For the joy of reading: SA children's book publisher wins prestigious international award
Cape Town-based Imagnary House scooped ‘Best Children’s Publisher: Africa’ at the 2025 Bologna Book Fair.
CapeTalk's John Maytham talks to Brad Harris, founder of Imagnary House.
A Cape Town publisher of children's books won a prestigious international award this month, walking away with ‘Best Children’s Publisher: Africa’ at the 2025 Bologna Children's Book Fair.
Marking World Book Day, John Maytham talks to Imagnary House founder Brad Harris, who leads the company alongside Alison Harris.
Maytham's first question, of course, is about the reason for the misspelling of 'imaginary' in their company name.
It's actually very much at the heart of what they do, Harris says.
"When we were coming up with the name we originally had it correctly spelled, and a child by chance misspelled it and it just carried the heart of what we want to do, which is essentially story over message."
Brad Harris, Founder - Imagnary House
"We're all about imagination before the rules of language, and encouraging the joy for reading before the responsibility of reading."
Brad Harris, Founder - Imagnary House
Expanding on their 'story over message' ethos, Harris explains it's not a case of not believing that message is important, but emphasizing the importance of character and story.
They see message as the responsibility of the reader, and often in this case for a parent or guardian to bring out from the story and discuss with the child.
"It's not that books should not carry messages - they absolutely should, because that's why they often stay with us... but the message only carries if readers fall in love with the character and the story sits with them."
Brad Harris, Founder - Imagnary House
"That's why we have character and story first - because the character's got to be strong in order to carry the story itself, and the message will only remain if those characters can sit in your mind."
Brad Harris, Founder - Imagnary House
Recognition at the Bologna Book Fair can only sharpen Imagnary House's focus on taking their books international.
"It's a viable, growing market in South Africa, but it's small... and there's more and more support internationally for works from developing countries like SA with different perspectives."
Brad Harris, Founder - Imagnary House
Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the interview