The problem – and the opportunity
In South Africa, two-thirds of homes with children do not have a single picture book – and around the world, millions of children are in the same boat. Traditional publishing systems are not designed for affordable, universal book ownership.
Why does this matter? When children own books from a young age, families read together more often, which builds children’s vocabulary, general knowledge, attention span, empathy, creativity and self-esteem. As they grow, these children are happier and healthier; perform better across school subjects; complete more years of schooling; and access better jobs as adults. Books make the biggest difference in the most disadvantaged households – and even a few books can make an outsize impact.
The Book Dash solution
Book Dash is a social impact publisher of open, African picture books for very young children. We work with creative volunteers to create and distribute high-quality books for preschool children to own at a fraction of traditional publishing costs. And we share our content and our model freely under an open licence, so people around the world can (and do!) use it for exponential impact.
Our impact
Since 2014, Book Dash has created 211 open-licensed storybooks and hundreds of translations. Working with 175+ partners, it has distributed more than 4.5 million books across South Africa for children to own. More than 100 organisations in dozens of countries have also adapted, remixed, published and printed our books to reach many more children and families.
Why support Book Dash?
When you partner with Book Dash, you’re supporting a systemic solution designed and run by a high-impact, innovative and cost-effective non-profit organisation. We’ve received more than a dozen awards; achieved unqualified audits since 2017-18; and earned a reputation for strong governance, management, reporting and thought leadership.
Our cross-sector work supports Social Development Goals (SDGs) including:
- 4.2 (Early Childhood Development)
- 3 (Good Health and Well-Being)
- 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth)
- 10 (Reduced Inequality)
- 1 (No Poverty)
In South Africa, contributions are tax-deductible and eligible for B-BBEE points.
From the start, we built Book Dash to enable scale. With more support, we are ready to massively increase distribution, help others replicate our model, and advocate for systemic shifts that will land more books in children’s hands and homes – ultimately fuelling economic growth and breaking cycles of inequality.
