Children’s environmental book ‘write’ on the mark

IT has been a labour of love for Durban North mothers, Melanie Rosettenstein and Bronwyn Goble, who in collaboration with Cristy Cuthbert (illustrator) and Doris Khumalo (translator) brought to life the children’s book, Cosha Udoti.

The magical book follows the adventures of uKhozi, a wise fish eagle, and a young boy, Themba who uncovers the importance of putting litter into rubbish bins. Through their journey to the river, estuary and eventually the beach, they discover the harmful effects of pollution on wildlife and the value of picking litter up and disposing of it correctly.

According to Rosettenstein, an author of two other children’s books, the aim of Cosha Udoti was to raise awareness around marine pollution and litter and impact young children to be the catalysts of change in their communities. Rosettenstein and Goble, a coastal senior scientist at the Oceanographic Research Institute (ORI), felt the book would resonate, not only with Durbanites, but with all of South Africa as a shift in thinking was taking place when it came to rubbish disposal.

“The idea for the book came up while Bronwyn and I were chatting over a cup of tea. We felt this project could have an impact on the wider community and the best way to spread that message was to look to our children, who could carry on that message of conservation and preserving the environment. We always wanted to have the book in two languages, English and Zulu, because they are widely spoken languages. We explored the idea of the title which originally started as Pakamisa which meant to lift up but Doris (Khumalo) who helped immensely with the Zulu translation felt Cosha Udoti was a more direct translation meaning pick it up,” Rosettenstein explained.

The project, which was partially funded by ORI, will also see some of the books donated to children from disadvantaged schools around KZN.

“We felt it was critical to make an impact to various communities around us and thanks to ORI and the uShaka Marine World Outreach Programme, who have a longstanding environmental education programme we will be able, through the sales of our books, to donate them to disadvantaged communities. I think the book’s message is now even more topical with the heavy rains showing how litter travels and ends up in our oceans. Thanks to Cristy (Cuthbert) beautiful illustrations we feel we’ve hit the mark when it comes to the audience because we breakdown the message in its simplest form,” Goble explained.

The collaborative project has been well received with more than 100 copies already sold.

If you would like to purchase a copy of this book, contact Marilyn Bodasing (mbodasing@ori.org.za; 031 328 8169) at the Oceanographic Research Institute.

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