It’s all about educating the little ones
Two moms combined their unique skills to produce a children’s book focusing on the environment.
ONE afternoon, while watching their children play, two moms pondered raising their little ones in today’s world.
With one of the major challenges being unprecedented environmental degradation, they questioned what the future held for their children and how they could prepare their children for the challenges ahead and teach them to be kinder to the planet.
Before the afternoon was over the moms had hatched an idea – the creation of a children’s book to teach children to be more environmentally conscious.
One of the mothers, Melanie Rosettenstein, is a writer and author of two children’s books and the other, Dr Bronwyn Goble, is a coastal scientist at the Oceanographic Research Institute situated at uShaka Marine World.
They decided to combine their unique skills to produce a children’s book focusing on the environment. Talented illustrator, Cristy Cuthbert, was called in to bring their ideas to life.
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One of the main challenges facing the coastal environment is pollution and litter. Cosha Udoti (translated as pick up litter), a duel language (English and Zulu) children’s book, follows the adventures of uKhozi, the wise fish eagle, and a young boy, Themba.
Together they uncover the importance of putting litter into rubbish bins. uKhozi takes Themba on a journey from home to visit a river, an estuary and the beach. Along the way, they discover all the harmful effects of pollution on wildlife and the value of picking litter up and disposing of it correctly.
The aim behind Cosha Udoti is to share an important environmental message, to generate awareness around marine pollution and litter and hopefully, shape the thinking of children to be the catalysts of change in their communities. Having read drafts of the book to their own children, who are now self-proclaimed eco-warriors, the authors are confident that this story will resonate with children and parents alike.
In an effort to share this story with as many children as possible, copies of these books are for sale at a subsidised rate of R100. Proceeds from the sale of this book will allow the women to donate copies to financially disadvantaged children. If you would like to purchase a copy of this book, contact Marilyn Bodasing – mbodasing@ori.org.za or 031 328 8169 during office hours – at the Oceanographic Research Institute.
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