Nature-based Education resources are included in the official Mpumalanga School Library Catalogue for 2025 – 2028, as advised by:
Zanele Ntsele
Office of the DDG: Curriculum
Tel: 013 766 5004
Email: z.ntsele@mpuedu.gov.za
Mpumalanga Department of Education
ORDER RESOURCES
Foundation Phase
I’m a very special modern-day dinosaur!​​​
Big Book. Grade R Term 4 Life Skills
Topics: Birds; Dinosaurs:
Discovering that a distant cousin of today's birds was T. Rex.​
Plus CREATIVE activity
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Refer to Lesson Plans:
Grade R Term 4
Grade 2 Term 2
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Printed books @ R110
English & Afrikaans
Caring Kids
​This reader comprises the 7 stories in six languages.
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Printed books @ R130
English, Afrikaans, isiXhosa, isiZulu, SeSotho, Setswana
SAMPLE CARDS
SNAP Playing Cards
2 sets of 20 cards each, laminated.
The needs we share with our animal friends.
Based on the 5 Freedoms for Animals as endorsed by the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH).
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Printed cards @ R160
English, Afrikaans & Xhosa
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Animals and the Seasons​
​Big Book
Foundation Phase, Life Skills
Topic: Animals and the Seasons: how animals are affected
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​Refer to Lesson Plans:
Grade R Terms 1 - 4
Grade 2 Terms 2 & 4
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Printed books @ R149
English & Afrikaans
THE FIVE FREEDOMS FOR ANIMALS
The 5 Freedoms are endorsed by the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) and are available to learners in all 11 official South African languages.
Recommended for all Grades​
Plus CREATIVE activity
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​Printed A3 laminated posters @ R70
11 official South African languages
Board Game
Take turns to roll the dice. Move your piece forward on the board according to the number shown on the dice. Follow the instructions on the squares where you land, moving forward or backwards. The first player to reach square 35 wins. Have fun!
A3 laminated prints @ R70
English & Afrikaans
PLAYS
5 FREEDOMS The Play
Based on the 5 Freedoms for Animals as endorsed by the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH), this is a fun play for the entire class, giving learners an understanding of the needs we share with animals.
Includes dog puppet face mask templates to cut out.
Recommended for Foundation Phase
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Printed copies @ R70
English
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A Puppet Show on Sentience
This fun play gives learners an understanding of the meaning of sentience and empathy.
Includes animal puppet templates to cut out.
Recommended for Foundation Phase
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Printed copies @ R70
English
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Intermediate Phase
Goosie's Story
Goosie's Story is about a laying hen confined to life in a battery cage... until she finds freedom! We share her belated discovery of the world and realise that, far from her being a mere unit of production, she has a robust ability to live life to the full.
This book is selected by the Department of Basic Education's LTSM Procurement Cycle
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Plus CREATIVE activity​
​​​Workbooks to order from Julia Knowler HERE
Refer to Lesson Plan Grade 2 Term 2
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Printed books @ R95
English & Afrikaans
Friends don't bite
3 comic style stories. 30 pages altogether.
Focus is anti-bullying and promotion of pet care. Endorsed by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
​This book is selected by the Department of Basic Education's LTSM Procurement Cycle
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Refer to Lesson Plans:
Grade 3 Term 1; Grade 4 Term 2; Grade 5 Term 4
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Printed books @ R70
English, Afrikaans & isiZulu
The Great Cage Escape
When a box, punched with airholes, is found one morning on the doorstep of a pet shop, things take a dramatic turn... In his review of this book, world leading animal scientist and behaviourist, Dr Jonathan Balcombe, says: "Science is now revealing what we should have known all along — that animals have rich inner lives, emotions and passions, wants and needs, fears and desires. The Great Cage Escape captures poignantly the importance of freedom."
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Workbooks to order from Julia Knowler HERE
Refer to Lesson Plan Grade 5 Term 1
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Printed books @ R115
English & Afrikaans
Senior Phase
Magnificent Boy and the Spirit of the Grey Hare
Magnificent Boy and Boetie — even the grey hare — lived in the farmlands between Kuils River and Stellenbosch in the Western Cape, South Africa, during the 1990’s.
At the time, author, Louise van der Merwe lived there too and watched events unfold.
Based on fact, this novel is her tribute to the awesome friendship between Boetie and Boy and their tenacious will to triumph against all odds.​
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Refer to Lesson Plans:
Grade 4 Term 2; Grade 5 Term 1
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Printed books @ R125
English & Afrikaans
For the Love of Kin
A fictionalised version of what really happened in South Africa in 2024 when Compassion in World Farming CEO, Philip Lymbery accepted an invitation from pioneering food company Newform Foods to sample its cultivated lamb meatballs. The fact that a very happy, healthy sheep, still enjoying life at the Greyton Farm Animal Sanctuary, had provided the meatballs, was motivation enough for Philip to break his 40-year fast from meat.
The story is told by Pecorino, the sheep who provided his cells for the cultivated meatballs.
Plus WORKSHEETS
Refer to Lesson Plans: Grade 4 Term 3; Grade10 - 12
Module on Humane Education
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Printed books @ R149 English
ANIMAL WELFARE BOOKS THAT HAVE STOOD THE TEST OF TIME...
No book store would be complete without listing these all-time great stories for children!
Charlotte's Web
This beloved book by E. B. White, author of Stuart Little and The Trumpet of the Swan, is a classic of children's literature that is "just about perfect."
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Fly, Eagle, Fly! An African Tale
After a stormy night, a farmer searching for his lost calf finds a baby eagle that has been blown out of its nest. He takes it home and raises it with his chickens. But when his friend comes to visit one day, he tells the farmer that an eagle should be flying high in the sky, not scrabbling on the ground for grain. How the farmer's friend proves that the bird is an eagle and destined to fly to the sun, is humorously retold by Christopher Gregorowski. Niki Daly's bright water colour illustrations breath life into this powerful and uplifting tale.
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The Christmas Day Kitten
So begins The Christmas Day Kitten, another true story from James Herriot's rich experience as a country vet. As always, the tale includes a vivid group of characters on two legs and four: Mrs. Pickering and her three stately Basset hounds, James himself, and Debbie, the self-possesed stray cat who makes a special contribution to Christmas at the Pickering house.
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Black Beauty
As a young horse, Black Beauty is well-loved and happy. But when his owner is forced to sell him, his life changes drastically. He has many new owners — some of them cruel and some of them kind. All he needs is someone to love him again....
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Hiawatha
Rich in imagery and detail, this exquisitely rendered picture book introduces readers to one of America's favorite classic poems, "The Song of Hiawatha" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Illustrated by Susan Jeffers, the Caldecott-Honor winning author of Three Jovial Huntsmen, A Mother Goose Rhyme, this book beautifully weaves together oral traditions of American Indian culture and presents a charming and hypnotic account of Hiawatha’s boyhood.
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