KNYSNA NEWS - A 60-page book, Look Deep Into Nature, which explores the wild and wondrous place that is Steenbok Nature Reserve on Leisure Isle, is to be officially launched during the Leisure Isle Festival on 3 and 4 November.
It is described as a children's book filled with educational facts, informative content, fun activities and all-round entertainment, but the creators are sure that adults, experts and the whole family will not only enjoy and appreciate every single page but also find the humour in it that makes it so special. The book contains information on the fauna and flora, a 100-year-old water pump, the salt marsh at Kingfisher Creek, a map of the reserve and tons of other insightful and useful info.
Creators Diana Stromberg and Suzie Thomopolous explain that the need for an educational booklet has been stirring for quite some time now as many schools arrange educational walkabouts on a regular basis and often visit the reserve's website to print out interesting information to distribute among learners.
“It's a fun, hilarious, entertaining and interactive book, which contains scientific information in a very simple, easy-to-understand way. We've done tons of research and every detail has been fact-checked by experts in their respective fields.
'Easy to understand'
"We've made it easy to understand with crosswords and puzzles, fun tasks and physical activities, checklists and colouring-in sections.” says Stromberg, adding that they grappled with the research, and even presented it to different age groups to measure reactions as a guide towards the books' completion.
Thomopolous also illustrated the book and was responsible to "kiddify" all information so that children of all ages would be able to grasp the more technical aspects of the natural world around them. The book also contains many terms that are South African, such as "eish", "goggas" and "just now".
“It was an overwhelming task when we first started with the book about six months ago,” admits Thomopolous. “We didn't initially realise what a big responsibility it was, but we got everyone involved and covered every subject that we could possibly think if. It's one book but contains almost three volumes worth of information jam-packed into one.” With a smile she adds, “We are absolutely thrilled and excited with the final product."
Stromberg and Thomopolous thank all the contributors and sponsors who made the book possible.
Look Deep Into Nature will be available at the Lesiure Isle Festival and Metelerkamps from 3 November for R150 a copy, alternatively orders and enquiries can be emailed to distromberg@gmail.com. Donations are also welcome for the distribution of the book to schools in underprivileged areas. All proceeds of book sales will be used by the Friends of Steenbok Nature Reserve in the ongoing maintenance and development of the reserve.
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