National Book Week

South Africa commemorates National Book Week for a week in September 2020. It is an initiative of the South African Book Development Council (SABDC) in collaboration with the Department of Arts and Culture.

National Book Week is a virtual event this year. You can watch and participate in lived streamed sessions every day at 11:00 and 15:00. Click here to view the full programme schedule.

Cotlands has a longstanding relationship with National Book Week. We support the initiative and help our partners raise awareness for the importance of reading to young children on a daily basis.

Birth to two years of age is a crucial period for the development of language and preliteracy skills. You can foster the development of these skills by simply exposing your child to books.

When you read to your child, you teach fundamental skills about the communication process and build listening, memory, and vocabulary skills. Furthermore, research has shown that shared book reading experiences have a special role in fostering early literacy development by building background knowledge about the world, and concepts about books and print.

Sitting down and reading with your child is truly one of the best ways you can begin to lay the foundation for pre-literacy skills.