During the 2020 Covid-19 lockdown, Mpho Mashita launched a book titled Astro Bono in order to open children’s minds to career opportunities in space science. The book features a little girl who loves satellite.
“The hard lockdown gave me time to pen my book. I announced on social media my plans to publish a book in two months. I put myself in a tight corner as the process of compiling the book took longer than I anticipated,” says the Author.
Mashita who works at the regional radio station Capricorn FM but lives in Pretoria said that since her book was launched last year during the lockdown, the support she has been receiving has been overwhelming.
“I work with township and village book clubs to open up scarce career opportunities in space among young children aged five to nine years so that when they grow up they can have an interest to work in space,” said Mashita.
“I am happy and grateful. The first buyer was in the US and another in Germany, they all bought the book from Amazon. I have always wanted to write a children’s book with content that children could connect and relate to easily. I have created characters from my perspective that would ignite interest from readers all over the world, “she added.
Last month, Mashita worked with National Library of SA (NLSA) during a webinar promoting reading and she has also held an online visual book reading for pleasure. Furthermore, she held a session with children from a creche close to where she lives in Pretoria. Her self-published book can be found in a hub promoting children’s books and on Amazon. She uses social media platforms to market and promote her book.
“Writing for children is not an easy task to do. It requires knowledge not only about the industry but also about children, especially the young ones. The big issue is safety. So we ensure that we don’t write anything that could potentially endanger young children should they try to practice what I have written,” noted Mashita. The Content Producer is in the process of writing fantasy novels for teenagers and hopes that they will be published soon.
