South African families will now get the chance to read six new children’s stories in various African languages to celebrate and understand some of the unique customs practised by different cultures – all in celebration of Heritage Month.

To commemorate Literacy and Heritage Month, Nal’ibali – the national reading-for-enjoyment campaign – in collaboration with Standard Bank have partnered to released six free stories in some of our 11 official languages.

The latest series of stories is titled ‘Celebrating Mzansi’. Thembinkosi Mabaso’s isiZulu book (Inzinyo likaNozi) shares the story of a bird that collects milk teeth, while the Sepedi book Lerato sekgwari sa go bina, written by Thembinkosi Mabaso, tells the story of a girl with great dance skills. If these don’t tickle your fancy, you can read the Sesotho story of a few naughty goats and two herd boys in Nthuseng Tsoeu’s Badisana ba dipodi.

There are also stories in isiXhosa (Wenze Ntoni Bruno? by Notozi Mgobozi), Setswana (Lesea le lešwa le tla gae by Lorato Trok) and Afrikaans (Ouma kyk rugby by Jaco Jacobs). If you’re not quite clued up in a variety of languages, there’s no need to fret as all Nal’ibali books are translated to English.

Why Nal’ibali stories?

Stories are easy to read for children between the ages of five and seven years. The stories are also designed on colourful bilingual story cards.

“We are diverse and have much to learn and love about each other. However, in order to grow an appreciation for all our people, we need to encourage our children to be open-minded, curious and sensitive to the world and people around them,” explains Nal’ibali director Nqabakazi Mathe-Gina.

Where to read the stories?

There are a variety of options available to access these free Nal’ibali stories. You can access them on www.nalibali.org, YouTube, Facebook or on WhatsApp.

Live reads are held every Wednesday at 15:30 on Nal’ibali’s Facebook page during September.

Read the story "What does an angel look like?", and do the fun story activities at the end https://t.co/f9DX294gI4 #NalibaliTurns10 pic.twitter.com/GgTXGeqA8Q

— Nal'ibali (@nalibaliSA) September 5, 2022

Make them fall in love with reading

The stories are short reads at fewer than 500 words to encourage men and women with little free time, to read them for their children. Nal’ibali encourages parents, guardians or older siblings to first read the stories to the children. Thereafter, they urge a discussion through the ask of simple questions such as what everyone enjoyed about the story.

These discussions can happen around the dinner table, on the way to school or at bath time, and are a good way to grow family bonds.

Why are stories important? 

Stories are a perfect platform to spark children’s interests and to begin a conversation on any topic, as they are a safe way to explore the new and unknown, as well as the familiar.

“Stories have been used throughout history to help people make sense of their lives and the world around them, but what’s more, they are also the essential building block of literacy. When children are excited by stories, they are motivated to learn to read themselves,” adds Kirston Greenop, Head of Regulatory Advocacy, Stakeholder Engagement and CSI at Standard Bank.

Win prizes with Nal’ibali

Five children can each win a R1 000 Takealot.com voucher by submitting their stories, videos or audio clips of stories at www.nalibali.org, a direct message on Facebook, via email at info@nalibali.org or on WhatsApp on 0600 44 22 54. Closing date is October 8.

“When children are excited by stories, they are motivated to learn to read themselves,” adds head of regulatory advocacy, stakeholder engagement and CSI at Standard Bank Kirston Greenop.

WATCH our Young Nal'ibali Storytellers tell the story "The Old Woman's Soup" in isiXhosa with your family and do the fun story activities afterwards. #NalibaliTurns10https://t.co/olsDlHdJZY

— Nal'ibali (@nalibaliSA) August 31, 2022