Photo courtesy of Freeimages.com
In April 2024 in celebration of World Book Day, I was very privileged to be invited to speak to the learners of Grace Primary School in Pinelands, Cape Town about my Christian books, and about Christian writing in general. The invitation came from the librarian, Judy McCromb, but it was the Headmaster who had searched for Christian writers on google and came up with my name, who had requested the invite. (I only discovered this halfway through the morning when I enquired about where they had heard about me.)
One of the things that I was really thrilled about, was that they pre-ordered fifteen of my books on the strength of what they had discovered on my website! My brief was to read to three different classes of learners first, before giving a talk at a special assembly which had been arranged specifically for the occasion.
I had a very pleasant surprise when I arrived at the school: all the students and staff members had taken the trouble to dress up as characters from books. There was fantastic Mr Fox, Mrs Trunchbull, the Queen of Hearts, Dr Seuss and a host of other imaginative creations. The headmaster was tasked with the job of choosing the best costume for the day, a very difficult task as there were so many well executed and imaginative costumes. One young girl who was close to my heart wore an elaborate angel costume. When asked which book her character was from, she replied, “The best book of course, the Bible.”
I remember choosing the story, ‘Kimi’s Big Day’ from Explorations to read to the Grade 5s. It’s the story about Kimi, her friend Mei and their two brothers entering a talent competition. They practise for hours and hours, but when the day of the competition arrives, disaster strikes: Kimi who was supposed to be the singer wakes up with a very sore throat, whilst Mei, the dancer, trips over her brother and sprains her ankle. It’s her brother, who is going to perform a juggling act with his friend, who suggests that they swop roles. In other words, Kimi dances and Mei sings. Even Kimi’s mum thinks it’s a good idea; after all, they have practised enough! When the boys win the competition, and it appears as if the girls’ efforts aren’t recognised, Kimi is disappointed, but what did she expect?! Yet right at the end of the story, they get a surprise. They are especially commended for their brave decision to take part in the competition despite their handicaps, and the clapping in the hall raises the roof.
One young boy put up his hand at question time and asked me why Kimi didn’t just take a throat lozenge and sing anyway. Good for him for suggesting it! My young audience was highly engaged, and unless they were just being polite, they seemed to be enjoying the stories.
When the time came for me to give my talk at assembly – I spoke about my life as a writer, about writing in general and about some of my books – I was incredibly impressed by the answers I received to my questions from my interested, intelligent audience. I remember speaking about my book, Modern Manna. When I asked what manna was, an enthusiastic student told me all about God’s providing the Israelites in the desert with bread from heaven. When I asked what they thought modern manna was, a girl replied that it was a modern miracle. As far as I remember, she actually started to tell me all about the amazing healing that had happened to one of her family members.
I then told the students a little about the inspiration that led to my writing the story. It was based on real life events – the food riots that happened in KZN which left supermarket shelves empty and people going hungry. Michael, the protagonist in the story, is very resentful of his friend’s father, who is a pastor: he keeps talking about Jesus feeding the five thousand with loaves and fish, and about God raining down manna from heaven. He angrily tells the pastor that it wasn’t fair to talk about food when all the people were starving. The pastor gives Michael a big smile as he looks out of the window. A big truck arrives … all the way from Cape Town … and begins to offload boxes full of bread, sardines, fruit, rice, peanut butter, among other foodstuffs. A modern miracle!!
When discussing my story, The Rainbow Game, and asking the children what they thought the rainbow represented, a smiling young girl told me that the rainbow symbolised God’s love. She then continued to tell me all about Noah, the arc and the flood.
There were other examples of questions I asked being responded to with enthusiasm and intelligence, but I came away from the school that day feeling very inspired and encouraged that clearly, the students were being taught about the Bible. How refreshing it was to know that God was being honoured in that school, and that children were being given a firm foundation for their adult lives.
The good influence of Grace Primary didn’t stop there. A year later, when I asked the librarian if she had any contacts for me of schools who might be interested in a visit, she passed on four contacts; three out of four have responded positively and I will be visit these schools this week. I was also given the name of someone who could distribute my Christian books; I am thrilled that someone is now going to contact schools, libraries and Christian institutions on my behalf in an attempt to sell more books so that the Christian message can be spread into more and more homes.
I am so grateful to the staff and students of Grace Primary School for making my visit in celebration of World Book Day so memorable. I had a wonderful time at the school that day, and I’m hoping that the students are enjoying my books that were bought for their library, and especially that they are learning something of value from the pages of those books.