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	<title>PaperTigers Blog &#187; Katie Smith Milway</title>
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		<title>World Earth Day: Interview with Katie Smith Milway, author of The Good Garden</title>
		<link>http://www.papertigers.org/wordpress/world-earth-day-interview-with-katie-smith-milway-author-of-the-good-garden/</link>
		<comments>http://www.papertigers.org/wordpress/world-earth-day-interview-with-katie-smith-milway-author-of-the-good-garden/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 22 Apr 2011 16:06:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Marjorie</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Global Voices]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Honduras]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Interview]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[World Literacy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[author interview]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Don Elias]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Earth Day]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Earth Day 2011]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Edward Everett School]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Eugenie Fernandes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Katie Smith Milway]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Maria Cecilia Vasquez]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[One Hen]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Phoebe Hearst school]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sidwell Friends School]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sustainable farming]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sylvie Daigneault]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Good Garden]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[World Earth Day]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.papertigers.org/wordpress/?p=17896</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Last year we spoke to Katie Smith Milway about her first solo children&#8217;s book One Hen: How One Small Loan Made a Big Difference, selected for the Spirit of PaperTigers 2010 Book Set; it&#8217;s great to welcome her back now to talk about her latest book The Good Garden: How One Family Went from Hunger [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.papertigers.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/katie.jpg" alt="" title="Katie Smith Milway" width="200" height="249" class="alignright size-full wp-image-17901" />Last year we spoke to <a href="http://www.papertigers.org/interviews/archived_interviews/kmilway.html">Katie Smith Milway</a> about her first solo children&#8217;s book <em><a href="http://www.papertigers.org/reviews/USA/papertigers/OneHen.html">One Hen: How One Small Loan Made a Big Difference</a></em>, selected for the <a href="http://www.papertigers.org/ptOutreach/spt/2010BookSet.html">Spirit of PaperTigers 2010 Book Set</a>; it&#8217;s great to welcome her back now to talk about her latest book <em>The Good Garden: How One Family Went from Hunger to Having Enough</em>, which promises to be equally life-changing and life-affirming as <em>One Hen</em>. <em>The Good Garden</em> is illustrated by <a href="http://www.sylviedaigneault.com/">Sylvie Daigneault</a> and, like <em>One Hen</em>, is published by Kids Can Press as part of their superb <a href="http://www.kidscanpress.com/US/CitizenKid-C2539.aspx?section=5&#038;series=2">CitizenKid </a>series.</p>
<p>Katie is a partner at the <a href="http://www.bridgespan.org/">Bridgespan Group</a>, an advisory to nonprofits and philanthropy. She has written many books and articles on sustainable development and has coordinated community development programs in Africa and Latin America for <a href="http://www.fhi.net/FHI.html">Food for the Hungry International</a>.  She is also the co-author with her mother Mary Ann Smith of <em><a href="http://www.umanitoba.ca/outreach/cm/vol8/no18/cappuccina.html">Cappuccina Goes to Town</a></em> (Kids Can Press, 2002), as well as the non-fiction book <a href="http://www.styluspub.com/clients/kum/books/BookDetail.aspx?productID=187177"><em>The Human Farm: A Tale of Changing Lives &#038; Changing Lands</em></a> (Kumarian Press/Stylus Publishing,1994).</p>
<p>Katie lives in Wellesley, Massachusetts, USA.</p>
<div align="center">&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;</div>
<p><a href="http://www.papertigers.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/TheGoodGarden.jpg"><img src="http://www.papertigers.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/TheGoodGarden.jpg" alt="" title="The Good Garden by Katie Smith Milway, illustrated by Sylvie Daigneault (Kids Can Press, 2010)" width="200" height="265" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-17905" /></a><strong><em>In your interview with PaperTigers last year, while touching upon the then forthcoming </em>The Good Garden<em>, you said, &#8220;In an era of food crisis, any child can play their part in their home or school garden, or in supporting poor farmers through acts of giving.&#8221;  How have you aimed at getting that message across in the book?<br />
</em></strong><br />
