HILARY FINE reviews the titles on offer from Shortlands Publications
BLENDING entertainment with education can create a sense of excitement and delight among emerging readers, and if they get hooked on books early, maybe they will become readers for life.
Shortlands Publications, a New Zealand publishing company new to the South African market, produces a number of titles for children from learning-to-read age right up until their pre-teens. All the books form part of a graded series, so they can be used sequentially to systematically encourage the advancement of reading skills or they can simply be enjoyed as individual reads. Each book has been beautifully designed and enhanced with original illustrations. Most of the content links with real world situations and helps to spark interest and develop life skills.
The Storyteller series includes books and cards designed to develop both reading and writing skills. There are four modules in the series, each divided into three sets. Each module contains fictional stories, non-fiction and a play, introducing readers to various styles of narrative. These guided readers include old favourites like Goldilocks and the Three Bears, new fiction such as The Big, Bad Cook and non-fiction presented in an innovative style in titles like Ants Aren’t Antisocial. There is even a cookery book for kids!
All the books are designed to introduce the reader to new words that are linked with the information and/or life skills covered in the narratives. Often fiction and non-fiction are blended so that practical information about commerce accompanies a story about a visit to the shops, although the content lacks local frames of reference. The series can easily be used as a reading programme in the foundation phase of an outcomes-based education (OBE) classroom. Included is a teacher’s resource kit with suggestions for writing activities and guides for assessment.
The Wildcats reading series is divided into four levels and is aimed at readers from six- to 11-years-old, and older. The titles cover four themes in each level: people and places, science and technology, sport and action, myths and misconceptions. The language can appear a bit patronising, but this is because it seems to be aimed at the lowest reading ability of a particular level. Reference information is often presented as a story and then reinforced with ”Did you know?” boxes, glossaries and cartoon characters posing questions that invite the reader to consult other books (”What can you use to build a raft today?” asks the little Eygyptian in Long Ago and Far Away).
The Explorers series is a reference series. It comprises three sets of 12 books, each set aimed at a specific age group (eight- to 10-years-old, nine- to 11-years-old and 10- to 12-years-old). The books explain aspects of society, history, geography, science, biology and technology, encouraging readers to explore the world around them. In Sky Watch, readers are invited to look up at the sky and see the stars used by ancient cultures to predict the future, the same stars astonomers see and measure.
The Literacy Links Plus series features longer books (about 125 pages) for the more accomplished reader (over 12-years-old). Again, the content covers fantasy and facts, with narrative stories providing life lessons for those entering their teenage years. CD and the Giant Cat is a wonderful science-fiction story set in the Australian desert. This futuristic, computerised world has its own unique vocabulary (a human is a ”two-leg” and a snake is a ”slithery one”) and fast-paced action and still manages to raise questions about law and morality, as well as ideas about extinction and conservation.
Although none of the material covered in the Shortlands titles is specific to South Africa, or even Africa for that matter, the content seems, for the most part, to be fairly universal.
Titles from Shortlands Publications are being brought into South Africa by Emthonjeni Education. (021) 349-2892
— The Teacher/Mail & Guardian, September 18, 2000.
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