A graphic novel depicting the life of Nelson Mandela has won an American award for children’s literature. Nelson Mandela: The Authorized Comic Book won the 2010 Best Book for Older Readers in the Children’s Africana Book Awards from the Outreach Council of the African Studies Association (ASA).

The comic book came about because, “it was a realisation by the Foundation that most kids these days had a good idea of who Nelson Mandela is but not the whole history,” he said.

The award will be presented in November at a ceremony in Washington DC at the National Museum of African Art.

Verne Harris, Head of the Nelson Mandela Foundation’s Memory Programme, said he was delighted that the book, which was initially designed as a series of comics for South African school children, has been honoured in this way.

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