Unexpected Friendships In Children’s Books, My Interview With Twinkl

Recently I had the pleasure to chat about the unexpected friendships encountered in my children’s books with lovely Ciske Momberg, the Content Executive for Twinkl South Africa.

Twinkl is an online educational publishing house founded in 2010 and headquartered in Sheffield, England, producing teaching and educational materials and providing educators and parents across the world with high quality, trusted teaching and learning resources. Twinkle South Africa is aligned with CAPS.

It was a chilly winter morning here in South Africa and the dormant lawn outside my study window was speckled with frost when Mrs Ciske Momberg introduced me to Twinkl, the leading educational resource publisher. And the frost thawed. Mrs Momberg invited me to join a series of interviews meant to empower young readers with stories from remarkable female authors.

Diverse representation in children’s literature is crucial as it fosters belonging, broadens perspectives, and helps all children see themselves and others reflected in the stories they read. This is important for children because it validates their experiences, promotes empathy, and helps them understand and appreciate different perspectives.

The link below will take you to my interview with Ciske Momberg from Twinkl South Africa. We discussed what makes a good story, the South African cultural influence in my writing and the messages it conveys, the importance of kids’ books that promote empowerment and how to achieve it, and how to create books relatable to a diverse audience. Additionally, I offer advice to aspiring young female authors:

Explore Unexpected Friendships with Patricia Furstenberg author of books for kids

I invite you to discover interviews with other South African women authors on Twinkl:

• Emily House: author of ‘Treemergency’
• Celest Lotter Nirenstein: author of ‘Cheesecake Eats the World’
• Nicole Rimensberger: author of ‘Witchfield’

Twinkl was founded by Jonathan Seaton and Susie Seaton headquartered in Sheffield, England. Twinkl provides high-quality, trusted teaching and learning resources and services, all of which are created and verified by teachers. Twinkl offers hundreds of thousands of resources, with new content added on a daily basis, including work plans and assessments, augmented reality games, and much more. Twinkl is trusted by schools and educators in over 200 countries and regions around the world, including primary and secondary school teachers, childcare workers, and parents.

Twinkl South Africa is align with CAPS and offer Teaching Resources in in English, Afrikaans, isiXhosa and isiZulu that are quick to download and easy to use. Designed by South African teachers for quality and accuracy, these resources cover every learning stage from Foundation through to Senior Phase, accommodating different levels and abilities in a variety of creative ways.