To develop the children's understanding further, children could take part in a hot seating activity to explore the characters in depth and to gain a full perspective of living in South Africa around this time. This book also helps readers to learn more about history as it is told through the characters' story. They also are exposed to the class and power relations and learn of the hope and rebellions for social change, most notably the Soweto Uprising of 1976.

And on their journey to Johannesburg, Naledi and Tiro are shown by Beverley Naido as making many unexpected friends out of strangers and who all help them not only with their travels but to also stay out of reach of the police, sometimes perhaps a bit too easily and a bit too quickly, but well, considering the intended age age group for Journey to Jo'burg this does not really all that much bother me, as indeed, and much importantly, much appreciatively, Naidoo has Naledi and Tiro soon learning that in Apartheid-infested South Africa, as Black South Africans, they do not have a right to get on the bus or walk about freely without a pass, and they do not even have a right to their own mother (who works as a maid, as a servant to an arrogant and ignorant White family in Johannesburg). Their little sister is desperately ill and the two children decide to walk to the city to bring their mother home.

I would not really recommend the children to read it independently as they will probably would not understand what is going on, without understand the Apartheid. When they come to another village, they walk quickly so as to not attract the attention of the police because policemen in this area are often corrupt. I had the privilege of ‘meeting’ Beverley Naidoo in a Zoom lecture recently and was so inspired by her and her story I knew I had to pick this book up immediately. Both the truck driver and Grace take responsibility for the children’s well being once they come in contact with them. But it's worth all the extra work because the story has so much depth and complexity and kids will enjoy learning and talking about this.

Ebooks fulfilled through Glose cannot be printed, downloaded as PDF, or read in other digital readers (like Kindle or Nook). Grace helps them find their mother’s workplace and offers them a place to spend the night in Soweto. The author was a white girl who knew she would have suffered under Nazi Germany, but just did not realise how her black servants had to live.It's possible I'm overreading these elements, because I was aware going into it that the book was written by a white woman from South Africa. The main worry of course, is whether they can find their mother; after that, can they save their sister? Journey to Jo’Burg is set in South Africa during the apartheid and tells the story of Naledi and Tiro who, frightened that their baby sister Dineo will die, take a 300km journey to find their mother who works there as a maid.

It could be used to link to PSHE or Citizenship to address bullying and racism, History to examine the apartheid and Geography for studying Africa. The story tells of their awakening to the situation in their country of the appalling treatment of blacks by the rich white people. Growing awareness of the sufferings of South Africa’s black children brings renewed point to Beverley Naidoo’s Journey to Joburg, a story for young readers, the more searing for its gentleness, that makes them ask questions we must learn to answer.

In Beverley Naidoo's 1986 (and thus of course before the official end of Apartheid) South-African themed middle grade novel Journey to Jo'burg, when their baby sister Dineo becomes very ill with a dangerous fever (and might perhaps even be dying), thirteen-year old Naledi and her younger brother Tiro decide that they must go and get their mother, but unfortunately Mma is being forced by financial necessity to live and work in the big city, in far-away Johannesburg. The story seemed somewhat unbelievable, as if the author wanted to show us about South Africa and this was simply the method she chose to use. Thirteen-year-old Naledi lives with Nono (her grandmother), Tiro (her brother), and Dineo (her baby sister) in a small South African village 300 kilometers from Johannesburg. It has prompted some lively discussions as well as provided a strong platform for engaging literacy lessons and cross curricular activities for half a term. I used this book within my Year 4 literacy lessons and I thought it was a great way to get the children aware of what was happening in South Africa in the time of the Apartheid.

Our topic for the term was the Apartheid, this book was great as it helped give the children a better understanding, as well as it being about young children in that time, therefore more meaningful for them. But at university, Naidoo became increasingly outraged at the South African government and joined Nelson Mandela’s anti-Apartheid movement, with Beverly Naido being arrested and jailed in 1964, for anti-government activities. She does not like being away from her children but must work in Johannesburg to provide money for food, clothing and an education after their father died. It isn't until they reach the city that they come to understand the dangers of their country, and the painful struggle for freedom and dignity that is taking place all around them. After accidentally trying to board a whites-only bus, the siblings find the right bus and meet a young woman named Grace.

Journey to Jo'burg: A South African Story, written by Beverley Naidoo , is about the journey a brother and sister, Naledi and Tiro, have to take to Johannesburg to try and find there mother as the little sister has become ill. In a social studies or history class, Journey to Jo’Burg could be used to compare and contrast the history of South Africa with that of the U. Finally, although Journey to Jo'burg was penned in 1986 and Apartheid was officially abolished as a South African government policy in the 1990s, the fight for racial equality very much continues in South Africa. Their mother is able to get time off, beginning the next day, to take her children home and help Dineo. All those lesson on writing letters…for jobs as servants…always writing how good they were at cooking, cleaning, washing, gardening…always ending with “Yours obediently.