Vision and Mission
Having books in the home maximises children’s early learning opportunities. Owning books is linked to more frequent and engaged caregiver interaction, which supports emergent literacy skills. The earlier we get books to children to own, the greater the benefits – because the impact compounds year-on-year. Research shows that children who own books before school go on to perform better across subjects, are happier and healthier, complete more years of education, and access better jobs in adulthood.
Despite the potential, there’s a huge gap! UNICEF indicates that 97% of households in Sub-Saharan Africa have two or fewer children’s books and around the world, millions of children are in the same boat. In South Africa, two thirds of homes with young children don’t have a single picturebook.
Traditional commercial publishing and distribution systems weren’t designed to make books accessible, appropriate and affordable for all. If we want to change the trajectory for children’s development, our systems needed a re-think: That’s why Book Dash developed a unique model to get more books to children.
Theory of Change
Books catalyse and build the responsive, playful relationships that are essential for a child’s optimal development. Caregiver-child interaction boosts the emergent socio-emotional and oral language skills that form the foundation for learning to read in later years. And yet, most children grow up without books at home.
At Book Dash, we understand that:
- If we create, translate and print new, high-quality, open-licensed African children’s books, using an innovative publishing model that hugely reduces the time and cost of doing so
- And we share books online under a CC-BY open license, so anyone can use, share and re-mix them
- And we partner with literacy, early learning and health care organisations and funders to print and distribute large volumes of affordable local language books to young children and families across South Africa
- Then preschool children will own more engaging, open-licensed African storybooks
- Which supports family literacy practices and responsive, playful relationships by enabling more reading and book sharing in the home
- Which strengthens early language development and responsive caregiving
- In the long term, this can lead to better school performance, more years of schooling completed, and better jobs in adulthood
- Ultimately, better ways to get more books into children’s hands and homes can reduce inequality and increase economic growth.
How we use our funds
Our funding partners, whether their funding is destined for operational expenses or for book-printing, comment with delight that they get more bang (or books) for their bucks because of our economical approach to the management of creating new books and printing at scale to reduce unit costs.
“Chosi-Chosi Book Club is for grades 2 to 7, but children as young as ages 0 to 5 received the books, and this made them believe now they are eligible to attend the book club. A week later, I arrived to a full class of toddlers with their books in hand. It was such a beautiful and funny sight to see because they looked so determined to be part of the book club, ready to read and learn.
When you’re handing out the books you pray that they reach one or two kids and change their lives. But when it transforms the whole neighbourhood then your efforts are rewarded with children who stop you at every corner, asking for more books to share with their friends at school and the whole of Philippi.”
Sindeka Mandoyi,
Chosi-Chosi Book Club
“We’ve seen how families creatively integrate reading into their routines. In some homes, siblings take turns reading aloud to each other, while in others, children are excited to retell the stories they’ve read in playgroups or schools to their families, reinforcing their comprehension and storytelling skills. [Parents commonly report that] these books have made reading a more accessible and enjoyable activity at home.”
Astrid Gifford,
LETCEE (Little Elephant Training Centre for Early Education)
“Book Dash’s accomplishments in a mere 10 years are astounding. It seems impossible that such work has been executed by only five full-time people, the last person just recently added. When you consider their value-add to children across the world versus the overhead and staff, the ratio of benefit to donor dollar is unparalleled.”
Alisha Berger,
children’s book expert and publishing consultant for the World Bank Read@Home program
“Visits to partners who received the Book Dash books last year are showing real evidence of progress as they deepen their literacy work and, of course, youngsters’ ownership of books. In fact it’s the latter aspect which the partners express greatest delight about and they believe – as do we all – that this may be the real clincher in getting kids hooked on books early on… parents also report excitement at having books at home to read with their children.
“We had no idea of the impact this work would have when we started working together in 2015. I think it is some of the best work we have supported and we both feel hugely gratified and humbled at the way partners have taken this work into so many new educational channels and into so many young hearts.”
The Solon Foundation
“Partnership with Book Dash in bringing quality education to our local community. Our support of the eighteen creches is strengthened by this collaboration aimed at bringing books into children’s homes to cultivate a culture of reading.”
Thobani Ndlovu,
Khanyisela Projects
