What 14 girls taught us about reading for enjoyment

Every afternoon during the school term, a group of girls gathers at The Voice of an Angel, a baby nursery and girls' clubhouse in Delft. It's run by Paballo Sefotha, who is "Aunty P" to the girls.

Paballo started with a small girls' club in her own home. When The Empathologist Foundation, a Cape Town non-profit that helps women build stable, independent lives through care, practical support and skills development, saw what she was doing, they immediately got behind her.

With their support, Paballo completed her Early Childhood Development training, winning the award for Best Practical Performance. To complete the circle, The Empathologist Foundation then built The Voice of an Angel with her from the ground up, from the structure to the materials inside it.

The Empathologist Foundation, run by José Olcina, believes that when a woman is supported, the benefit reaches far beyond her, into her children, her family and her community. Paballo shows that this works. So when José asked the Otto Foundation to help bring reading into the clubhouse, we knew where to start: with Paballo.

Reading Roots in practice

The Otto Foundation’s work is guided by our Reading Roots. Based on the research around growing reading cultures and supporting reading habits, the Reading Roots represent eight seeds every child needs, so that a lifelong love of reading can take root and flourish. The Reading Roots are access, representation, choice, role models, celebration, young creatives, connection and safety. The Dream Readers collaboration gave us a chance to see what all eight look like together in one small community outside of our school libraries.

The Dream Readers collaboration gave us a chance to see what all eight look like together in one small community outside of our school libraries.

Role models: We met Paballo in May 2026 to talk about the girls, what they liked and how they felt about books. We also talked about how she could make reading part of their afternoons. A group leader who reads for enjoyment herself is worth more than any worksheet, so her part was simple: read with the girls and let them see her enjoying reading.

Safety: On three Saturdays between June and July, the girls travelled from Delft to The Empathologist Foundation’s offices at St George's Cathedral in central Cape Town for a reading workshop. The first one opened with a promise: this is not school, and there are no tests today. The girls agreed on a few rules together: Everybody gets a chance to speak. No laughing at someone's reading. You are allowed to have opinions. The book club offered a safe space to be and a safe space for the girls to share their thoughts, ideas and opinions.

Representation and choice: Then the girls went "book tasting". They moved between genre stations of adventure, friendship, fantasy and graphic novels, paging through covers and first chapters. The table held South African stories such as The Lightning Bird, The Girl with Wings and Legend of Mamlambo, next to books from further afield like The Wild Robot and The Wrong Shoes. After browsing, the girls voted with Post-its for the book they wanted to read together. They chose the book; we didn't choose it for them. Our warm thanks go to The Book Lounge, who lent us many of the books for the tasting on appro, so the girls could hold real books in their hands before they decided what they wanted to read.

Access: At the second workshop, each girl got her own copy of the chosen book and wrote her name inside it. It became their book to read, take along with them on adventures, lend to friends, whatever they wanted to do because it is theirs. A Book Nook, a small lending corner with books the girls can pick up whenever they like, was also part of the plan from the start. If you'd like to set one up in your own school or community, our Book Nook Guide is free to download.

Connection: The second workshop began with José introducing each girl to her Reading Buddy, a small crochet doll lovingly made by Otto Foundation’s Nuraan van der Schyff (Librarian at the Sunbird Library), designed to keep their readers’ company while they read. Back in Delft, Paballo ran Shared Reading at the clubhouse in the afternoons, where everyone read the same story and talked about it.

Young creatives: Young people are more likely to read when they are celebrated as creators themselves. At the third workshop, the girls received Otto Foundation Reading Journals. The journal is a great guide for children to plot their reading journeys, and explore their own identities as writers and book-makers. The girls were introduced to story starters, as well as tips for finding inspiration for stories in their everyday lives. We also rolled story dice and they wrote stories of their own. (The Otto Foundation Reading Journal is available for purchase through Imagnary House)

Celebration: Reading cultures deepen when reading-related wins and achievements are celebrated. Every workshop felt like a celebration, and we celebrated every win, big and small. The last workshop included awards for the girls, and it ended with a picnic.

What the girls told us

At the end of the programme, we asked the girls for feedback on the sessions. The 14 who took part were aged 9 to 15 and in Grades 3 to 9. This programme was never a reading test; we didn’t measure words-per-minute or how many pages they read. It was always about their personal impressions, in their own words and scores, about reading and how it feels to be a reader.

Here’s what they said:

• Confidence. Asked whether they feel more confident reading, 11 of the 14 girls gave the highest possible score (5/5). The other three gave 4/5. No one scored below 4.

• Enjoyment. Before Dream Readers, their feelings about reading were mixed, and several girls rated their enjoyment 1, 2 or 3 out of 5. Afterwards, every girl scored 4 or 5 when asked whether she enjoys reading more.

• Habit. Most said they read more often now. Ten gave the maximum score.

• Safety. One of the highest-scoring statements was "Dream Readers is a place where I feel safe, welcome and respected." Of 13 responses, 12 gave it 5/5 and one gave 4/5.

• Hope. Asked whether Dream Readers made them believe books can open new possibilities for their future, 13 of the 14 girls scored 5/5.

When we asked what the club had helped them with, the answer that came up most often was learning new words 

When we asked what the club had helped them with, the answer that came up most often was learning new words (13 girls). It was followed by enjoying reading more, reading more often and feeling more confident (nine girls each), then believing in themselves and discovering new ideas (eight each).

The Reading Buddies turned out to matter more than we expected. When we asked about them, the girls kept giving the same three answers: their buddies made reading more fun, helped them feel supported, and made them more confident. A reader who is still finding her feet can feel nervous reading aloud to a room. It's a lot easier to practise on a friend who won't laugh and won't correct you, and that seems to be exactly what the reading buddy dolls became.

What they'd change

Most of the girls said "Nothing." The few suggestions they did make were about the group: less gossip, less laughing at others, no bullying, listening while someone is speaking, and more time together. (Anyone who has been in a book club, including the grown-up kind, will recognise that list.)

We're glad they said it. Their suggestions line up almost exactly with the rules they wrote on the first day, which tells us they took those rules seriously and want the club to follow them.

What comes next

When we asked whether they wanted Dream Readers to continue, and whether they wanted to read more books together, all 14 girls said yes. When we asked whether they'd join a writing club, 13 said yes and one said maybe. Nobody said no.

Their final comments were short and clear: "I love reading." "We want to write our own stories." "We want to read one by one." "I enjoy being with my friends." And, of course, "Aunty P is the best."

José will be checking in periodically to see how the Book Nook is being used and whether the Dream Readers are still reading together. We cannot wait to hear what he says.

Our thanks go to José Olcina and the team at The Empathologist Foundation, to The Book Lounge, and above all to Paballo. The Empathologist Foundation invested in her, and she has passed that on to these very special young girls. As one of them put it: "I'm glad I joined Dream Readers."

So are we.

Tania Kliphuis

October 2026