery and interesting facts children will love. Penguin
Ben wants to join the local kayaking club, but he has psoriasis and he’s scared and embarrassed to wear the short-sleeved kayaking uniform. Until he meets a whale shark with a striking, spotted skin. A shark that may give him the courage to be himself and go for his kayaking dream. Cayla Lewis, South African author of The Boy And The Whale Shark, was diagnosed with psoriasis at the age of five, so understands what it feels like to have something you wish you could change about yourself and knows that these things do not need to hold us back. She believes that every child deserves to find themselves in the pages of a book. Being different. Facing up to bullies. Friendships. It’s all in this really wonderful book. Lapa Publishers
Brandon hates Tuesdays. Nothing exciting ever happens. Every Tuesday Grandma Ella picks him up after school. Then they go to the library, where Grandma and her friends meet in the garden behind the library, drinking tea and talking about books. The only other kid who spends every Tuesday afternoon there is the mysterious Book Girl, who never speaks to anyone, just sits with her nose in a book. But one afternoon, Brandon kicks a ball … and also kicks off a wild adventure, filled with magical creatures, riddles and breathtaking action. Strange Things Happen On A Tuesday by Jaco Jacobs is a wonderfully weird, funny story filled with trolls, dragons, gnomes and other magical creatures. Pan Macmillan
Don’t let the cats swim for fun … they have a dry sense of humour
It’s meow-ssion impossible for the misfit gang of feral cats living in Clunky Bottom Camp, when Radomir Rat, an old enemy, arrives, determined to settle old scores. Plus, they’re being evicted from their camp. It’s up to reluctant leader Champ to save the day. Clunky Bottom Cats … a fabulously funny tale by Fanie Viljoen, with illustrations by Nike Bekker. Lapa Publishers