Anglican Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu launched his new illustrated Children's Bible at the Cape Town Book Fair today (subs: July 30, 2010). The Nobel Laureate addressed the world launch of this book at the Cape Town International Convention Centre just a week after he announced his retirement from public life. 

The book, Children of God, has involved 20 illustrators from around the world and will be distributed by 10 international publishing companies. It has thus far been translated into 11 languages, including several South African languages, and is aimed at children between the ages of four and seven. The book contains 50 of Tutu's favourite bible stories, with accompanying illustrations.

 The first print run sees 200 000 copies being printed.

The launch took place at the start of the fifth annual Cape Town Book Fair, in association with the Frankfurt Book Fair, presented by the Publishers' Association of South Africa, held in the CTICC. It runs from July 30 until August 2, 2010, with the trade day on July 30.

 "Today is a very gratifying day, and sees the culmination of a massive project that started four years ago over a cup of coffee," said Tutu's literary agent, Lynn Franklin. For her, this illustrated Bible is a uniquely global storybook that shows that borders and boundaries are not barriers.

 Project manager Stephan Spies explained that an immense amount of team work went into this project. Many team members only ever communicated over phones and emails, while meeting each other face-to-face for the first time at the launch event in Cape Town.

 "We wanted to combine the modern challenges of Christianity with Biblical truths. For this reason, we are proud of this children's Bible's three unique features: the global character of the illustrations, the attention paid to sensitive gender issues, and the book's ability to incorporate all cultures in the message it delivers," said Spies.

 Tutu jokingly thanked everyone who worked on the children's Bible, and all his staff members, for "making me look good" with the launch and presentation of Children of God. He dedicated his book to the memory of the late Luke Stubbs, who originally came up with the idea of an illustrated children's bible. Stubbs passed away in 2009. 

 "This book gives us a window into the beauty of God. If the creatures are so great, how incredible must the Creator be," Tutu asked. 

Tutu was presented with a special copy of the book during the launch event. Children of God is published in South Africa by Lux Verbi, and by 10 publishers worldwide.

* To find out more, log on to www.capetownbookfair.com

For queries, contact:
Claudia Kaiser
Director of the Cape Town Book Fair
Email: claudia@capetownbookfair.co.za

 Sadika Ahmed
Sales and Exhibitions Manager
Telephone: +27 21 418 5493