What is it? Is a short and very sweet story of discovery. The animals discover a new creature, but it’s not like them, what can it be? Perfect for reading to very young children, and with simple words, recognition, and lots of repetition it also makes a perfect early reader.
This is another amazing book from Bookdash, available in Creative Commons.
Illustrated by Robyn Penn, Written by Kate Sidley, Designed by Ann Roberts
with the help of the Book Dash participants in Johannesburg
Sample Text from What is It? – short and very sweet story

What is it?
What is it?
It hasn’t got a trunk.
It’s not like me.
What is it?
It hasn’t got a tail.
It’s not like me.
<End of sample of What is it?>
Read the full book by selecting the buttons below the post.
Or read along with the video from Kiwi Opa
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.
Read more books by Bookdash in our Bookdash Category.
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The Skills Kids Need in the Future and the Role of Early Learning in Their Development - Photo by Yan Krukau from Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-girl-pointing-at-a-number-on-wall-8613109/ What do early childhood educators think about the skills needed in the future for children? Very few of them will start their list with literacy or numeracy skills. No, they will stress something much more difficult to teach, namely the ability to sit through unpleasantness, solve the conflict, ...
Mr. Zumpo’s Amazing Zoo of Unusual Animals - When Raj and Reya meet a rather strange stranger called Mr. Zumpo, they find themselves visiting his Amazing Zoo of Unusual Animals to see some of the most peculiar and bizarre creatures in the whole wide world, such as a Ping-Pong Popperphant, a Wurly Wurlitzer Whistleroo, a Beatbox-Bunny, a Trombonial Pig-Fish and a Grumpy Bubble-Gum Chawooga.
To answer questions like: “What is a Woc?”, “Exactly how smelly is a Super Pooper Stinky Pong Beast?”, “How do you find an escaped Invisible Wibble Beast?” and “Is Mr. Zumpo really as friendly as he seems?”, you will have to accompany Raj and Reya to Mr. Zumpo’s Amazing Zoo of Unusual Animals.
A Special Flower - A white male Oak flower wonders why it is different, then goes on a journey to discover his own uniqueness. A decodable reader using the 'ough' sound.
How to Start Montessori Homeschooling: A Practical Guide for Parents - Starting Montessori homeschooling can feel like a big step. Especially if you’re used to traditional schooling or have never homeschooled before. Many parents assume they need a perfect setup, special materials, or formal training before they can begin. But Montessori works differently. At its core, it’s about creating a calm, prepared home environment where your ...
Set Up a Kid-Friendly Digital Book Nook - While tablets and computers offer a convenient way for kids to engage with reading, they also come with distractions. After all, it can be too easy to navigate to games or websites. Thankfully, it is possible to remove distractions from the equation so reading remains the focus. Read on as we explore how to set ...
Summer Learning Doesn’t Have to Happen Indoors - Every summer the same worry surfaces. The kids are off school for weeks, the worksheets gather dust, and a small voice in every parent’s head whispers that they’re falling behind. The instinct is to drag everyone back to the kitchen table. But a lot of the most useful learning a child does over the summer ...
Healthy Screen-Free Activities for School-Aged Children - Ask any parent what they’d change about their kid’s week and screen time is near the top of the list. The screens aren’t going away, and pretending otherwise is a losing game. The realistic goal isn’t zero. It’s building a life so full of better options that the screen stops being the default. That’s a ...
How Physical Activities Help Reluctant Readers Develop Focus - If you’ve got a child who’d rather do anything than open a book, you’ve probably been told to just keep reading with them. Sometimes that works. Often it turns reading into a battle nobody wins. The thing parents rarely hear is that the path back to the page sometimes runs through a court, a field, ...
Beyond Reading: Activities That Build Confidence in Children - Reading matters. No argument there. But if you’ve ever watched a quiet kid light up after landing a trick or hitting a target, you’ll know that confidence rarely grows from books alone. It grows from doing hard things and surviving them. The page teaches a child to think. The wider world teaches them they can ...Read more books for early readers in our Early Readers category.
Creating a Healthy Reading Corner at Home: A Parent’s Guide - In a time when our children spend between 3 and 5+ hours per day on screens, a cozy reading corner could be the best gift for your kid(s)’ future. Books let your child explore new worlds, discover new characters, and learn about themselves at the same time. Plus, they’re great for developing skills that will ...
The Skills Kids Need in the Future and the Role of Early Learning in Their Development - Photo by Yan Krukau from Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-girl-pointing-at-a-number-on-wall-8613109/ What do early childhood educators think about the skills needed in the future for children? Very few of them will start their list with literacy or numeracy skills. No, they will stress something much more difficult to teach, namely the ability to sit through unpleasantness, solve the conflict, ...
Mr. Zumpo’s Amazing Zoo of Unusual Animals - When Raj and Reya meet a rather strange stranger called Mr. Zumpo, they find themselves visiting his Amazing Zoo of Unusual Animals to see some of the most peculiar and bizarre creatures in the whole wide world, such as a Ping-Pong Popperphant, a Wurly Wurlitzer Whistleroo, a Beatbox-Bunny, a Trombonial Pig-Fish and a Grumpy Bubble-Gum Chawooga.
To answer questions like: “What is a Woc?”, “Exactly how smelly is a Super Pooper Stinky Pong Beast?”, “How do you find an escaped Invisible Wibble Beast?” and “Is Mr. Zumpo really as friendly as he seems?”, you will have to accompany Raj and Reya to Mr. Zumpo’s Amazing Zoo of Unusual Animals.
A Special Flower - A white male Oak flower wonders why it is different, then goes on a journey to discover his own uniqueness. A decodable reader using the 'ough' sound.
How to Start Montessori Homeschooling: A Practical Guide for Parents - Starting Montessori homeschooling can feel like a big step. Especially if you’re used to traditional schooling or have never homeschooled before. Many parents assume they need a perfect setup, special materials, or formal training before they can begin. But Montessori works differently. At its core, it’s about creating a calm, prepared home environment where your ...
Set Up a Kid-Friendly Digital Book Nook - While tablets and computers offer a convenient way for kids to engage with reading, they also come with distractions. After all, it can be too easy to navigate to games or websites. Thankfully, it is possible to remove distractions from the equation so reading remains the focus. Read on as we explore how to set ...
Summer Learning Doesn’t Have to Happen Indoors - Every summer the same worry surfaces. The kids are off school for weeks, the worksheets gather dust, and a small voice in every parent’s head whispers that they’re falling behind. The instinct is to drag everyone back to the kitchen table. But a lot of the most useful learning a child does over the summer ...
Healthy Screen-Free Activities for School-Aged Children - Ask any parent what they’d change about their kid’s week and screen time is near the top of the list. The screens aren’t going away, and pretending otherwise is a losing game. The realistic goal isn’t zero. It’s building a life so full of better options that the screen stops being the default. That’s a ...
How Physical Activities Help Reluctant Readers Develop Focus - If you’ve got a child who’d rather do anything than open a book, you’ve probably been told to just keep reading with them. Sometimes that works. Often it turns reading into a battle nobody wins. The thing parents rarely hear is that the path back to the page sometimes runs through a court, a field, ...
Beyond Reading: Activities That Build Confidence in Children - Reading matters. No argument there. But if you’ve ever watched a quiet kid light up after landing a trick or hitting a target, you’ll know that confidence rarely grows from books alone. It grows from doing hard things and surviving them. The page teaches a child to think. The wider world teaches them they can ...See other books from Book Dash:
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I liked that book because there was a baby and I like babies.
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nice book