Who Are We?

Who Are We ?

We invite you to join us on this journey of discovery to explore reading with your child or with learners in your class. Just about everything we do involves reading. The more advanced society becomes, the more important reading skills are. For this reason, we want to strive to cultivate readers and teach reading. We endeavour to instil a love of reading, even before learners can read.

NOVAE’s series of stories and readers is a language development series where learners are guided to see that a word consists of sounds and letters. Learners who sound words out are thereby empowered to unlock new, unknown words, which then enables them to read.

WHO IS 
ANEL UBBINK

WHO IS ANEL UBBINK

MANAGING DIRECTOR

Anel Ubbink has had books since she was in diapers. Her parents provided cardboard books, picture books, magazines and newspapers. Her earliest memories of books were fabric picture books that she could page through herself as toddler. She was born and raised in Wesselsbron (Freestate), and studied B. ed Foundation Phase at the North West University of Potchefstroom. She currently works from her home studio in Pretoria.
The experience she acquired at various schools during 2010-2017, led her to the realisation that it’s her real calling to cultivate a love of reading in children, and this was the main driving force behind the development of the Novae reading series.
She finds passion in the creation of visual things and loves putting together inspiration boards for Pippa and Pol stories. She always knew that creative thinking would play an important part in her life, but wasn’t sure where her talents would lead her. She is good at connecting with people and finds satisfaction in assisting clients in 
realising a greater vision.

Anel Ubbink has had books since she was in diapers. Her parents provided cardboard books, picture books, magazines and newspapers. Her earliest memories of books were fabric picture books that she could page through herself as toddler. She was born and raised in Wesselsbron (Freestate), and studied B. ed Foundation Phase at the North West University of Potchefstroom. She currently works from her home studio in Pretoria.
The experience she acquired at various schools during 2010-2017, led her to the realisation that it’s her real calling to cultivate a love of reading in children, and this was the main driving force behind the development
of the Novae reading series.
She finds passion in the creation of visual things and loves putting together inspiration boards for Pippa and Pol stories. She always knew that creative thinking would play an important part in her life, but wasn’t sure where her talents would lead her. She is good at connecting with people and finds satisfaction in assisting clients in realising a greater vision.

WHO IS 
MONIQUE JANSSENS

WHO IS MONIQUE JANSSENS

TEACHER AND WRITER

Monique is a foundation phase teacher and has 13 years’ experience with grade 1 learners and 12 years’ experience with grade R learners. They are her biggest inspiration behind the stories in her head. Stories are very important when it comes to a child’s language development. Children also need to be able to listen to a story and indentify with specific characters in the story. Monique enjoys listening to children and watching them. They fascinate
 her every day.
Children are so honest and sincere and she feels that she learns so much from them! The ability to write is a great passion in her life and she realises that creativity is a God-given talent. The stories about Pippa and Pol are fresh, are based on the world that today’s children are living in, and are modern. 
Most of the stories are realistic and relate to the world that the six to nine year old lives in. Reading instruction is her passion, which is why the development of a reading series that relates closely to the storybook was very important to our series. The development of the sequencing cards is of great value to her in her own class.

Monique is a foundation phase teacher and has 13 years’ experience with grade 1 learners and 12 years’ experience with grade R learners. They are her biggest inspiration behind the stories in her head. Stories are very important when it comes to a child’s language development. Children also need to be able to listen to a story and indentify with specific characters in the story. Monique enjoys listening to children and watching them. They fascinate her every day.
Children are so honest and sincere and she feels that she learns so much from them! The ability to write is a great passion in her life and she realises that creativity is a God-given talent. The stories about Pippa and Pol are fresh, are based on the world that today’s children are living in, and are modern. 
Most of the stories are realistic and relate to the world that the six to nine year old lives in. Reading instruction is her passion.

WHO IS 
AMMIE MISKE

WHO IS AMMIE MISKE

ILLUSTRATOR

Ammie Miske is a 22 year old South African illustrator and artist. She was privileged to have been mentored for years by the late Alex van Houwelingen. She considers herself hardworking and keen, and she takes deadlines very seriously. She is very versatile regarding the style of her work, especially in illustration projects. Client satisfaction is her top priority. Her illustrations are published in books all over the world.
Ammie Miske is a 22 year old South African illustrator and artist. She was privileged to have been mentored for years by the late Alex van Houwelingen. She considers herself hardworking and keen, and she takes deadlines very seriously. She is very versatile regarding the style of her work, especially in illustration projects. Client satisfaction is her top priority. Her illustrations are published in books all over the world.

WHO IS 
MICHELLE VAN JAARSVELD

WHO IS MICHELLE VAN JAARSVELD 

AUTHOR AND LANGUAGE EDITOR

Michelle decided that she wanted a degree for reading books, which led her to a BA in Languages, with specialisation in English Studies, which she completed at the University of Pretoria. After 12 years’ experience, she still enjoys proofreading and translating all kinds of different written pieces, as she learns new things every day doing this. She considers it a privilege to be a part of the Novae-team, to be able to play a part in growing the same love of reading in children as she has herself.
A passion for reading and writing has always driven Michelle’s life and choices, and now she enjoys helping to grow this love for written things in young readers. After school, she earned a BA degree in Languages with specialisation in English Studies from the University of Pretoria. After years of language editing and translation, she finally made the leap to start writing – with deep gratitude to be on this blessed journey with Novae.

WHO IS 
JACOLENE DU PLOOY

WHO IS JACOLENE DU PLOOY

PLAY THERAPIST AND WRITER 

Jacolene du Plooy is a writer and play therapist from Pretoria. She feels passionate about empowering children with the skills to be emotionally intelligent and socially capable. She strongly believes and know from experience that children’s books are not only an effective tool to foster a love for reading and the written word but also a valuable tool to teach socio-emotional skills to children. Jacolene is a mom to two teenagers and the bedtime stories she made up for them still provides inspiration for the stories she writes today. 
Jacolene holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and English, an Honours degree in Psychology and she obtained a Masters degree in Play Therapy in 2008.

Jacolene du Plooy is a writer and play therapist from Pretoria. She feels passionate about empowering children with the skills to be emotionally intelligent and socially capable. She strongly believes and know from experience that children’s books are not only an effective tool to foster a love for reading and the written word but also a valuable tool to teach socio-emotional skills to children. Jacolene is a mom to two teenagers and the bedtime stories she made up for them still provides inspiration for the stories she writes today. 
Jacolene holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and English, an Honours degree in Psychology and she obtained a Masters degree in Play Therapy in 2008.

“Reading is dreaming with open eyes”

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