The essays in this book discuss English-language children's books, books that have had a mixed readership of adults and children, writing by or about children, and some writers with childhood associations, all of which have a South African connection. The books were written by South Africans, were published in South Africa, or have significant South African content; the writers, if not South African, lived in the country or elsewhere in Southern Africa for a while. Except for one, the essays were originally published in periodicals or on the Internet and have been revised and updated. Chapter 12 was written specially for this volume. The topics range from the oral tales of the indigenous people, through the earliest books, which were set in South Africa in the nineteenth century, to literature in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

After two introductory, general chapters, the rest follow roughly chronologically according to period of publication, ending with two general chapters on research in South African English children's literature. I have picked out some common threads, of themes, subject matter and approach, but readers may find others. There is far more to say about the books that I discuss than space will allow.

The book opens with a brief overview that I presented to an international audience at a conference in Cape Town on the conference theme of “Sharing our stories”. Chapter 2 looks at the peritexts of books – all the writing that clusters around the texts themselves – and how the peritexts and texts interact. One remarkable feature is how, from the earliest children's books in English about South Africa to modern ones, authors have felt the need to asseverate the authenticity of the factual aspects of their books, whether they be fiction or non-fiction. Peritexts are a feature of the contexts in which I read the texts. Repeatedly I have to consider what the authors, editors, guest writers of forewords, publishers, critics quoted on the covers, and other contributors to the peritexts have had to say about the books: who the writers are; who the intended readers are; how the books came to be written; how they are to be read; how they relate to other books.