Let’s Celebrate Earth Day in the best way possible, with beautiful Natural Factual Picture Books. written by Roslynne Toerien illustrated by Julie Smith-Belton These books, about wild animals, are so great, brilliant rhyming stories set on the plains of Africa. They are packed with facts, that effortlessly flow through the story. The stories are full of energy and enthusiasm. There are great little features, special fact pages at the end of the book, something to look for on every page: an ox pecker in the Speedy Six Olympics and African Monarch butterflies in The Forgotten Four. Another sp ..read more

It is the season for comfort food and definitely time to try your hand at some Cape Malay Cooking. A book filled with spicy food, recipes with cinnamon and nutmeg, bay leaves and cloves, chillies and apricots… this is the aroma of a lot of my childhood and I couldn’t dive into this cook book and try things, fast enough. Modern Cape Malay Cooking by Cariema Isaacs Back to Basics: Everything you need to know about the rich heritage of Cape Malay cooking… loved the introduction and the history, loved the conversational chat about boboties and curries and rich flavours and above all community ..read more

We went snorkelling with the I AM Water Foundation and it was fantastic!!! I AM Water After many years of supporting various ocean organisations, and particularly the I Am Water Foundation, I really wanted to create a connection with the team I was supporting. This year we had a wonderful collaboration between the Cape Town Swim team and the coaches from the I AM Water foundation. A couple of weeks ago we got together for an ocean-confidence-swimming workshop, and we had so much fun. And then this past week we got together again for a snorkeling experience. We started with a chat, and gett ..read more

It’s been a summer of swimming for the I Am Water Foundation and it has been fantastic. Not only have we collaborated… swimmers and coaches meeting up, but we decided it would be a fun idea to have a fundraiser. I have never created a fundraiser before and it turns out it was a lot of fun… we gathered together for a dip and ice cream and loads of GiveAway prizes… it let me say that again, it was a lot of fun!!! The cutest cupcakes… And loads of ice cream… And Donations… Where: Kristen’s Kickass Ice-cream A Dip An Understanding… A Prize Giving And such fun times… If you would still ..read more

So the season is changing, the days are definitely getting shorter and there is a fresh bite to the early morning swims. The thing is… while the summer is ending a new season is beginning, with cooler days that are perfect for exploring and adventures… Struik Nature Just thought I would mention that Struik Nature has a new website and has a Massive Sale this weekend. Field Guide to Fynbos Fauna by Cliff and Suretha Dorse At last!!! There is a book about all the wildlife found in within the Fynbos plant kingdom. I am thrilled about this one… years of exploring and hiking and finally we have ..read more

If you are ever invited, round to friends, and asked to bring a “plate of eats”… then this is the book for you. All Sorts of TAPAS by Chantal Lascaris Absolutely packed with delightful bites and edible platters to grace and add to any party menu… no matter if “the party” is a dress to the nines event or a movie night, this book literally has something for everyone. The book is divided into useful categories: brunch; vegetarian; fish & seafood; chicken; meat and dessert. Mostly quick and easy recipes, with ingredients found in your kitchen. Caramelised onion & goats milk cheese tart ..read more

It is World Water Day and I thought it would be appropriate to do a book review about a very watery themed graphic novel, Kariba. I am loving full length graphic novels right now and this one is a story set on Lake Kariba and is a fabulous adventure story. KARIBA Daniel and James Clarke The storytellers have used pictures and words to create a wonderful blend between ancient African mythology and a grab for Lake Kariba by greedy business men. While this is not a true story, the history in it is very believable, with money grabbing treasure hunting business men sending mercenaries to Africa t ..read more

This is one of our favourite South African authors and we have reviewed plenty of his books before. He is prolific and writes in almost every single genre of children’s book… English and Afrikaans, poetry and short stories, jokes and novels, he literally covers everything. Taking Selfies with a Sheep Taking selfies with a Sheep is the loveliest, most heart warming South African story, I thoroughly enjoyed it. It is the story of a young man, Luke, who gets into serious trouble at school. Before he sinks any further, his parents send him off on a road trip with his granny, to the heart of the ..read more

As an Ocean Ambassador and Ocean Swimmer… I am posting about my current fundraiser… I Am Water Foundation Every Summer for the past few years I have raised funds for an ocean loving group of folk at the I AM Water Foundation. The I Am Water Foundation takes children from the greater Cape Town area on a two day ocean workshop. These are children that, while they live in the city of Cape Town, may never have had a beach day… let alone spent a day learning about our very special and unique rocky shores. They spend a day rock pooling, they learn about the sea creatures, they experience calming m ..read more

If your children have to read Afrikaans stories for school and you have absolutely no idea where to start looking… then this is the blog post for you. Somewhere in your child’s homework book, carefully forgotten, is a little sentence “Read an Afrikaans book.” And honestly, you haven’t read an Afrikaans book since you were in school and you have no idea where to start… Second language reading books have to be interesting and engage your reader at the level they can read the language at. Not always easy, but this selection of bookstore ones that have been winners in our home. Picture Books Si ..read more