National Book Week’s “Books Beyond Words” Online Storytelling event is a unique “live” activity for parents and children to come together as a family. The event will be hosted on National Book Week’s Facebook page on Saturday i.e. 28 March 2020 between 11:00am-11:30am. Bongiswa Kotta – Ramushwana is our storyteller tomorrow. A professional storyteller. she’ll walk listeners into a world of imagination with her rhythmic words. Elitha van der Sandt, CEO, South African Book Development Council, believes storytelling is an engaging and universally accessible activity any family can enjoy. It is an ideal way to forget about our stresses and spend quality time with the little ones. Storytelling is also truly African and an opportunity to get back to our roots and sharing wisdom with our children. She further adds that it also gives the SABDC an opportunity to support artists in this very challenging time. With schools being closed, and lockdown now in full effect since midnight, parents are faced with the daunting prospect of keeping their children healthy, entertained and fed. Furthermore, parents still have to anxiously scan their phone for the latest news of the coronavirus outbreak between scanning the internet for survival tips with kids at home. “Books Beyond Words” cannot come at a better time. The lockdown, a first in post democratic South Africa, is a proactive measure by the South African Government to try to contain the virus.
