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.
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 ...
Unathi and the Dirty, Smelly Beast – fun early reader - Unathi and the Dirty, Smelly Beast – A mysterious dirty smelly beast is following Unathi home, or is it really a dirty smelly beast? Find out in this fun creative commons picture book from BookDash. This picture book is perfect for young children who want to start reading and understand common words with help. The ...
The Memory Tree – Dealing with a Death in the Family - Thembi and Thulani’s Grandpa is very sick. They are sad. Then Mommy and Daddy tell them Grandpa won’t be coming home anymore. They miss Grandpa Nathi. Daddy and Mommy find a special way to remember Grandpa Nathi. Illustrated by Agrippa Mncedisi Hlophe Written by Savnola Goldridge Designed by Jason Gien Edited by Mariam Mahomed Brought ...
Catch that Cat! - The Cat has stolen a sock and then ran off, but is there a reason why she stole the sock? Find out more in Catch that Cat from BookDash. Sample Text from Catch that Cat! Hurry. Hurry! Help me, catch that cat! She stole my sock and ran off … snatch her. Grab her. Catch ...
Brave Bora – A trip to the Doctor - Follow Bora with her toy Monkey Jojo and her Baba on a trip to the Doctor to get a scary injection. Find out if she can overcome her fears and how. This book was brought to us by BookDash, see more from BookDash here on FKB below: Spread the love
An Unexpected Adventure – Wordless Fun - In An Unexpected Adventure, a boy finds some exciting scenarios on a trip to the Library. In this book you can make your own words, teachers can use it as a word prompt for students, or it can be a fun exercise for parents and children to make their own words, it’s also very suitable ...
I Can Dress Myself – Wordless Book - I Can Dress Myself is an amusing short wordless book about a child getting herself dressed while Mum is sleeping. Have fun making up some words or have your child guess what is going on in each picture. This story was brought to us by BookDash. Listen to a narration created by Kiwi Opa: If ...
Egg – A simple mystery - In Egg Crocodile, tortoise, penguin, and chicken find an egg, is it theirs? If not whose is it? Find out in this simple book for very young children. Text from Egg Egg My Egg? Not My Egg. My Egg? Not My Egg. My Egg? Not My Egg. My Egg? Not My Egg. My egg. Our ...Find more great Creative Commons books from bookdash here: https://freekidsbooks.org/bookdash/
See more Inspirational books below
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 ...
How to Be Happy – Be Nice Book 2 – Revised Edition - 10 life lessons on how to be happy by 10 friendly animal characters, including sight words and activities, perfect for school use, in a pdf and editable children's book released under CC-BY-NC.
Max and Keira Make a Change - An inspiring story detailing a connection between a heart transplant and his donor, and how you can make a change if you try and keep trying. Max and Keira achieve an important change in organ donor laws in the UK – saving hundreds of lives each year since the change was effected. This book is ...
Always Be Nice – 10 lessons in kindness, revised edition - Always be Nice is a short book for young children promoting kindness and manners and can be used as an early reader. The book is perfect for building confidence in reading with only 28 words most of which are simple words. This book also teaches kids ten important lessons about being kind to others. Each ...
My Wildest Imagination Journal - Every child deserves to feel good about who they are, who they want to be, and know they deserve to achieve even their wildest dreams. These free writing prompts pages are designed to help your child get started writing their own journal. They will help them use their imagination to make all their dreams come ...
I Am Grateful – I choose to look for the best in everything! - I Believe Gratitude Creates Joy! If you are not feeling good and want to stay in bed, because of bad thoughts roaming around in your head. Read this book before you get up, to improve your attitude and always stay focused on gratitude. There are so many things in this world to be grateful for, ...
I Am Strong, I Am Courageous, I Am Girl – Self help book for growing your confidence - As Long As I Stay Positive I Can Achieve Great Things! This little eBook features the character Abazora of the Azpazaz Bunch. This is a story with positive affirmations to remind you to be strong and courageous. Never let anyone tell you anything you want is impossible. Read this little book out loud to yourself ...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