Book Dash

When children have books at home from a very young age, they develop better vocabulary, early literacy and social skills – and this early advantage becomes more powerful as they grow.   Yet in South Africa, two-thirds of homes with young children do not have a single picture book. Millions of children around the world are in the same boat, missing out on all the proven benefits of owning books.   At Book Dash, we work to turn that around. Through a unique model, and partnerships with creative professionals and community-based organisations, we are realising the vision that every child should own a hundred books by the age of five.   Book Dash is a social impact publisher of open, African picture books for very young children. We tackle the complex systems that make owning books inaccessible to most children. Using a unique, replicable model, we create, translate, print and distribute high-quality books to preschool children and their families to own. This enriches the home learning environment and is shown to boost child developmental outcomes.