Joined in 2023 
82 
63 About this deal
Ah, I went to Oxfam again yesterday and got Born A Crime, Trevor Noah (3 euro, excellent condition). I have often wondered how, as a child, I never really saw or understood how shocking apartheid and racism were. I like the fact that it has a mix of fiction and non-fiction activities … and how material can link to other areas of the curriculum, not just literacy. This was a brilliant read and a great introduction to children in KS2 about life in South Africa for black people, the Apartheid and segregation. Now Beverley Naido herself was born and raised in South Africa (in 1943), and yes, the author has readily admitted never having been taught to question Apartheid (and the general racial intolerance towards Black South Africans) either in school or at home.
This book contains photocopiable activities, guided reading notes, speaking and listening activities, writing projects and creative ideas – all from a bestselling, tried-and-trusted series that’s a firm favourite with teachers. It is a simple storyline however so much discussion can be held in the classroom, including the different relationships between the characters and life in South Africa. When they come to another village, they walk quickly so as to not attract the attention of the police because policemen in this area are often corrupt. Their father, when he was alive, only visited the family once a year because he worked in the mines. Finally, although Journey to Jo'burg was penned in 1986 and Apartheid was officially abolished as a South African government policy in the 1990s, the fight for racial equality very much continues in South Africa.
This book also helps readers to learn more about history as it is told through the characters' story. I stopped and went on Wikipedia (my go-to source on almost everything) to see what the deal with Jo'burg is (it is Johannesburg indeed!
The majority of people in South Africa were black, but they were treated as second-rate citizens who couldn’t aspire to more than being the servants of those in power. Naidoo has a history of standing up for equal rights and speaking out against apartheid, and that's wonderful, of course, but I still don't know how I feel about white people writing stories for PoC. In Beverley Naidoo's 1986 (and thus of course before the official end of Apartheid) South-African themed middle grade novel Journey to Jo'burg, when their baby sister Dineo becomes very ill with a dangerous fever (and might perhaps even be dying), thirteen-year old Naledi and her younger brother Tiro decide that they must go and get their mother, but unfortunately Mma is being forced by financial necessity to live and work in the big city, in far-away Johannesburg. Read and Respond] makes it easy to explore texts fully and ensure that the children want to keep on reading more.It's possible I'm overreading these elements, because I was aware going into it that the book was written by a white woman from South Africa. This would be a wonderful book to use to help students think globally about issues of power and class.
Great Deal 
New Comment