Queen of Soweto – Basetsana Kumalo is a beauty queen, but she’s also so much more. She teaches us that true beauty is about having a heart filled with love and generosity. Her story shows us that if you have courage and determination, you can achieve your dreams – whatever they may be.
This book would make a great biography study for elementary children. Another great creative commons true story from BookDash.
Illustrated by Mia du Plessis
Written by Jessica Taylor
Designed by Marli Fourie
Sample Text and Images From The Queen of Soweto
Basetsana Makgalemele was born in a township called Soweto. She was her parents’ third daughter. They named her Basetsana, which means “girls”. In Tswana culture, calling your daughter that means your next child will be a boy. This actually happened. Her parents’ next child was a boy. Her parents, big sisters and younger brother all called her Bassie for short.
When she was a child, Bassie was very shy. She liked to sing and dance in her room on her own. One day at school netball practice, the coach told two girls to pick teams. Bassie stood on the edge of
the field hoping someone would say, “Come play with us!” But nobody wanted her on their team. Little did they know, Bassie would become one of the most popular girls in the country.
<End of sample>
About Book Dash
Book Dash gathers professional creatives – writers, illustrators, designers, editors – who volunteer to create high-quality children’s books that anyone can freely download, translate, print and distribute. Most of the work is done on a Book Dash day, when small teams work for over twelve straight hours, each producing a new book.
Why Book Dash?
Books purchased from publishers cost too much. In order to distribute more books for South African children, Book Dash participants work as publishers in a single day, having a book with no publishers mean the book will be a lot cheaper the only cost will be printing the books. With these, anyone can run sponsored prints and the finished books can be handed to children.
Every child should have a hundred books when they reach the age of five. that means handing down 600 million free books to South African children who probably could not afford to buy them, More children grow up not learning how to read and write well, and every day we lose more of these children. Let us not neglect these children and help them overcome poverty by first teaching them how to read and to enjoy the worlds that a book can open up.
More Books From Book Dash
Walking Together
Mrs Penguin’s Perfect Palace
Mrs Penguin’s Perfect Palace – The Penguins are trying to build a perfect palace for Mrs Penguin, but something keeps going wrong. Eventually persistence and team work pays off. Another great creative commons book from Book Dash.
Little Ant’s Big Plan
Little Ant loved to read! But ants don’t read, they feed, or do they? Find out what happens to little ant and his love of reading, in this rhyming and wonderfully illustrated creative commons picture book by BookDash.
A Tiny Seed – The Story of Wangari Maathai
SpringLoaded – A Wordless Book
SpringLoaded What would happen if you invented a helicopter hat, or what about some spring loaded boots? This is a picture book WITHOUT WORDS, a great adventure in creativity for children to make up their own story to go with the images, and perfect for reluctant readers, illustrating that books are about telling a story, and passing on a message, there is much more to it than just words.
What’s Happened to Our Water - The animals find their water is becoming dirty and smelly and the fish are dying. What will they do? A cute beautifully illustrated story for young children with lots of fun sound effects. 
The Best Gift - Jibraan discovers his gifts as well as other's - emphasising we can't all be good at everything! But it is important to try and keep trying. Then Jibraan discovers the greatest gift that we can all give and keep giving. 
Alex’s Super Medicine - Alex doesn't want to take his medicine, but it is really good for him. Will he take it in the end? Find out in this cute, beautifully illustrated story for young children. 
How to Tame a Monster - Lwando’s sister Oyiso is sometimes very cute, but sometimes she is a monster! Can Lwando tame the monster? Find out in this beautifully illustrated book from BookDash. Sample Page from How to Tame a Monster <End of Page 2 of 24> Download or read online the full free children’s ebook by selecting one of the ...
Joanna’s Grannies - Joanna has two grannies, each with their own special habits and talents. A cute short story about diversity. Sample Page from Joanna’s Grannies <End of page 2 of 24> Download or read online the full book of Joanna’s Grannies by selecting one of the green buttons below the post. See more books here from BookDash ...
Why Owl Only Comes Out at Night - Why Owl Only Comes Out at Night Fable, Children's Picture Book Free Download and Read Online.
How Do You Sleep? - A beautifully illustrated fun book about animals sleeping. Also suitable as an early reader with repetition and imagery to help children develop their reading and decoding skills. Sample Page from How Do You Sleep? More books are available from BookDash on FKB Or see more at https://www.bookdash.org Spread the love
Lefa’s Bath – Wordless book - Lefa wants to take a bath but someone keeps stealing the water. A cute wordless book fun for toddlers and kindergarteners, older children can also enjoy making up some words. Sample Page Illustrated by Ellen Heydenrych Written by Marion Drew Designed by Tyra Peter Edited by Kelly Norwood-Young With the help of the Book Dash ...
