Born in 1933 on Farm Klapien in Olifantshoek, Upington, Northern Cape Province, Katrina Esau has an extraordinary story. As the last fluent N|uu speaker, children must hear just how valuable and fragile languages can be. Golden Girl: The Story of Katrina Esau by Lorato Trok and Wendy Hartmann, illustrated by Elizabeth Pulles, does precisely this in a richly textured children’s book, which embraces Ouma Katrina’s voice beautifully.

On Farm Klapien, the family is forbidden from speaking Katrina’s language, N|uu. Despite this, Katrina speaks N|uu with her parents in secret. Katrina longs to go to school, but her parents know that the farmer’s strict rules and the apartheid laws would not allow this. Ouma Katrina and her family walk over 170 km to Upington, a small town in the Northern Cape, to make a new life. Here, the family is forced to speak Afrikaans and take on a coloured identity. Katrina’s N|uu language has almost been lost for many years. Then, Ouma Katrina, determined to save her language, decides to start a school in her home teaching young children how to speak N|uu.

Golden Girl celebrates Ouma Katrina’s life as a leader and teacher. She is a respected Saa elder in the Khoe and San communities of South Africa. N|uu is an ancient San language from the Tuu family. This book is her legacy and our children’s heritage.
This book was made possible with the support of Biblionef and funding from the National Heritage Council.