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The literacy organisation known as the Otto Foundation celebrated South African Library week with the launch of their reading journal titled 'The reading Journey: A Journal for Your Literary Adventures'.
This journal is available from Imaginary House and is designed to spark a love of reading in children. The book was written by the Otto Foundation team and illustrated by Xanelé Puren - a child-centred creative designer.
It features poems from renowned South African wordsmith Philip de Vos and is also available in Afrikaans.
Read: Browse local children's stories in all official languages
'Reading for enjoyment'
Co-founder of the Otto Foundation, Zephne Ladbrook, explained that when children read for enjoyment, it can be a significant predictor of their success in education, over the socio-economic circumstances that they grow up in.
She supports the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education, which encourages reading for pleasure as a social justice issue. Launching this journal for the foundation, she seeks to spotlight the importance of reading for pleasure.
Ladbrook believes that if we want more children to enjoy reading, we need to ensure more children have access to books, as access to beautiful, well-equipped school libraries is critical in the South African context where income inequality is high, and education outcomes are often correlated with household incomes, says Ladbrook.
'Creating safe reading spaces'
Because they believe that reading for enjoyment can be an equaliser in education, the Otto Foundation invests in creating safe, enjoyable reading spaces and making books available to children who may not have access to engaging reading materials at home.
Creating this journal was also to encourage children to be self-motivated, conscious, and curious explorers of the world of words and books, according to Ladbrook.
Proceeds from sales of the reading journal will fund the Otto Foundation's library programs and enable the organisation to provide free copies of the journal to learners in under-resourced schools, thus investing in deepening the reading culture in South Africa's school communities.
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