SA Animation Movie Helps Children Earn their Reading Stripes

Cape Town based Nal'ibali, a national reading-for-enjoyment campaign, has joined forces with the forthcoming 3D movie, Khumba, released by Triggerfish Animation Studios, to create a special edition of the Nal'ibali supplement.

The supplement will feature a cut-out-and-keep story, inspired by Khumba, and will be published in English plus an additional three South African languages. The movie itself will be screened in cinemas in both English and Afrikaans - a first for an animated movie.

The supplement - which is available weekly in select Times Media newspapers in English-Afrikaans, English-Xhosa, English-Zulu and English-Sesotho - will be further distributed to schools in the Western Cape and Gauteng as part of a national tour featuring Khumba costume characters, as well as to children at Virgin Active Kids Clubs who will be hosting Khumba Kids Camps. This will ensure that as many South African families as possible can enjoy the heartwarming tale and are introduced to the Nal'ibali supplement which offers stories, literacy tips and reading and writing activities for caregivers to enjoy with their children.

Of course multilingual literacy development is at the heart of the Nal'ibali campaign so when we were asked to translate an adaption of the story into isiXhosa, isiZulu, Sesotho and Afrikaans, we were delighted to get involved, comments Carole Bloch, Director of PRAESA (Project for the Study of Alternative Education in South Africa), which is driving the Nal'ibali campaign together with print media partner, Times Media.

In addition, the special edition of the supplement will be distributed to reading clubs, literacy organisations, libraries, schools and early childhood development centres who are part of the Nal'ibali network that receive 30 000 copies of the supplement each week at no cost. And, to further encourage making reading part of everyday life, a limited edition Khumba bookmark with literacy ideas for children will be distributed alongside the supplement to all Nal'ibali reading clubs.

As the promotional agency working on the movie, Dan Frost MD of Coppermonkey Promotions had this to say: When we read the story that Anthony had originally written of How the Zebras Got Their Stripes we felt it was such a wonderful piece that we wanted to find an avenue where we could use this and after being introduced to the team at Nalibali, we discovered the perfect partner. Reading is something that we as a team feel passionately about and we hope that the work Nalibali is doing will encourage more parents to read to their children and more children to take up reading themselves. It goes without saying that we also hope that families will read the story of How The Zebras Got Their Stripes and itll inspire them to go and watch the movie!

Nalibali is the perfect partner because they have a good understanding of the audience and they were able to help align the story to become a useful tool for young readers. With the translation of the story into additional languages, Im hoping that children can relate even more to the universal themes that both the story and the film address, adds Khumba director Anthony Silverston.

The story, How the Zebras Got Their Stripes, will be published in the week of October 14, ahead of the movie's release on October 25.

To find out more about Nal'ibali or to get started reading and sharing stories, visit the Nal'ibali website: www.nalibali.org; the Nal'ibali mobisite on www.nalibali.mobi; the Nal'ibali Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/nalibaliSA; or the Nal'ibali Twitter feed: @nalibaliSA.

The Nal'ibali supplement can be found in the below newspapers during term time:

KwaZulu-Natal: The Sowetan (English and isiZulu) on Wednesdays

Gauteng: The Sowetan (English and isiZulu) on Wednesdays

Western Cape: The Times (English and isiXhosa) on Wednesdays

Eastern Cape: The Herald and Daily Dispatch (English and isiXhosa) on Tuesdays and Thursdays

Free State: The Sowetan (English and Sesotho) on Wednesdays

Khumba, the second 3D animated feature from the Cape Town-based Triggerfish Animation Studio, tells of a zebra who is born with only half his stripes. When he is blamed for the lack of rain by the rest of his superstitious herd, he embarks on a brave quest. In his search for the legendary waterhole where the first zebras got their stripes, Khumba meets a quirky range of characters and teams up with an unlikely duo: Mama V, an overprotective wildebeest, and Bradley, a flamboyant ostrich.

For more information, visit the Khumba website: www.khumbamovie.com

LINK:	http://www.filmcontact.com/africa/south-africa/sa-animation-movie-help...
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