Aunt and nephew share novel idea with children’s books

IT was a labour of love for deputy principal of Northlands Girls’ High School, Vani Rangasamy, as she recently wrote and published her second children’s book.

The children’s books, under the banner ‘Preparing for Greatness’ are Bible stories told in rhyme.

As part of a youth initiative at her church, Rangasamy began the series in the hope of inspiring youngsters out there with Biblical figures to look up to.

Her first book, in what she hopes will be a five-book series, focused on David and Goliath, while the second book, Preparing for Greatness: The Story of Deborah, centred around the Biblical figure of Deborah and how her great strength helps her overcome challenges.

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What is more, Rangasamy also had her nephew, Liam Govender, a Northlands Primary School learner, help with the project by illustrating the second book.

“It started off as a youth initiative in our church. Our youth leader at the time asked if anybody would be interested in writing a book. I decided to give it a try, and the first book we did was an outreach which we handed out to orphanages, and it was quite successful. When I began the project for the second book, I wanted to do something that little girls could relate to and to showcase a woman in the Bible whom not many people knew about.

“In both books, the theme was Preparing for Greatness. We saw it as a way to empower young people and show them that irrespective of your background, there’s so much talent inside of you – you just have to be brave enough to develop it, and you can change the world. That’s the bigger picture in trying to get the youth to prepare themselves for greatness. It has also been a fun way to encourage reading. I’ve handed out some copies at school for the staff to read to the children. The challenge for the writing process is breaking down a complex story in the Bible, simplifying it and putting it into rhyme,” she said.

Rangasamy also touched on how Liam became the illustrator of the second book.

“We were looking for an illustrator, and it was at that time that Liam did a drawing for my birthday. The thought occurred to me, and I asked him if he would be interested. I gave him a background of the story, and he took it from there. It was just incredibly special working with him, and we are both proud of the final product,” she said.

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Liam gave some insight into his involvement in the project.

“My aunt knew how much I loved drawing, and when she asked if I’d like to be a part of the project. I was only too happy to. The book is 14 pages long, and each page has an illustration. My aim was to get as close to the first book using my own artistic skills. The feedback from people has been so positive, and that has helped boost my confidence,” he said.

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