Celebrating a love of reading

Pupils at Zonnebloem Boys and Girls primary schools got to experience the joys of books and stories on World Book Day.

Shine Literacy, the Otto Foundation and Loxion Mobile Library joined forces to hold a special event for the Grade 1s, 2s and 3s last Friday to celebrate the love of reading and books.

This event was part of a Shine Literacy programme to promote a culture of reading to improve literacy for young children in poor communities, said spokesman Michael Dirks.

“It is important to host such events because now, more than ever, schools need to be a place where daily reading and writing activities are a priority,” he said.

The pupils received packs of reading materials and learnt about online story sites, watched skits, made up their own stories, and listened to stories being read by the Otto Foundation librarians and the principals from both schools.

Zonnebloem Boys Primary School interim principal Craig Fielies said: “While pupils may be able to read a book on their own, it's understanding what they read that is important.”