The great William Shakespeare once said, “It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves.” For many, that glimmer of destiny and the power of human potential begins with the opening of their first book.
The great William Shakespeare once said, “It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves.” For many, that glimmer of destiny and the power of human potential begins with the opening of their first book.
It is this spirit that was celebrated last Tuesday – World Book Day – a promotion of reading, publishing and copyright.
Held for the first time in 1995 in honour of Don Quixote author Miguel De Cervantes’ death, 23 April was a day for book lovers to celebrate their favourite pastime.
Local book store Van Schaik joined in the international celebrations by inviting Grade 3 pupils from Grahamstown Primary to a morning that started off with a reading by local author Harry Owen.
Owen captivated the children with The Mystery of the Midnight Ghost, a ghost story by Helen Moss. “This book is not set in Africa, so my hope is that it gets them thinking, and takes them out of their own world to something exciting,” said Owen.
“Language is special and it is a privilege for young children to be introduced to something so special.”
Grahamstown Primary Principal Leon Coetzee agreed with Owen and said the event was a great opportunity for the kids, especially seeing as some of them had never seen a book shop before.
“[They] sometimes need something new to experience… every day should be World Book Day,” Coetzee said.
Other locals celebrating last Tuesday were CM Vellem Higher Primary School pupils who entered a Spelling Bee competition organised by the Upstart youth development programme in collaboration with the Nal’ibali literacy programme.
“Children can read and write but spelling is quite a challenge so we want to see where they are and where we can help,” said Tsepiso Nzayo, cluster mentor for Nali’bali.
