Dancing Words by Athambile Masola follows Vuyo as she discovers the joy of words, books, songs and poetry in a beautiful new South African children’s book.
South Africa (06 October 2026) – Words are everywhere, and sometimes they can even dance. Award-winning poet Athambile Masola brings the joy of language, stories and imagination to life in her latest children’s book, Dancing Words, beautifully illustrated by Katlego “Kat” Keokgale.
The story follows Vuyo, a young girl who discovers new words wherever she goes. At home, she learns words connected to nature and food, while trips to the library with Tata introduce her to the wonderful world of books.
At school, Vuyo and her friends turn words their teacher has taught them into songs, while Sunday school brings the words of hymns into her world. Then, one night, Vuyo has a dream about words dancing. When she wakes, she turns that dream into a beautiful poem.
It is a gentle and imaginative story about the many ways children encounter words, while encouraging young readers to see language as something they can enjoy, explore and create with.
Masola is an award-winning poet who has been writing across genres for almost two decades. Her commitment to storytelling comes from a childhood filled with stories and songs, experiences which helped shape the way she sees the world.
She works across English, isiXhosa and Afrikaans, with multilingualism also playing an important role in her love of stories. She has published children’s history books, academic writing and creative non-fiction.
Her debut poetry collection, Ilifa, published by Uhlanga Press, was awarded the Best Poetry Prize by the HSS Awards in 2022. Masola lives in Cape Town and teaches at the University of Cape Town. Dancing Words is her first book with Pan Macmillan South Africa.
The book is brought to life through the illustrations of Kat Keokgale, a children’s book illustrator who loves reading and watching anything with magic in it. The illustrations a bright, lively and the perfect way to engage young readers just learning to read.
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Through her work, she hopes to inspire more Black creatives to pursue children’s book illustration and help grow an industry filled with stories that deserve to be told.
Dancing Words is also available in isiZulu, isiXhosa, Setswana and Afrikaans, making Vuyo’s story accessible to young readers across several of South Africa’s languages.
At its heart, Dancing Words is a celebration of curiosity and creativity, showing young readers that words can be found in the world around them, in books, songs, lessons and stories, and that they can take those words and create something of their own.
If you would like to learn more about Dancing Words, you can find the book here. Interested in more proudly South African books? You can find more of our book reviews here.
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