Community Engagement and Outreach Focus Group reach out for World Book Day

This year on April 23, people across the world celebrated World Book Day. The day is organized by UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) to encourage reading, publishing, and copyright. The main objective of World Book Day is to inspire everyone, especially young children, to discover the joy of reading and develop a love for books.  

One of the goals of the Community engagement and outreach focus group is to foster a love of reading, which can benefit kids, their neighborhood, and society at large. To recognize World Book Day this year, the focus group got in touch with Carousel Kids Day Care in Hammanskraal on 24 April 2023.

The outreach activities were conducted by the following team members: Tebogo Sithole, Christine Nel, Linky Mokgohlwa, Busi Malefahlo, Sophie Mohale, and our driver, Timothy Matheba.  We chose various stories about animals and insects to read to the kids and promote the joy of reading, and donated the books to the school on behalf of the Department of Library Services (DLS).

The focus group members concentrated on reading aloud stories that were suitable for the various age groups, blending the reading with role-playing, and highlighting the various character’s voices and facial expressions. We let the children touch the books and feel the different textures of the animals in the pictures. During the 45 minutes spent in each class, the social interaction and listening comprehension skills of the children were activated. 

The children were invited to participate in role-playing after reading each story. Tebogo Sithole showed the kids, teachers, and the rest of the group how to imitate some of the book characters by visualizing themselves as lizards in the desert, walking on their hands and knees. “Keep in mind the hot sand!”, he said. He also performed a dance - mostly a bottom wiggle - and pointed to a flower to demonstrate how bees pollinate. Busi and Sophie then joined in the dance moves, while the other group members, teachers, and children roared with laughter.

During the visit, each child was given an animal toy and they were allowed to ask many questions. After donating to each child a packet of chips and a cold drink, the successful visit came to an end.

It was fun to read stories to the group of children, and we hope to have helped them acquire some new vocabulary while also playing a little part in boosting their imagination and creativity. The value of consistent reading, seeing as it enhances language skills and activates the understanding portion of the brain, cannot be overestimated.