The greatest gift my father gave me was a story

MY love for storytelling was born on my father ’ s lap when I was two.

My father had a unique way of telling stories with dramatic and imaginative skill that kept you spellbound for hours.

I didn ’ t know where my father got his stories from, but he had lots of them.

When I later learnt that he was illiterate, it made the stories even more special, as I marvelled at this man who could hold the attention of a group of toddlers forever.

Toddlers do not have an attention span to speak of.

At the age of six I had heard all my father ’ s stories, and I wanted more.

I could not read, so I used to look at picture books and have fun making up my own stories.

When I was in Grade 4, I used to rummage through dumpsters every day for old discarded magazines and comic books.

At home, money, as Simply Red would say, was “too tight to mention ” and books were a luxury we could not afford.

Reading became my source of comfort and helped me escape to magical fantasy worlds. It also inspired me to want to become an author.

It was while I was at Sister Joan ’ s high school that I met two people who helped to lay the foundation for my success as a writer.

One was the headmaster, the Rev John Harrison, and the other our English teacher, Liz Roos.

The Rev Harrison arranged a library card for me so that I could get access to books.

Ms Roos critiqued my poems, shared her own and introduced me to painting.

My dream was to become an author, and the two helped me to turn that into reality.

I remember Ms Roos saying that since there were no schools for authors, the best route was to become a journalist so that I could polish my writing.

She said that by the time I had reached retirement age, I would be good enough to write novels.

Twenty eight years later, and I am a published author with three books under my belt and six international awards for poetry.

“Children are made readers on the laps of their parents,” award-winning children ’ s novelist Emilie Buchwald said, and I can relate.

Sunday World intends turning millions of South African children into readers on the laps of their parents every Sunday.

Starting next week, parents will get a free education supplement with a story to read to their children with every copy of Sunday World, courtesy of Nal ’ i- bali, a national reading-for-enjoyment campaign to spark children ’ s potential through storytelling and reading.

Nal ’ ibali is driven by the Project for the Study of Alternative Education, Times Media and a growing number of partners. Through sustained mentoring and collaboration with communities, reading clubs, literacy organisations and volunteers of all ages, as well as a vibrant media campaign, Nal ’ ibali is helping to establish a culture of literacy in South Africa.

“When you sell a man a book you don ’ t sell him just 12 ounces of paper and ink and glue – you sell him a whole new life,” American novelist Christopher Morley said.

We at Sunday World and Nal ’ ibali hope that our stories will give birth to a whole new life for you and your children.

Happy reading.