Okot's Sandbox

Okot’s Sandbox Author: Mathapelo Mabaso Designer: Thokozani Mkhize Adapted by: Beth Hunter and Aysha Imtiaz Illustrator: Jess Jardim-Wedepohl

Every child should own a hundred books by the age of five. To that end, Book Dash gathers creative professionals who volunteer to create new, African storybooks that anyone can freely translate and distribute. To find out more, and to download beautiful, print-ready books, visit bookdash.org.

Lesedi’s Sandbox Illustrated by Jess Jardim-Wedepohl Written by Mathapelo Mabaso Designed by Thokozani Mkhize Edited by Louis Greenberg with the help of the Book Dash participants on 25 April 2020. ISBN: 978-1-77623-115-7 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Licence (http://creativecommons. org/licenses/by/4.0/). You are free to share (copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format) and adapt (remix, transform, and build upon the material) this work for any purpose, even commercially. The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the following license terms: Attribution: You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use. No additional restrictions: You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits. Notices: You do not have to comply with the license for elements of the material in the public domain or where your use is permitted by an applicable exception or limitation. No warranties are given. The license may not give you all of the permissions necessary for your intended use. For example, other rights such as publicity, privacy, or moral rights may limit how you use the material.

Adapted by: Beth Hunter and Aysha Imtiaz

Ask: Do you think this would be a fun job?

Okot’s Mom is a shell researcher.

She travels the world studying shells and the small animals that live inside.

Sometimes, when it’s safe for the environment, she brings home tiny samples of amazing things she finds to share with her family.

This time, she has an extra exciting surprise for Okot.

“Surprise!” says Okot’s dad.

Dad made Okot’s very own sandbox out of tires! Mom painted them with all Okot’s favourite colors: red, blue and yellow. She also hid the special sample she brought. Can you see it?

Okot jumps into his sandbox to squish his toes in the sand. It feels wonderful! He sees shells, too.

Ask: What kinds of shapes do you see?

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Suddenly, Okot notices some special grains look like stars. Some are really pointy. Some are rounded. He starts sifting through the sand and gathering the fascinating tiny stars.

Ask: How many stars is Okot holding in his hand?

Are they...stars? Starry sand? Sand stars? ”What are these grains shaped like stars?” he asks Mom, “How did they become like this?”

Mom smiles and tells him about her adventures at a beach far, far away in Japan.

“You see, Okot, these are actually the shells of microscopic creatures called foraminifera. You can call them forams,” says Mom.

Okot loves listening to Mother’s stories. He closes his eyes and imagines he is there with Mother.

“Tiny creatures that are just a single cell in size float through the wide blue sea,” explains Mother, “They collect calcium and other minerals as they drift.”

“Do they carry little stars they find in a picnic basket Mother?”asks Okot, imagining a beautiful pink sunset.

“No, dear,” Mother smiles, “Collect means the minerals attach to and gather on the tiny creatures as they swim.”

“Oh!” Giggles Okot.

“The star shape you see is actually the shell that the tiny organisms build. When they die and wash up on the shore, you see the tiny star-shaped grains.”

Ask: What are some things you see at the beach?

Okot loves learning about star sand and his mother’s amazing adventures. He reads a book she wrote about gathering the star sand from Japan. Japan is a good place to find star sand because of the warm, shallow water and thriving foraminifera.

A lot of their shells wash up on the shore.

Some day, they will all visit together and collect star sand!