What do you do when it’s the middle of lockdown 2020, you have two children who are avid readers, you’ve run out of books and all the libraries are closed? Well, in the case of Leon-Ben Lamprecht, you write your own children’s book. 

When Lamprecht wrote his first children’s book, Wie Skrik vir Wortel Wolf, a book made up of three stories about a wolf who is a vegetarian, he inadvertently set himself onto a path as a successful author of children’s books. 

Lamprecht​, who recently graduated from Stellenbosch University with his Master’s degree in Journalism, is a former journalist who now works as a financial planner.  Lamprecht and his wife Sonika found themselves locked down last year with two children, Moya, then eight, and Ben, then six. They have subsequently welcomed a laatlammetjie, Sarah, who recently turned one.  “You only have so many books in your home and the libraries were closed. So one night, I made up this silly story about three little pigs and a vegetarian wolf and told it to my children. They really enjoyed it.” 

He sent the story to a publisher who suggested that he should write two more stories featuring the same wolf character. The book of three stories, which are riffs on the traditional stories of The Three Little Pigs, Red Riding Hood and The Boy Who Cried Wolf, was published by Tafelberg and launched in September 2021. 

Since then, Lamprecht has done readings of his stories about the vegetarian wolf to children in a number of schools. “The kids love the stories and I’d go so far as saying that the parents do too,” he said, adding that it was aimed at first readers or children aged between six and ten. 

Lamprecth completed his BCom degree in 2006, before starting work as a journalist, a career he always wanted to pursue. He worked as a news reporter for Die Burger newspaper for about two years and then moved to the travel magazine Weg, where he worked as a travel writer for about six years. He moved into the world of financial planning when his second child was born in 2014 and completed a postgraduate diploma at the University of Stellenbosch Business School, while working as a financial planner. 

As a travel writer, his adventures included being mock charged by a rhino in the Umfolosi National Park; travelling through the Karoo with a circus troupe for a week; and looking for the mythical monster of the Vaal Dam, an assignment which started in a bar where he was told some “hilarious” stories about the monster, which, he said, may or may not be a big barbel.  

Although he is now working in the world of finance with his father, who is also a broker, it does not mean he will stop writing children’s stories. He still writes for publications and enjoys journalism. 

His next book, Barend die Barbaar, or Barend the Barbarian, will soon be published by Kraal. 

"Barend die Barbaar is a story about a horrible boy who teases everyone until something happens and he changes his ways," said Lamprecht.  

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