A recent presentation made by Tessa Welch, the African Storybook Project leader, to University of Pretoria Education students on the project and on openly licensed stories for early reading in Africa.

1. The African Storybook Project
Openly licensed stories for early reading in Africa

2. Quick quiz
True or false?
1. The ability to read is innate (inborn, there from
birth).
2. A foundation phase child needs to read up to 20
books in a year to become a fluent reader.
3. Reading for pleasure makes you able to read
faster.
4. When you read fast, you don’t comprehend as
well.
5. It’s best for a child to learn to read in the medium
of instruction at the school.

3. Requirements for effective literacy development
• It takes TIME to learn to read.
• It takes PRACTICE to learn to read.
• It takes THOUGHT to learn to read.
• Learning to read is much easier in a FAMILIAR
LANGUAGE.
• Reading has an AFFECTIVE dimension.

4. And so…
• Children need to have books from very early in life,
well before they go to school.
• They need to have lots of books.
• They need to have them in a familiar language, with
stories that reflect their context and experience as
well as their hopes for the future, so that they can
connect with them emotionally.
• And children need adults who are invested in these
stories, motivated to use them, and talk about them
and through them to their children.

5. This is where the African Storybook Project comes in
An EXPLOSION of books in the all the languages that
are familiar to African children…
The QUANTITY of good reading materials that young
children and all first readers need to build up the
fluency neuro and cognitive scientists are telling us is
essential to wiring the brain for reading and complex
logical thinking ….
www.africanstorybook.org

6. Find and use, create or translate/adapt – FREELY
no permission or payment

7. from one story, versions in 18 languages (and growing) -
because of open licences!

8. ASP pilot countries 2013-2016
Kenya
Lesotho
Uganda
South Africa

9. Stats on ASP stories (end Jan 2015 – in 2 years)
• 300 stories published
• 999 translations
• Stories in 39 languages
• 11 stories in Portuguese and 15 in local
Mozambiquan languages
• Starting to translate into French – through
Translators without Borders
http://translatorswithoutborders.org/
And hoping to get volunteer translators so that we can
move into West and Central Africa.

10. Find free stories – browse by language, type, level

11. Read online

12. Download or print

13. ASP story levels
Level Features of Books Descriptor
1  Single words, phrases, or a short simple sentence
per page;
 Most of the information carried by the
illustration.
First words
2  Two or three sentences per page;
 The illustrations support the understanding of the
text.
First
sentences
3  One or two short paragraphs with an illustration
per page;
 Not such a close relationship between the
illustration and the text.
First
paragraphs
4  Longer paragraphs;
 May not be a picture on every page.
Longer
paragraphs

14. Level
What level?
Chicken and Millipede
How would you change the level?

15. Some strange stories – what do YOU think?
Mr Fly and Mr Bighead
An egg for bride wealth
Would you prefer a more South African version?
What Vusi’s sister said

16. To create or translate, register on the website

17. Create a story in one of our story templates …

18. … using images from our bank of over 3500 images …

19. … or upload your own illustrations.

20. Translate a story into a familiar language

21. Or adapt it for a different level or context

22. Some ways to create a story …
Find a set of pictures for a complete
story from our image bank, and
make a different story to match the
pictures.
Eg A very tall man

24. Select elements (parts of illustrations)
• See The Hungry Crocodile with illustrations from
Curious Baby Elephant

25. Translation and adaptation
Translate – change the language only
Adapt – improve the story, or make it suitable for a
different level – can change words or illustrations
Compare the following stories. Which do you prefer?
Why?
Fire OR Fire’s story?

26. How are the stories read?
(especially without electricity/connectivity)
=
+
OR
Handheld projectors and notebooks/tablets so that
stories can be displayed on a wall for a group of
children

27. And stories can also be printed out

28. Sources for ASP stories
1. Our pilot sites and partners in our pilot countries
2. Donations from famous authors or publishers like READ,
Little Zebra Books, Little Hands Books, but also …
3. Openly licensed stories on other websites – the emerging
ecosystem of openly licensed material
– Book Dash – www.bookdash.org
– Nal’ibali - http://nalibali.mobi/stories/
– FunDza - http://live.fundza.mobi/home/library/
– World Reader mobile - http://www.worldreader.org/what-we-
do/worldreader-mobile/
– Big Bug Books - http://www.bb-books.co.za/
– Pratham Books - https://www.scribd.com/prathambooks
– Free Kids Books - http://freekidsbooks.org/

29. 17 gorgeous
professionally
created openly
licensed books
www.bookdash.org

30. FunDza republishes our stories – and those from others like
Nal’ibali in their children’s library - mobi site and Mxit
http://live.fundza.mobi/home/library/fiction-childrens-stories/

31. Big Bug Books
http://www.bb-books.co.za/
World Reader republishes Big Bug Books for reading free of
charge on their mobile app – in English and eleven African
languages (translation by Translators without Borders)

32. ASP has re-published 14 titles from Pratham Books –
released under a CC-BY licence on www.scribd.com

33. What happens to openly licensed stories?
Such as The Moon and the Cap (Pratham)

34. On Scribd, there are 26 versions of The Moon and the Cap
In English, Gujarati, Telegu, Assamese, Marathi, Odia, Tamil, Hindi,
Lojban, French, Spanish, German

35. There is a read
along version on
the Bookbox
(commercial
company – not
free), but on
Youtube there is
free viewing

36. On the Children’s digital library it is available in Hindi,
Italian, Marathi, Telegu
www.childrenslibrary.org (not all open)

37. On Mango Reader
you can read, adapt/translate even including puzzles
and games (but this is a commercial site)

38. On the African Storybook website - in isiZulu, Sesotho, Kiswahili,
Sepedi, isiXhosa

40. Spread the word (about openly licensed
stories)!
Thank you!