Bonn · Soweto · Mbabane · Zanzibar
Every page tells the story twice: once in a language your child knows, once in the language they're growing into. Eleven series, 59 books, written by Dr. Schuppert.
eBook R189 · Hardcover print R449, shipped from South Africa
The Bridge · Book 1
A Letter with a Funny Stamp
Ein Brief mit einer lustigen Briefmarke
Dr. Schuppert
English ↔ German
Tales from the Hills · Book 1
Gogo's One Story
Indzaba Yinye YaGogo
Dr. Schuppert
English ↔ siSwati
The Star Voyage · Book 1
The Unfinished Boat
Jahazi Lisilokamilika
Dr. Schuppert
English ↔ Kiswahili
Snow and Savannah · Book 1
Baraka Arrives
Baraka kommt an · Baraka Anawasili
Dr. Schuppert
German ↔ Kiswahili
The Rainbow Kitchen · Book 1
Pap for Breakfast
Iphalishi Lasekuseni
Dr. Schuppert
English ↔ South African languages
Karoo Summers · Book 1
The Windpump Creaks
Die Windpomp Kraak · Das Windrad knarrt
Dr. Schuppert
Afrikaans ↔ German
Each series follows the same children from book to book, so the vocabulary grows as the story does.
English ↔ German · Ages 6–10 · 6 books
Die Brücke
Lena lives above a bakery in Bonn. Thabo lives three streets from Vilakazi Street in Soweto. A school letter project puts them in touch, and neither of them can spell the other's name properly. Six books follow their letters, their visits, and the words they swap along the way.
See all 6 books →English ↔ siSwati · Ages 5–9 · 5 books
Tindzaba Tasemagcumeni
Every evening Nomsa walks home with her gogo, and every evening gogo tells one story, only one, no matter how much Nomsa begs. Five books, each a season in the hills of Eswatini, with siSwati woven gently into every page.
See all 5 books →English ↔ Kiswahili · Ages 7–11 · 6 books
Safari ya Nyota
Juma's grandfather built dhows in Stone Town until his hands grew too tired. Now the last boat he made sits unfinished, and Juma has decided to sail it. Six books of sea, stars and Kiswahili — the language of the whole East African coast.
See all 6 books →German ↔ Kiswahili · Ages 8–12 · 5 books
Schnee und Savanne · Theluji na Savana
Mia's mother is from Freiburg. Her uncle married in Arusha. When cousin Baraka comes to stay for a winter, the Black Forest becomes a place of wonders — and next summer, it will be Mia's turn to go south. For children who already read German, learning Kiswahili through the eyes of family.
See all 5 books →English ↔ South African languages · Ages 4–8 · 6 books
English · isiZulu · Afrikaans · Sesotho
In MaDlamini's kitchen in Kagiso, everyone speaks a different language, and nobody minds. Each book is one meal, cooked together, with words in isiZulu, Afrikaans and Sesotho stirred right in. The gentlest introduction to a multilingual country.
See all 6 books →Afrikaans ↔ German · Ages 7–11 · 5 books
Karoo-Somers · Karoo-Sommer
Every December, Anneke and her German cousin Felix are sent to Oupa's sheep farm near Graaff-Reinet, where the windpump creaks all night and the dog, Bismarck, is older than both of them together. Afrikaans and German turn out to be closer than either child expected.
See all 5 books →
English ↔ isiXhosa · Ages 6–10 · 5 books
Abantwana Bomgcini-Nqaba
Siphokazi and her little brother Lwazi live where the green hills fall straight into the sea. Their uncle keeps the lighthouse, and on stormy nights the children help. Five books of wind, waves and isiXhosa — clicks and all.
See all 5 books →
German ↔ English · Ages 5–9 · 6 books
Kofi und die Schildkröte
Kofi has just moved from Johannesburg to Berlin with his grandmother, a cardboard box, and a tortoise called Mr Nkosi who refuses to hurry anywhere. For German-speaking children learning English — and English speakers learning German — six gentle, funny books about arriving somewhere new.
See all 6 books →
English ↔ Setswana · Ages 7–11 · 5 books
Noka e e Tshologelang mo Motlhabeng
Kagiso's mother poles a mokoro through the Okavango Delta, taking visitors to see the elephants. This year Kagiso is old enough to come along. Five books about a river that never reaches the sea, told in English and Setswana.
See all 5 books →
isiZulu ↔ German · Ages 8–12 · 5 books
Ibhendi YeMarimba · Die Marimba-Band
When a school in Durban and a school in Leipzig swap music students for a year, Zanele ends up playing marimba beside Jonas, who has never touched one. Five books about rhythm, homesickness and the songs children teach each other.
See all 5 books →
English ↔ Sepedi · Ages 5–9 · 5 books
Maboto a a Pentilwego
Every spring, Koko repaints the walls of her homestead near Polokwane, and every spring Tumelo and his sister Lesedi beg to help. Each pattern has a meaning, and each meaning has a story. Five books in English and Sepedi (Northern Sotho), one colour at a time.
See all 5 books →The author
Born in Coesfeld and living in Bonn, Dr. Schuppert writes the books she wished existed when she first went to southern Africa: stories where the second language isn't a lesson, but the voice of a friend.
Read more →