FROM politician to author, former MPL Loretta Rajkumar of uMhlanga recently wrote two children’s books.

Both books – titled Corona, Bonga and the Lion and The Three Little Pigs and the Dolphins – were launched at The Book Fair in Mitchell Park recently. 

Inspired by the Covid-19 pandemic, Rajkumar told Northglen News that Corona, Bonga and the Lion teaches children, parents and others in the family unit how to cope with the virus.

Bonga’s parents one day tell him about the Coronavirus and the severity of it, and he immediately asks if he should notify his grandmother about it.

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“Bonga’s parents tell him that travelling is not permitted during the pandemic, so he packs a sanitiser and mask and leaves for his grandmother’s village the next day. He encounters a lion and makes up  various stories to survive. And so the story continues,” she added.

“It makes for great family reading. Parents can read it to their children, children can read to grandparents and the like,” said Rajkumar. The Three Little Pigs and the Dolphins teaches children to celebrate each other’s diversity and embrace each other no matter how different we all are.

“The Covid-19 pandemic had me confined to my flat and in that time I did a lot of thinking. I thought about all those who didn’t have the means to fight this virus, especially children, so I penned my thoughts and created my book,” she said.

For Rajkumar’s second book, she drew inspiration from her work as an MPL and her numerous visits to different schools.

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“I always saw children sitting in their own race groups because they probably were not taught to mingle. That’s how the idea of The Three  Little Pigs and the Dolphins came about,” she said.

Both books have been published by a Johannesburg publisher and are available directly from Loretta. Contact her on 084 500 9161.  

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