The Role of Children's Books in a Multi-Cultural Society.

It has been accepted that reading has a pertinent influence on the reader, especially the young reader. In a multi-cultural society, a child learns about himself and the different people around him from books. In this way, the child learns to know and appreciate his own culture and that of other children, and a healthy understanding between children near and far can be established; this should also be the case in South Africa. Until the 1970's most children's books in the Afrikaans language have depicted the social order of the time, in which blacks played a subordinate role. Since then, change has gradually taken place, and books have been published in which black and white children live, play, and appreciate each other in a normal way. A positive multi-cultural attitude in children's literature can contribute, especially in South Africa, to a social change if it corresponds with other reforms toward a more humane and just society. This paper presents a brief history of the founding of South Africa, followed by a description of the many cultures and a list of the twelve indigenous languages. The development of Afrikaans children's books is traced; and problems of current Afrikaans book publishing are detailed, including the limited number of readers, high price per copy, and limited expensive color illustrations. (ALF)