Beverley Naidoo facts for kids

Beverley Naidoo is a famous author from South Africa. She writes amazing books for children and young adults. Many of her stories are about life in South Africa, especially during a time called apartheid. She now lives in the United Kingdom.

One of her well-known books, The Other Side of Truth, was published in 2000. It tells the story of children who had to leave their home in Nigeria and seek safety in England. This book won the important Carnegie Medal, which is given to the best children's book written by a British author each year.

Naidoo also won the Josette Frank Award twice. She won it in 1986 for her book Journey to Jo'burg and again in 1997 for No Turning Back: A Novel of South Africa.

About Beverley Naidoo

Beverley Naidoo was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, on May 21, 1943. She grew up during a time when South Africa had unfair laws called apartheid. These laws treated people differently based on their skin colour. White children had many advantages, while Black children were sent to separate, poorer schools. Families were even told where they could live, work, and travel. Apartheid stopped children from growing up together with fairness, justice, and respect.

She studied at the University of Witwatersrand and graduated in 1963. Later, Naidoo worked as an adviser for cultural diversity and English in Dorset, England. She has also taught creative writing at Goldsmiths College, University of London. She enjoys leading workshops for young people and adults in Britain and other countries.

Beverley Naidoo married another South African who had also left the country. Apartheid laws made it illegal for white and Black people to marry or live together with their children in South Africa.

As a child, Naidoo loved reading stories. But she only started writing her own books when her children were growing up. Her first book, Journey to Jo'burg, won an award in Britain. It showed readers the difficulties children faced under apartheid. This book was actually banned in South Africa until 1991. That was the year after Nelson Mandela, a famous leader, was released from jail. A few years later, when all South African parents could vote for the first time, Nelson Mandela was elected president.

In 2023, Beverley Naidoo was chosen as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. This is a special honour for writers.

Her Books and Stories

Beverley Naidoo's books often explore important themes. Her stories Journey to Jo'burg, Chain of Fire, and Out of Bounds are all set in South Africa under apartheid. They show what life was like during that unfair time.

No Turning Back tells the story of a boy trying to survive on the streets of Johannesburg right after apartheid ended. The Other Side of Truth and its follow-up, Web of Lies, are about children of a Nigerian writer who seek safety in England. Their father had to speak out against unfairness in his own country.

Her 2007 novel, Burn My Heart, is set in Kenya in the 1950s. It takes place during a time of conflict called the Mau Mau Uprising.

Naidoo has also written several picture books. These books feature children from countries like Botswana and England. In 2004, she wrote the picture book Baba's Gift with her daughter, Maya Naidoo. This story is set in modern-day South Africa. She has also retold old African folktales in her book The Great Tug of War and Other Stories. These tales are similar to the famous Brer Rabbit stories.

List of Works

• Journey to Jo'burg (1985)
• Chain of Fire (1989), sequel to Journey to Jo'burg
• Through Whose Eye? Exploring Racism: reader, text and context (1992), nonfiction
• No Turning Back (1995)
• The Other Side of Truth (2000)
• The Great Tug of War and other stories (2001), retellings
• Out of Bounds: Stories of Conflict and Hope (2003)
• Web of Lies (2004), sequel to The Other Side of Truth
• Making It Home: Real-life Stories from Children Forced to Flee (with Kate Holt)
• Burn My Heart (2007)
• Call of the Deep (2008), retellings
• Death of an Idealist (2012)

Picture books

• Letang and Julie Save the Day (1994)
• Letang's New Friend (1994)
• Trouble for Letang and Julie (1994)
• Where Is Zami? (1998)
• King Lion in Love (2004)
• Baba's Gift (2004), by Beverley and Maya Naidoo
• S Is for South Africa
• Aesop's Fables, a retelling with illustrations by Piet Grobler