Book Dash

What does it take to print more than half a million children’s books? Last week, we invited a few partners to see for themselves, in a behind-the-scenes visit to the printers Tandym Print (Pty) Ltd As Book Dash celebrates our 10th anniversary, we’re currently printing a whopping 609,000 books across 11 South African languages. This will take the total number of Book Dash books in the world to well over 4 million. It’s our biggest print run yet, and we suspect it to be the largest-ever print run of children’s storybooks in South Africa. Importantly, it’s coming at a time when young children need books in their homes more than ever. The books are destined for 120 partner organisations across the country, to be distributed through programmes to children to keep and own. Funding comes from donor partners looking to improve systems for early development and literacy levels at scale. Why is this such a big deal? Having books at home improves children’s early literacy skills, setting them up for success in all subjects. The book acts as a tool to support the parent-child relationship and for play-based learning. The earlier we start, the greater the gains so Book Dash advocates for book ownership from birth. Yet in South Africa, two out of three homes with young children do not have a single children’s picture book, according to the 2023 National Reading Barometer South Africa. In the past, cost and availability have limited our ability to get all children owning books, but with Book Dash’s work to optimise for efficiencies in key publishing and distribution processes, that isn’t the case anymore. As we kicked off the tour, we took a moment to reflect on the fact that there are around 1.2 million children born each year in South Africa. The current print run alone represents enough books to give half of the children born in 2024 a book of their own. Even 4 million books isn’t yet enough to fix the unequal access to books for preschool children – but it’s a significant start and a real effort to build literacy from the ground up. Keen to join us in tackling literacy challenges? Want to add books for all children in your programmes? Give us a shout! #everychild100books #bookdash #largestprintrunever #celebrating10years #earlybookownership Photos by Jennifer Khumalo of Surefire Communications

On Saturday 17 August 2024, 37 creative volunteers gathered at the UJ Library, Auckland Park to create eleven brand new African storybooks to share freely with the world. We call this form of magic a "Book Dash", and this was the 23rd time we've done it.     Learn more about what we do, or read all 200 Book Dash books for free at bookdash.org. The new books will be published in the days to come.     A huge congratulations and thank you to all the talented and generous creatives involved and thank you to our donors for making it possible 🥳💛📚  https://lnkd.in/dw9CBneZ   #everychild100books #bookdash #earlybookownership 

Reading is a wonderful tool to help your young child’s brain develop and get ready for school. Reading together at the same time builds routine - and it makes sure there is “special time” between you and your child. Find free, downloadable books to read with your children today at bookdash.org/books #bookdash #earlybookownership #everychild100books

Happy Spring readers! If you are looking for African story books aimed at children from the ages of 0-5 then look no further. Read delightful stories around the topic of seasons day and night and the weather : https://lnkd.in/dH_3AEPX We have 200 original titles that have been categorised into 15 themes to assist and spark a love in early years reading. Find free books to read, download and print at www.bookdash.org #bookdash #earlybookownership #everychild100books

🌍📚 Discover the magic of Book Dash! With the help of generous funders we aim to make books accessible to all via our website. Creative volunteers craft African children's stories in just 12 hours. Thanks to generous funding, these books are printed and shared through over 100 partner organizations, empowering young readers and fostering a love for reading at home. 🎥📚 Watch this reel to  explore the wonder that is Book Dash! We are a non for-profit that  brings creative volunteers together to create African children's picture books in 12 hours, distributing them to kids through partner organizations. 📖✨ #everychild100books #bookdash #earlybookownership

Book Dash supports in Vietnam. You can apply to get a portion of funding dedicated to creating more playful experiences for children in your community. If successful, you’ll select from any of our books, receive funding and training to print and distribute 1,000+ books to young children and families in your community - in their home language. We'll hold your hand every step of the way and teach you how to print our books, and get them to children! The Community Play Fund and supported by The LEGO Foundation and ChangeX is making this wonderful opportunity possible. Read more on how to apply here: https://bit.ly/4deLEW3 #LearningThroughPlay #everychild100books #bookdash  #earlybookownership

We want to extend a huge thanks to our amazing volunteers for their generous sharing of talent and time, gifting books to children worldwide!📚🌍. Also thank you University of Johannesburg: Library for the awesome venue. #bookdash #everychild100books #earlybookownership

📢📢a Big Thank You to our awesome volunteers for generously sharing their time and talents to bring books to children around the world📚🌍 The best part of any Book Dash is Storytime, where we get to share all the stories created that day with everyone. Seeing the hard work and teamwork come together as these children's books come to life is a transformative experience. It’s a heartwarming reminder of the power of creativity and collaboration, and it’s wonderful to watch these stories spark joy and wonder in young readers.📚💫✨ University of Johannesburg: Library #bookdash #everychild100books #earlybookownership

It's the final countdown! With just one hour left in our children's book-making event, the teams are putting the finishing touches on their stories. We look forward to Storytime when each team will read their story aloud. We are so excited to share all the amazing books created today with everyone! 📚🌟✨ University of Johannesburg: Library #bookdash #everychild100books #earlybookownership

It's 5 o'clock somewhere, and the Book Dash teams are letting loose and having fun! Energized and ready, they're gearing up for the final stretch to complete their books.  University of Johannesburg: Library #bookdash #everychild100books #earlybookownership