Teaching About Africa one country at a time. Join the movement and spread the word.
My Story
Lesedi Books is a series of children’s picture
books focusing on the positive aspect of growing up in Africa. This campaign is for the first two books in the series: My Village and Lesedi's Favorite Game. I've written the books and I have an illustrator from South Africa working on the illustrations.
The books follow Lesedi, a ten-year old girl who lives in a rural
village in Botswana. Like Lesedi, I was born and raised in a small village in Botswana. Each book covers a specific topic about living in the village as seen though the eyes of Lesedi. The books are geared towards children between 7 - 12 years old.
The Impact
A couple questions I am frequently asked
since I moved from Botswana
are, “Did you see lions and elephants everyday?” and “Did you live in the
jungle?” Most children’s view of Africa
is limited to what they see in the media and movies such as The Lion King. The
media typically depict African children as dirty, sick and hungry. There are
hardly any images of African children who live a normal life in the cities,
towns and villages.
Stories are one of the most powerful ways to learn about
another culture. My goal is to publish picture books that show
children in normal day-to-day African life situations. I hope the picture books will
help children broaden their images and understanding of Africa
and to help them see African children in a different way.
Where I am At
I plan to publish these books through Village Life books which I founded in 2010 and based in Winnipeg, Canada. I published and released my first picture book, THE LION'S DECEIT (ISBN: 978-0-9867460-0-0), in May 2011 through Village Life Books. The Lion's Deceit reached #2 on the McNally Robinson Booksellers bestseller's list based on the sales for the week of September 25, 2011. I have also received author invitations to speak at schools.
My long term goal is to publish ten picture books in the Lesedi Books following the
main character, Lesedi, on her adventures in Mosetse village. I have
completed five manuscripts in the series and the illustrator has also started sketching out illustrations
for the first two books.
Where The Money Goes
I will continue with this project whether my funding goals are met or not, but your support will get me off the ground. The book production costs are very high and your participation will help with the production of the first
print run for
My Village and
Lesedi's Favorite Game books, including:
Other Ways You Can Help
Share this project with your friends and anyone who might be
interested.
You can follow us on Facebook
and Twitter (@VillageLifeBook)
where we'll be posting updates on our progress.
