One child one seed by Kathryn Cave

One child one seed
Writer: Kathryn Cave
Photographer: Gisele Wulfsohn
Publisher: Giraffe Books,
Pan Macmillan South Africa in Association with Oxfam
Published: 2002
ISBN: 9780620280884
Availability:Kalahari.net
Soft cover price: R54.86

It took us a while to get into “One Child One Seed,” mostly because the book has many layers and wasn’t meant to be entertaining.

The book is oldish, published in 2002, but it’s still worth reading today. It’s billed as a South African counting book, teaching children to count from one to ten through the story of Nothando. One child, one seed; two hands to plant the seed, three ways to help it grow and so on…..

The beautiful, vivid photographs show Nothando’s home life, and provide a good picture of how poor, rural South African communities live.

I was especially impressed with the accuracy with which the family unit is shown. It’s no traditional Ma, Pa and kids “ideal” picture of a family unit, but something that many South Africans would easily recognize.

“Nontando lives with her Aunt Nomusa (in red) and her Grandmother Betty (in blue). Her big sister and her mother are on the right of the picture, and her brother on the left. They live nearby and spend a lot of time with Nontando.”

The book also gives a step by step guide on how to grow and nurture a pumpkin until it’s ripe, which you can use if you’re a keen gardener and would like to help your child grow something independently.

This book is a must-have.