OUR 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.
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Plus CREATIVE activity
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Refer to Lesson Plans:
Grade R Term 4
Grade 2 Term 2
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Available to order printed copies in English & Afrikaans
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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Available to order printed copies in English & Afrikaans
Kittens... kittens... kittens!
Belinda learns that having her beautiful cat spayed stops more kittens being born. In this way we can make sure that no babies end up without a loving home.
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Plus CREATIVE activities
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Refer to Lesson Plans:
Grade R Term 2
Grade 1 Terms 1 & 3
The dog who lost her coat
Tebogo learns that our companion animals need to be free from fleas, ticks, and other parasites so they can stay happy and healthy. By taking Lana to the vet, giving her medicine, and keeping her bedding clean, Tebogo helps her grow her hair back, and feel better.
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Plus CREATIVE activity
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Refer to Lesson Plan Grade 1 Term 1
Molo, king of the dump
Vusi’s story is about courage and friendship, showing how love for a homeless goat can inspire a boy to overcome fear and fight for what matters. This is a tale of resilience, and the power of compassion to transform even the hardest life.
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​Refer to Lesson Plans:
Grade 1 Term 1 & 2
Grade 2 Term 3
Palesa finds a friend
Palesa is brave enough to stop the boy and
Mrs Malusi from abusing Obo, showing that we can all speak up when animals are suffering. Because she speaks out, Obo finds a loving home and becomes part of a family that keeps each other safe.
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Plus CREATIVE activity
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Refer to Lesson Plans
Grade 1 Terms 1 - 3
Grade 2 Term 1
Oskar, the Watch-Pig
Willem and Annamaria love their pig Oskar so much that they cannot imagine sending him off to market, and Willem even decides he wants to stop eating bacon altogether. When Oskar saves the farm from a fire, Father agrees that Oskar should stay on the farm as a companion friend.
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Refer to Lesson Plans:
Grade 1 Term 2; Grade 2 Term 2; Grade 3 Term 1
The Precious Gift
This is a tale of Thabo and a donkey foal called Chipo who becomes his best friend.
As they grow up together, Thabo learns about kindness, responsibility, and how to care for animals. This touching story shows that donkeys are true treasures, loyal companions who give back when treated with love.
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Plus CREATIVE activity
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Refer to Lesson Plans: Grade R Term 3​
Grade 1 Term 2 ; Grade 2 Term 3
The Story of Thabo and Thabisile​
The twins in this story learn that in any relationship life works best when we give and receive. If we only take without giving anything from our side, we miss out on the good things others can share with us.
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Refer to Lesson Plans:
Grade 3 Term 1
Grade 4 Term 1
Caring Kids
​This reader comprises the 7 stories, as listed in this section, in the following languages:
English, Afrikaans, isiXhosa, isiZulu, SeSotho, Setswana
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Available to order printed copies in
English, Afrikaans, isiXhosa, isiZulu, Setswana, seSotho
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The Cat Whisperer
"To all the stray cats out there, may you find love, warmth, and a forever home where you are cherished and cared for." — Author Erika du Toit
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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
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Plus CREATIVE activity
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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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Available to order printed copies in 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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Available to order printed copies in 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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Available to order printed copies in 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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Available to order printed copies in
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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Available to order printed copies in English
Senior Phase
Mollie
This story was a gift to Nature-based Education and we play it forward, as a gift.
"We are often blind to truth until it is too late. Mollie suddenly grew thin and frail before my eyes. One day she looked at me with pleading eyes and howled such that it all but reached my soul. Voltaire was right in recognising his cat's soul was the same as his own." — Author Noël Sweeney
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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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Available to order printed copies in English & Afrikaans
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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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Available to order printed copies in English
COMING SOON!
A ground-breaking resource on humane education
The Palgrave Companion to Humane Education is compiled and edited by Professor Andrew Linzey and Dr Clair Linzey at the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics’, and includes a chapter on Humane Education’s pioneering work with Grade 3 learners at Forest Heights Primary School in the Western Cape, over a two-year period.
The chapter is titled The Five Freedoms for Animals as a Basic Learning Requirement for All Young Learners