Afrikaans Readers for 2nd Language Speakers

One of the problems I was faced with as a Media Specialist, was to get the learners reading Afrikaans books to improve their Afrikaans. They would pull a few books off the shelf, and after discovering that they were too difficult, they would move off in search of English books. I decided to make life easier, and graded all the Afrikaans books into four colours:

Level 1-blue
Level 2-green
Level 3-red
Level 4-yellow


Class teachers graded the children according to their ability using the four levels above. When the learners chose Afrikaans books, they knew exactly which books they would manage. This resulted in a mass interest in Afrikaans readers, so we had to rush out and buy more books. Below is a list of some of the series that we bought. My contacts page lists some of the suppliers we used.

1. Jasper, a four book series published by Fantasi Boeke 2005
ISBN 1-919764-70-4

2.Zebra Leesboeke, a three level series with four books in each level. Published by Shuter and Shooter and written by Jean Clarke.

3.Storiestraat, a series of short stories written by various authors and published by Nasou.

4. Lees is maklik, a delightful series that we used mainly for our grade seven readers. Published by Heinemann 2005.

5. The ladybird series that consists of various levels, translated into Afrikaans by Maskew Miller and Longman.

6.Avonture in Suid-Afrika, an eight book series written by David Jesse. (The language is slightly difficult)

7. Oxford Storieboom, a delightful fantasy series that ranges from a few words per page, to a few paragraphs per page. The pictures are clear and the storyline is fun. Published by Oxford University Press 2004.