The Sunday News
Nkosilesisa Ncube, Sunday Life Reporter
A 25 year old man from Bulawayo may have just mastered the evolution and changed the face of children’s education!
Thamsanqa Bhala Ndlovu, an entrepreneurship graduate who specialises in children’s publications has managed to take his children’s books to the digital market, making them accessible to children all over the country and beyond.
Ndlovu’s series, llorut Kids’ Magazine is a unique platform which creates a new perspective of how kids view education. It consists of study aids, story books and question books, catering for children between the ages of three and 13.
The digital books are translated from English to IsiNdebele and seven global languages namely Russian German, Chinese, Japanese, French and Dutch.
Ndlovu told Sunday Life that he started off with hard copies which he distributed at local stores around the city, selling over 8 000 copies over the course of this year.
“At first, my books were hard copies which I sold to local bookshops, but then I started getting requests from outside the city and some of my contacts in the diaspora also wanted copies of the books. To avoid the cost of transporting books across the world, I decided to go digital. And over the short period that I have been online, I have realised that my biggest readership is in Russia, thus the translations to the languages of the countries where the books are available.” said Ndlovu.
In spite of the popularity of his books, Ndlovu says that he has no intention of taking his books to schools. He prefers that his books be kept out of the school curriculum so that children do not view them as an instrument imposed on them by school authorities.
He added that if books are available at home and not school, children will not view them as educational material, but as something to enjoy while supplementing what has already been taught in the classroom.
Ndlovu said his venture into children’s books was driven by his passion about both children and the written word.
“I love kids. That’s why I specialise in children’s books. I have a passion for children and I have a passion for books. More than that, I enjoy being a part of the children’s growing up process. My favourite age group to work with is the three to six year olds. At this age, they are very impressionable and learning basic skills such as image recognition. It is very rewarding that I can play a part in introducing them to all that,” he said.
To date, there are over 14 different book titles to choose from. The books are divided into three different categories which are toddlers, Academic practice and explanation books. All publications are A5 in size and contain up to 26 pages of informational content for children to enjoy. These are all available from the kids’ magazine online catalogue.
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