Book Dash Books
About

What we do

  • Vision and mission
  • How we do it
  • Our history and recognition
  • Info for community-based organisations
  • How we use our funds
  • Registration, reports & financials
  • Get involved
  • Donate to Book Dash

Who we are

  • Book Dash team
  • Creative volunteers
  • Distribution partners
  • Funding partners
What we do
  • Vision and mission
  • How we do it
  • Our history and recognition
  • Info for community-based organisations
  • How we use our funds
  • Registration, reports & financials
  • Get involved
  • Donate to Book Dash
Who we are
  • Book Dash team
  • Creative volunteers
  • Distribution partners
  • Funding partners
Events Contact

Our history and recognition

Book Dash began in 2014 as a vision project among friends who wished to pool their collective skills in the publishing industry to flood the country with new, high-quality, affordable African storybooks. The first Book Dash events were held in May and June in Cape Town. Heartened by the quality of the books and the enthusiasm of the creative volunteers, co-founders Arthur Attwell, Michelle Matthews and Tarryn-Anne Anderson established Book Dash as a registered not-for-profit, voluntary association with the aim of continuing to create, print and distribute more books to children – and to prove that high-quality books in many languages can be affordably produced and distributed.

The finely-tuned and continually-perfected Book Dash model has the potential to revolutionise local content-creation and access to books in South Africa and in under-resourced communities worldwide. 

Today, the three co-founders sit on the Board of Directors, with the day-to-day running of the organisation fulfilled by the Management Team.

Recognition for Book Dash

Since its inception, Book Dash has received recognition for both our innovative book creation model, and the social impact of the work we do.

Digital Public Goods

Book Dash is honoured to announce that our collection of books has been vetted as one of the inaugural Digital Public Goods in the Foundational Literacy and Early Grade Reading category.

Find out more 

ALMA Award Nomination

In September Book Dash 2020 was recognised as one of the Library of Congress Literacy Awards Best Practice Honorees for 2020. The Literacy Awards honour organisations doing exemplary, innovative and replicable work. Book Dash was one of 15 organisations honoured for its implementation of best practices in literacy promotion. It was the only African organisation to receive this recognition this year.   

Find out more 

Library of Congress Best Practice Honoree

In September Book Dash 2020 was recognised as one of the Library of Congress Literacy Awards Best Practice Honorees for 2020. The Literacy Awards honour organisations doing exemplary, innovative and replicable work. Book Dash was one of 15 organisations honoured for its implementation of best practices in literacy promotion. It was the only African organisation to receive this recognition this year.   

Find out more 

Global Network for Early Years Bookgifting

In 2019, Book Dash was welcomed as a member of the EU Read Global Network for Early Years Bookgifting. This is a network of organisations around the world that promote the best practise of bookgifting to young children. The network was established to foster  shared learning, inspiration and innovation among the members. Currently, Book Dash is the only member from the African continent.

Find out more about the network 

Community Chest Impumelelo Social Innovation Awards

Book Dash was honoured to be selected as the “Disruptor of the Year” at the 2019 Community Chest Impumelelo Social Innovations Awards. This award recognises the innovation of our game-changing publishing process and distribution methods, to vastly reduce costs involved in creating and getting high-quality, local books to all children. We’re motivated by this recognition as we move towards our next goal of a million books by the end of 2020, and closer to a world where every child owns one hundred books by the age of five.

Open Publishing Awards

“The judges were simply blown away with the publishing model and how this project leverages open to achieve such an enormous impact with very few resources.”

Find out more 

South African Early Childhood Development Awards

The National Development Agency awarded Book Dash the “Best ECD Publication of the year” in 2015 for Tortoise finds his home.

Read the book here 

MTN App of the Year Awards

In 2019, the Book Dash App was a Top 3 finalist in the Education category of the MTN App of the Year Awards. Our app has more than 100,000 downloads, and people around the world love reading our books there. 

Download the Book Dash app 

17 Shelley Rd, Salt River, Cape Town

team@bookdash.org

021 206 7868

Google Play Store Badge
Download the Book Dash app
Home Books Events Contact us

What we do

  • Vision and mission
  • How we do it
  • Our history and recognition
  • Info for community-based organisations
  • How we use our funds
  • Registration, reports & financials
  • Get involved
  • Donate to Book Dash

Who we are

  • Book Dash team
  • Creative volunteers
  • Distribution partners
  • Funding partners
Connect with us
Donate
Book Dash is a registered voluntary association Non-profit-organisation registration: 145-694 NPO
Public-benefit-organisation registration (Section 18A): 930047958