Dance Khuzwayo, Dance! - Khuzwayo is picked to be the village’s next Ingoma dancer, to celebrate the first crops of the year, but will he have the courage to dance? \ Illustrated by Jess Jardim-Wedepohl Written by Fiske Serah Nyirongo Designed by Job Mubinya Another amazing story from www.bookdash.org, aiming ...
A Trip to the Tap – Upcycling - Oluhle is excited to go to the tap and fetch water, she will see her friends there, but what happens when she can’t find her bucket? Illustrated by Phumle April Written by Sindeka Mandoyi Designed by Nadene Kriel Sample Page from A Trip to the Tap Download the full book by selecting one of ...Find more great Creative Commons books from bookdash here: https://freekidsbooks.org/bookdash/
See more Inspirational books below
In His Footsteps – 40-day devotional - Take time to reflect this Lent. In this 40-day devotional, each stage of the Christian Easter journey has a translation in our own life that we can reflect on or put into practice. A perfect call to action for older children and young adults. 
Off Track - At 14, Camille's trajectory moved off track. Through peer pressure, rejection, desperation, mis-understandings, and loneliness she left home for a life on the streets. At that time a police officer told her she would end up a prostitute by the time she was 16. She would prove them VERY wrong. A heart warming story of recovery.
A short story for young adults which gives parents, social workers, teachers a message to never give up hope, and for teens/young adults a message that you can turn your life around, it is never too late.
Based on a True Story
Let Your Light So Shine - “Light up the world—one act of kindness at a time!”
Let Your Light So Shine is an inspiring children’s book filled with heartwarming stories that teach timeless values—love, kindness, sharing, compassion, gratitude, courage, and acceptance. Through relatable characters and beautifully illustrated adventures, children learn how small acts of goodness can make a big difference in the world.
Something is Happening to Our Planet - An inspiring and educational children’s book that helps young readers understand the urgent issues of climate change, conflict, and forced displacement through the eyes of Samuel, a brave 10-year-old boy. As Samuel journeys with his family in search of safety, children learn about the interconnected challenges facing our world—extreme weather, loss of homes, and the importance of empathy and resilience.
New Year’s Resolutions Workbook - What better way to celebrate the new year than making some powerful and fufilling resolutions. This book is aimed at making the process doable for primary and middle-grade children.
The book is provided here in pdf - designed to be printed and filled in in pen, ppt for accessibility/transmissibility or for filling in digitally, and finally a document format which makes a valuable, easy to digitally fill in, goal diary. 
Through My Eyes – A journey through congenital cataracts - A heartfelt and inspiring journey of a young girl born with bilateral congenital cataracts. A poignant account, sharing snippets of the challenges Jillian and her family faced from multiple surgeries when she was just weeks old, to eyepatches, drops, and glasses, and the tremendous emotional rollercoaster for all involved. Sample Pages from Through My Eyes ...
Save the Planet – Be Nice series book 4, revised edition - Save the Planet is a short simple book for young children, and beginner ESL readers, promoting values of conservation and ecologically-friendly behaviour. This book teaches children ten important lessons about conservation and actions that can help preserve and conserve our natural environment and the resources, for those of us, people and animals, who inhabit it. ...
With Love Gaia - A beautiful leaf flutters from the palm of Gaia, Mother Earth, with a message for Kaya and Kabir. What is the message? What does Mother Earth want to say to us? Is she hurting? How can we help? Read on to find out about Kaya and Kabir’s adventure and how the children organise their community ...
Walk with Gandhi - An enlightening text on the life of Gandhi, containing enlightening snapshots of Gandhi’s life, with lots of questions for reflection, making it very suitable for school use – social studies, history, art, or English. The Haiku, images, and text reflect the remarkable life of Mahatma (‘great soul’) who brought freedom to India through non-violent protest. ...
Gracie’s Guide Book to Growing up SUPER - Gracie’s big sister is a F-E-M-I-N-I-S-T. What does that mean? Can boys be feminists too? Find out the answers to these questions and more about being really SUPER in this very sweet guidebook, written by Gracie to her new sibling. Sample Page 1 from Gracie’s Guidebook to Being Super: Download the full book on the ...Sponsored Links:
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I’ve learned something from this
i love this book she is lovely and beautiful
Absolutely loved the book..
The message is beautiful