Mirrors
A Zambian child opens the book and sees their own face, their own name, their own street.
Proverb of the Day
Bemba“Imiti ikula empanga”
The young growing trees are the future forest
Children are tomorrow's community, so we invest in them today.
Submitted anonymously
Once upon a time, in Lusaka…
Bupe opened her first book and found herself inside it.
Kulanda House makes stories, tools and a learning world built for African children because a child who sees themselves in the story never stops wanting to read.
Nominated for the
Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award 2027
Chapter One · Who we are
Kulanda House sits at the intersection of African storytelling and learning. We make books, digital tools and classroom companions that put African children, their names, their landscapes, and their languages at the centre of the story.
Chapter Two · Why it matters
“Reading, then, becomes a means of self-affirmation, and readers often seek their mirrors in books.”
Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop, “Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors” (1990)
Windows
The same child looks out, at Livingstone, at Kitwe, at the wider African world beyond.
Sliding glass doors
And then they step through, imagining themselves into the story and out the other side.
For too long, African children have been offered only windows. Every Kulanda House book begins as a mirror.
Chapter Three · The Three I's
How a child grows through Suku Books
Chanda cannot read a single word yet. That is fine. He starts where every reader starts — by looking.
- 01
Interpretation
The child reads the world through pictures.
- 02
Integration
Words and pictures learn to work together.
- 03
Imagination
Words alone now carry the whole world.
A note for home
Let your child tell you the story from the pictures before they can read the words. That telling is reading too.
The Kulanda world
Everything a young reader needs, made in one place
Suku Books
Five reading levels, Sowing through Fruiting. A child starts with pictures in Sowing and finishes carrying a whole story on their own.
Financial Literacy Series
CDC-approved money lessons written small enough for young minds. Saving for a bicycle. Counting change at the market in Lusaka.
Early Learning Companions
Flashcards, tracing books and colouring books for the hands that are still learning to hold a pencil.
Kulanda Phonics
A Zambian-grounded path from sound to fluent reading, built on the words a child already says at home.
Kula Kids
The digital home where books, teachers and parents meet. One place to follow a child's reading journey.
Chapter Four · A page we're proud of
Nominated for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award 2027
The world's largest award for children's and young adult literature, given in the spirit of the author of Pippi Longstocking. We're honoured that stories made in Lusaka, for Zambian children, are part of that conversation.
6,000+
books sold
20+
partner schools
400+
children in reading sessions
On the shelf now
Visit the bookstore
Where you'll find us
Already in classrooms, already on shelves
CDC
Approved supplementary material
Our financial literacy series is approved by the Curriculum Development Centre for use alongside the Zambian curriculum.
20+
Schools across Zambia
- Woodford School
- International School of Lusaka
- Simba International School
- Impact One Initiative (NGO)
- and many more
Online
Amazon & African Books Collective
Shipped worldwide for families and schools outside Zambia.
In store
Stocked around Zambia
- Book World — Manda Hill, Lusaka, East Park Mall, Lusaka, Pinnacle Mall, Lusaka, Cosmopolitan Mall, Lusaka, Kitwe, Ndola
- Wila Wane — East Park Mall, Lusaka
- Digit Play Space — Lusaka
- Kubu Kafe — Livingstone
The Digital Heart Of It All
Kula Kids is where the story keeps going: a digital space for teachers to track a child's reading journey, and for parents to see it unfold. We're building it closely with a small circle of schools first, because we'd rather get it right than get it big.
A teacher in Solwezi marks the page Mwila finished on Tuesday. His mother sees it that evening, after nshima. That is the whole idea.
Request Access for Your SchoolVoices
What parents tell us after the first read
“My girl loves your books, she is eager to read a book and repeat books. It's beautiful how you display the cover, she actually for the first time identifies with the pictures.”
“Thanks, the kids are enjoying reading the books. Looking forward to the next series.”
Our Partners
Partnerships that turn books into impact
Kulanda House has worked with businesses, service organisations and community partners to extend access to books and learning.
Made for African children,
made by African hands.
Start with one book. See what your child does with it.