<em>The Good Garden</em> is based on true people and events, and portrays the life of a campesino family in Honduras.  They, like so many small farmers around the world eke out barely enough to live on – in a good year – and are highly vulnerable to hunger and malnutrition, when weather or insects create havoc.  This family&#8217;s life is transformed, however, when a new teacher, Don Pedro, comes to the village school and gets the family&#8217;s daughter, María Luz Duarte, to help him plant a school garden – which he not only uses to teach students their basic subjects, but moreover to teach simple, sustainable agriculture methods that they can apply using their innate human resources: their heads, hands and heart.  Through the caring labor of composting, terracing the hillside, planting beans among corn to keep soil nutrients in balance, and even dotting the terraces with flowers that smell bad to bugs, students see their school garden thrive on land that they all thought was too poor to keep them going.  María Luz and others bring the learning home to their farms, improve their crops and grow in confidence about taking their own produce to market as opposed to selling to unfair middlemen – called &#8220;coyotes&#8221; in Honduras – who scoop profits.  The knowledge they glean in the marketplace triggers another cycle of learning and innovation.  Most importantly, the way the family shares what they have learned – passes it forward – ultimately transforms village after village.  </p>
<p>So on one hand, kids see many acts of giving within the story – from teacher to student, from student to family and from family to family.  At the back of the book, however, we offer practical ways that kids can help local food banks and community gardens, or give to international organizations like <a href="http://www.worldvision.org/">World Vision</a> or <a href="http://www.heifer.org/">Heifer International</a> that provide seeds, tools and farm animals to families that need them.  On our website <a href="http://www.thegoodgarden.org/">www.thegoodgarden.org</a>, kids can learn more and join a national food drive.</p>
<p><em><strong>What else do you hope children will find inspirational in the book, which is based on the true story of Honduran teacher Don Elías, who had a profound affect not only on his pupils, but also on the whole community, through spreading his practical knowledge of what was needed to create sustainable farmland?</strong></em></p>
<p>I hope kids will feel empowered to apply their heads, hands and hearts to any problem to help themselves and others.  And I especially hope <em>The Good Garden </em>interests them in combating world hunger – ideas for action are listed at the back of the book.  I also hope we see even more school, community and family gardens sprouting up – so kids can identify, if only in a small way, with the billions of poor in our world who live off the land, and so they can experience the satisfaction and nutrition of self-grown produce.</p>
<p><img src="http://www.papertigers.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/MaryKateBrendanKatieHarvestingTheirOwnGoodGarden.jpg" alt="" title="Mary Kate, Brendan and Katie Smith Milway harvesting their own Good Garden" width="320" height="213" class="alignright size-full wp-image-17911" />As I was completing <em>The Good Garden</em> manuscript in spring 2009, two of my kids got interested in planting a vegetable garden, and so we&#8217;ve had a miniature farming experience ourselves. The kids worked their tails off planting, watering and weeding.  They harvested corn, Brussels sprouts and cucumbers, but bugs and shade killed most of the peppers and tomatoes.  This summer, Brendan (15) and Mary Kate (12) expanded the garden for maximum sunlight and planted marigolds to repel the bugs.  We&#8217;ve had great peppers, tomatoes and eggplants, but a varmint got through the fencing and decimated the corn patch.  All to say, we have learned how good home-grown food can be, but also the tenuousness of growing it.  We would starve without groceries! </p>
<p><strong>The Good Garden <em>has only been out for a few months but have you already heard about schools using it as a springboard for their own projects?</strong></em></p>
<p>Absolutely.  Here are a few anecdotes:  <span id="more-17896"></span><a href="http://www.sidwell.edu/news/detail.aspx?pageaction=ViewSinglePublic&#038;LinkID=22059&#038;ModuleID=640">Sidwell Friends School</a> in Washington, D.C. invited me down from Boston and María Luz up from Honduras (her real name is María Cecilia Vasquez, and there is a <a href="http://www.thegoodgarden.org/LearnTheStory.php">documentary </a>about her real story) to speak to their middle school and reinforce their existing program to provide vegetables to a local soup kitchen.  Across the street from Sidwell Friends, the <a href="http://www.hearstes.org/hearst-garden">Phoebe Hearst</a> Public School, which joined forces for María Cecilia’s visit, read <em>The Good Garden</em> to their entire school during what they called &#8220;Good Garden Fridays&#8221; throughout the fall, and then they went out and worked in their school garden.  Meanwhile, in Dorchester, Massachusetts, a school called <a href="http://www.boston.k12.ma.us/everett/Everett_Website/Environmental_Education.html">Edward Everett</a> is planning to use <em>The Good Garden</em> as a springboard for helping a local homeless shelter to build their own vegetable garden.  So the connection between the book and school gardening appears strong – and it’s helping schools move beyond their own gardens to collaborating in the community.</p>
<p><em><strong>Can you tell us about the real María, who was the inspiration for </em>The Good Garden<em>&#8216;s 11-year-old protagonist María?  What was her reaction to finding herself in your book?</strong></em></p>
