/ 15 April 2008

Pretty Salma

PRETTY SALMA by Nikki Daly

(Tafelberg, R67,96)

Pretty Salma is about a young girl, Salma, and the lesson she learns as she goes shopping for her grandmother in town. Nikki Daly uses lovely pictures to support the text. In this way, the story comes alive as the reader travels with Salma on her eventful journey.

The parallels between Salma and the classic children’s tale Little Red Riding Hood are unmistakable. Interestingly enough, the online bookshop, Amazon, which primarily markets to a North American audience, sells Pretty Salma, but with a subtitle: A Little Red Riding Hood Story from Africa. Comments on the book from readers suggest that readers like the multicultural twist to the traditional story. But one reader thought the manner in which the hustle and bustle of the African town was presented was a bit scary.

But children, whom the story is aimed at, love the story as they love Red Riding Hood – scary bits and all. It is a great story for young learners, teaching them to listen and pay attention to adults who love them and explaining that there are consequences if they don’t. These lesson have been taught to children over the years and continue to be valuable. The author uses a simple and uncomplicated way of telling the story, which makes it easy for kids to identify with the young character and allows them to learn through that.

Based on its creativity, simplicity and lessons, this book can easily be used to inspire theatrical performances for kids. A huge benefit is that it comes in other languages (Zulu, Xhosa and Afrikaans), which are well-translated, with minor changes such as the sound of a barking dog and the sound of a drum, which seem to be differently understood in the different languages. But the story and its meaning are translated very well.

Nosimilo Ndlovu is a reporter at the Mail & Guardian