The Mystery of the SS Waratah and the Avocado Tree by M J Honikman, illustrated by Brice Reignier (Tafelberg)
This is the story of one of the world’s great unsolved shipwreck mysteries. Two boys decide to try to solve it after being inspired by a story told to them by their neighbour about the 100-year-old giant avocado tree in the boys’ garden. The tree is connected to an Australian steamship called the SS Waratah, which disappeared without trace a century ago on a journey between Durban and Cape Town, taking with it all 211 passengers and crew.
The avocado tree was planted by a passenger who had sailed on the ship from Australia to Durban but had decided not to travel all the way to Cape Town because he suspected the ship was listing and was concerned about its safety. The decision saved his life. The ship, after leaving Durban, encountered wild seas off the coast of the former Transkei and was never seen again.
Like the Titanic, the Waratah was thought to be unsinkable. Search parties were sent out to scour the Indian Ocean between South Africa and Australia for a ship adrift. Three years after the ship disappeared a lifebelt carrying its name washed up on an island between Australia and New Zealand.
The boys’ appetite for a good mystery is whetted by their neighbour’s story and they set off to do some modern-day detective work — the kind of relatively sophisticated research that has become possible for children thanks to computers and Google.com.
They rope in two of their classmates to help them in their quest and, by collecting information from the internet and the public library, and with a little help from their parents, they piece together their own theory of what might have happened to the Waratah.
The book is targeted at nine to 12-year-olds and is peppered with more than 40 black-and-white drawings. I gave it to my son, who is in grade three, to read, a little concerned that the dialogue and concepts might prove difficult for him.
However, he seemed unfazed by the level of the writing and pronounced the book “very interesting”. What I, as a parent, liked about the book is that it is based on a true story.
The book encourages young readers to do their own detective work. There is a list of websites, books and other material to help them to get started.
“Not all history books tell the same story — it depends on who’s writing the story, and whose side he or she is on. You need to be a detective, or perhaps a judge, or both,” says one of the young detectives. Sage words indeed. I see a super idea for a school project in this book. — Laura Grant
Best Loved Tales for Africa (Jacana)
The Ugly Duckling retold by Sindiwe Magona, illustrated by Natalie Hinrichson
The Little Red Hen retold by Margie Orford, illustrated by Karen Lilje
The Three Billy Goats Gruff retold by Carole Bloch, illustrated by Shayle Bester
Ayanda, The Little Girl Who Didn’t Want to Grow Up retold by Véronique Tadjo, illustrated by Catherine Groenewald
This enchanting series, available in English, Afrikaans, isiXhosa, isiZulu, Sesotho, Setswana, Sepedi and Xitsonga makes available to the children of Southern Africa the stories children all over the world have grown up with and loved.
In her retelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s beloved The Ugly Duckling, Sindiwe Magona places the sad little bird among blue cranes, black coots and hadedas on an open vlei.
Exquisitely illustrated by Natalie Hinrichson, this tale of hope will speak to any child who suffers from feeling different.
In Margie Orford’s quirky version of the English traditional tale of The Little Red Hen, the uncooperative animals include an Nguni cow and the domesticated hen is helped in her bread-making endeavours by ants and bees, house spiders and birds. Karen Lilje’s illustrations are enchanting.
Carole Bloch has her Three Billy Goats Gruff, originally Norwegian, living in the dry veld and longing for the sweet green grass of the koppie that can be reached only by crossing the bridge that is home to a fierce old monster. Children will love the humorous detail in Shayle Bester’s illustrations.
Ayanda, The Little Girl Who Didn’t Want to Grow Up, Gianni Rodari’s Tinarina retold by Véronique Tadjo, is a tale for our times. When Ayanda loses her father in a war she resolves never to grow up because grown-ups cause wars. Ultimately circumstances force her to become an adult and, in doing so, to realise that grown-ups can also help one another in very necessary ways. Catherine Groenewald’s illustrations complement perfectly this heart-warming story. — Pat Schwartz
Unyanelizwe by S Mazants (Maskew Miller Longman)
This tale about a young boy abandoned by his mother and raised by his grandmother is anchored in the boy’s name, Nyanelizwe (son of the world). He has an intimate relationship with his grandmother, who tries to teach him the rewards of independence, constantly telling her community that she is raising her son for the world.
Nyanelizwe doesn’t understand his grandmother’s rules and the reasons for the chores she gives him — not until he shrinks to the size of an ant and lives for a week with an ant colony does he recognise the fruit of their labour and the way they contribute to the cycle of life.
Nyanelizwe grows up to see many worlds and makes his grandmother proud.
This Xhosa children’s book not only teaches children about the importance of education and the rewards of discipline, it also touches on family relations and community pressures. It is an easy read, told in that around-the-fire folklore way that catches every child’s ear. — Vuvu Vena
Nici’s Pocket Presents by Marion Drew, illustrated by Vian Oelofsen (Tafelberg)
Nici’s cousins have asked the impossible. They want two gifts from her holiday in Cape Town — a seagull and an octopus. Alive and well, mind you. Not mounted. This little ditty is just the book for the beginner reader.
Vian Oelofsen’s fun black-and-white illustrations of the characters in compromising positions — the octopus in Nici’s mouth, the seagull flapping through the dining car on their train ride back to Johannesburg — appear on nearly every page, complementing the entertaining story with well-spaced text.
After Nici convinces the seagull to travel with her by train back to Jo’burg, in the pocket of her shorts no less, she finds an octopus with a lisp that is willing to hitch a ride in her mouth.
Both the octopus and the seagull escape on the train ride but all land up unscathed in Johannesburg and, eventually, in the grateful hands of Nici’s cousins. — Tanya Pampalone
A Kite’s Flights by William Gumede, illustrated by Maja Sereda (Jacana)
On a summer’s day in Cape Town Andile and his father build a kite and fly it on the beach. When the kite is snatched from their hands by the wind, it embarks on a journey over Africa, taking in some of the continent’s renowned landmarks en route.
Assisted by Maja Sereda’s clever maps and graphic illustrations William Gumede has produced a marvellous geography lesson that will both enthral young readers and teach them about their continent. — Pat Schwartz
The cheetah who ran too fast and other children’s stories from Africa
Written and illustrated by Trudi Franke (Penguin)
I don’t know whether my children are particularly bloodthirsty, but this book left them with a sense of anticlimax.
It claims to be “about things that matter”, telling gripping stories in verse about African creatures in a way that will teach children important and valuable lessons. Each story ends with an addendum asking: “What is this story about? What does it say?” Then it spells out — also in verse — the message of the story, which inevitably includes an epigram such as: “If you all stand together, you will be winners.”
My children, aged seven and five, squirmed at the preachy nature of these messages, treating them with the cynicism they deserved.
It’s not that the stories weren’t original and gripping; they were, and they held the children’s attention right to the end, but the compulsory “feel good” nature of the stories — which all end happily — with the obvious messages, put them off. I asked the five-year-old what he thought of one of the stories.
“Boring, mom,” he said. When I asked why, he said: “I like evil stories.” The seven-year-old thought about it for a while, then said: “If the crocodile had bitten off the giraffe’s head, it would have been a bit more exciting —”
The message here is that, when it comes to entertainment, kids like excitement.
They’re not really interested in sensible messages like “always do your best” or “work together and you will win”. It’s not that those messages aren’t important, crucial even, but stuffing them down their throats, as I believe this book does, undermines the quality of the stories and the entire entertainment experience. — Julie Leibowitz