Today a reader, tomorrow a leader!

Anyone can agree that being able to read is an incredibly important skill.

We caught up with Sasha-Lee Taylor, a 22-year old entrepreneur, hoping to make the lives of those in South Africa, just a little better, but offering them an opportunity to gain one of life’s most basic skills through her educational children’s book – being able TO READ!

“I believe ‘local is lekker’ so when creating the storyline and characters I tried my best to embrace the beauty of South Africa. I wanted everyone to be able to relate to the story and characters. The story is set in a South African location. A lot of colours were used throughout the book to represent our Rainbow Nation and also as to make it more fun for the children. Each book has a theme in the beginning that continues throughout the book.”Sasha-Lee says.

But most importantly, Sasha-Lee’s “Learn to Read, Learn to Lead” children’s book contains an educational section that actually teaches the children how to read and write. In this section, repetition is cleverly used to make it easier for the children.

Why reading is important for babies and young children?

1. It helps your child get to know sounds, words, and language and prepares them to understand the written word.
2. It develops early literacy skills in each child. Even after children learn to read by themselves, it’s still important for you as the parent to read aloud together.
3. It teaches children to value books and stories, but more importantly, it also helps them learn to listen! Reading and listening go hand-in-hand.
4. Reading sparks your child’s imagination and stimulates curiosity. Children are at the end of the day still children and need to be able to express their imagination through storytelling.
5. It helps develop your child’s brain as well as social and communication skills. These areas are critical for a child’s language development and future success.

What makes this book special is that 50 per cent of the net profit from the book is split equally to go towards the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund and the Tswhane Child Welfare Fund.

In the words of Nelson Mandela, “Education is the most powerful tool one can use to change the world” and we are proud to see a young South African entrepreneur supporting such a cause.