Mahdiyyah Wadee lives in Johannesburg, South Africa. She is only 10 years old and along with her sisters Ammaarah (14) and Taskeen (12) are amongst South Africa’s youngest authors. They live with their parents Ashraf and Kareema, and their little brother Muhammad. Mahdiyyah and her sisters are schooling at Kingsmead College, an accredited Thinking School in Melrose. Here they have learnt to be responsible, to think independently and to have courage with purpose. The girls enjoy reading and writing short stories, especially for their younger 6-year-old brother. They love spending their free time appreciating nature in the Kruger National Park with their parents. They are hoping to pursue their childhood careers of writing with the intention to spread awareness amongst children about conserving endangered animals.

Ammaarah Wadee lives in Johannesburg, South Africa. She is eleven years old. She is presently one of South Africa’s youngest authors. Ammaarah and her two younger sisters, Taskeen (nine years) and Mahdiyyah (seven years) who did the beautiful illustrations, are presently schooling at Kingsmead College in Melrose, where they get a lot of their inspiration. They live with their parents, Ashraf and Kareema. The girls enjoy reading and writing short stories for their two-year-old brother, Muhammad. They are hoping that this will be the first of many publications!

Taskeen Wadee lives in Johannesburg, South Africa. She is 12 years old and along with her sisters Ammaarah (14) and Mahdiyyah (10) are amongst South Africa’s youngest authors. They live with their parents Ashraf and Kareema, and their little brother Muhammad. Taskeen and her sisters are schooling at Kingsmead College, an accredited Thinking School in Melrose. Here they have learnt to be responsible, to think independently and to have courage with purpose. The girls enjoy reading and writing short stories, especially for their younger 6 year old brother. They love spending their free time appreciating nature in the Kruger National Park with their parents. They are hoping to pursue their childhood careers of writing with the intention to spread awareness amongst children about conserving endangered animals.

Ameera Gani lives in Polokwane, South Africa, with her parents, Rehan and Kaamila. She is ten years old. Faizaan, her sister, and her two brothers are presently schooling at Mitchell House School, where she learns to be honest, truthful, loyal, kind, and fair and to recognize the difference between right and wrong.
Faizaan loves reading books to her little brother and is hoping to write many more.

Faizaan Gani lives in Polokwane, South Africa. He is twelve years old. Faizaan is presently schooling at Mitchell House School, where he gets a lot of his inspiration from. Mitchell House School is an eco-school, and that’s where Faizaan’s love for nature began.
Faizaan loves books and is hoping to write many more.

Faizaan has raised awareness about our national fish the galjoen which is an endangered species. It belongs to a family of fish which are found only off our coastline. Well done Faizaan!
-Khadija Ismail
Crescent Montessori School, Polokwane, South Africa

Imaan Ismail lives in Polokwane, South Africa. She is 15 years old. Imaan is currently schooling
at Stanford Lake College, in grade 10. She enjoys athletics and playing tennis in her free time.
She aspires to study technology in the future. With determination, she travelled to the USA as
an exchange student, where she fi rst launched this book.

Eagle Owl’s Plastic Plight   

 Ismail Gani is a budding environmentalist and lives in Polokwane, South Africa. He is 17 years old and is already amongst South Africa’s youngest authors. He lives with his parents Rehan and Kaamila and his siblings Faizaan, Ameera, Almaaz and Omar.

He has taken advantage of the lockdown by reflecting, reading and practicing his football skills which he is most passionate about. He was inspired during this time to take on the challenge of writing, with the intention to create awareness amongst the youth about conservation and the need to make a change.

The Lion of Soweto

 Zameer Dada was the inaugural African Spelling Bee champion in 2016.  Zameer was also a three-time winner of the Mzansi Spelling Bee.

He has advised The President’s Award for Youth Empowerment (associated with the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award) in arranging and co-adjudicating at their first TPA Spelling Bee in 2019.  He is a Grade 11 learner at Sacred Heart College in Johannesburg.

His school has exposed him to enriching, multiculturally diverse experiences which has contributed to him being comfortable in meaningfully connecting with others.  Zameer is passionate about soccer, tennis, reading and speed cubing. Zameer lives in Johannesburg with his parents Ashraf and Kuraysha, his brothers Faeez, Yaseen and Naeem and sister Aliyah.