<p><img src="http://www.papertigers.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Maria1.jpg" alt="" title="Maria Cecilia Vasquez, Honduras (The Good Garden)" width="320" height="214" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-17908" />Last summer, we made a short documentary of one of the campesino families I profiled 18 years ago when writing the biography of Don Elías Sanchez, the Johnny Appleseed of sustainable agriculture in Honduras, and basis for the teacher Don Pedro in <em>The Good Garden</em>.  We filmed the Vasquez family, a heartwarming father/daughter story of reviving poor land, as portrayed by the Duarte family in <em>The Good Garden</em>.  The real María Luz is named María Cecilia.  She has grown up and become an important community development worker in her province, looking after more than 300 campesinos (at the age of 21!) and connecting them to training and fair credit.  She is the first in her family to obtain a high school diploma and a profession outside of subsistence farming.  And she would tell you that a key difference between my book and her life was that it took about 10 years to transform their family farm, not just a season.  During those 10 years she was up before dawn working the farm, then off to school in her one dress, then back to do chores and cook, then homework in the one notebook per year her father could afford her – when she wrote on the last page, she would memorize the lessons, erase and reuse it!  It was such a privilege to be able to tell &#8220;the rest of the story&#8221; in the film – and to underscore the &#8220;girl effect&#8221;:  when you invest in girls in developing countries, you really do invest in a family and community.</p>
<p><em><strong>You met Don Elías in Honduras in 1992.  What was it like to spend some time working alongside him?  In what ways has he inspired the way you live your life?</strong></em></p>
<p><img src="http://www.papertigers.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DonElias.jpg" alt="" title="Don Elias, Honduras" width="320" height="258" class="alignright size-full wp-image-17907" />Oh yes!  In the summer of 1992, I spent time in Honduras living and working on Don Elías’ training farm alongside campesinos, and visiting former trainees – men and women &#8211; on their farms to see the fruits of their learning.  Elías was a short, feisty, former-campesino-turned-teacher who had helped about 30,000 farming families — rural and urban — to food security.   I&#8217;m basically a black thumb, but even I learned how to get a seed to sprout using my God-given abilities – thought, hard work and caring about what I was trying to do.   I heard from campesinos, again, and again, that as they learned to nurture their land, and saw the results, they became more interested in nurturing their families and their communities – sending their kids to school, getting them vaccinated, investing in running water and sanitation and so forth. There was a spiritual aspect, too – as farmers got into synch with Creation many grew reconnected to their faith community.  Alleviating hunger and thirst is really a first step in alleviating poverty of the body and soul.  It&#8217;s hard to strive for education, entrepreneurship or enlightenment if your belly is empty.  Don Elías, who was not particularly religious, had a credo: &#8220;Ideas unshared have no value!&#8221;  It&#8217;s a principle that one can apply to all of work and life.<br />
<strong><br />
<em>What was it like going back to Honduras recently and witnessing the differences in the land and the people?</em></strong></p>
<p>Elías passed away in 2000, but I had the chance to revisit his training farm in Honduras in 2005, and to spend time with his widow, Candida, with his protégé Milton Flores, and several other characters from a biography of Elías that I had written some years before.  Incredibly, his farm&#8217;s terraces held in the teeth of Hurricane Mitch, which wracked Honduras in 1998, and I walked those original big, earthen steps.  It was really wonderful to be back and see both what had changed (buildings and capacity) and what had stayed the same – the approach to empowerment, the simple technologies and those sturdy terraces.<br />
<em><br />
<strong>In your <a href="http://cynthialeitichsmith.blogspot.com/2011/01/guest-post-katie-smith-milway-on-good.html">guest post</a> for Cynsations recently you said that Don Elías&#8217; starting point was always to &#8220;plant a seed in campesinos&#8217; heads: the ideas that they could solve a lot of their problems using their innate resources: their heads, hands and hearts&#8221; – this seems particularly meaningful in light of </em>The Good Garden<em>&#8216;s focus on the soil and planting seeds to grow a plentiful supply of food.  Do you think it&#8217;s possible to have the one without the other?</strong></em></p>
<p>I think it is hard to succeed in anything without belief in the mission and your ability to accomplish it.  Those seeds of ideas that Don Elías planted created hopes, dreams and, most of all, confidence to achieve them.  That was his &#8220;magic&#8221;.  I would see campesinos shuffle into the training room on Day 1 of a program and be looking Don Elías in the eye by Day 3, telling him their new ideas.  He was a study in empowerment.<br />
<strong><br />
<em>Having first heard about Don Elías when you were writing your non-fiction book </em>The Human Farm<em>, did you know straight away that you wanted to create a children&#8217;s story out of it?</strong></em></p>
<p>Just as you say, inadvertently, the book is the fruit of about 18 years of thought and labor!  I researched the life of the teacher – Don Elías Sanchez – in 1992 just after the Earth Summit, for a biography-based story of healthy community development: <em>The Human Farm: A Tale of Changing Lives &#038; Changing Lands</em> .  Then, in 2005, just as I was finishing up the manuscript for my last kids&#8217; book, <em>One Hen</em>, the protagonists in <em>The Human Farm</em> came out with a Spanish translation and asked me to review it. As I reread paragraphs on Don Elías’ early life – when he was a rural school teacher and taught farm kids through building school gardens – something just clicked! I saw the setting for a great children&#8217;s story to communicate lessons of food security and how kids can play a role in addressing global hunger.</p>
<p><em><strong>The One Hen website has already been a phenomenal success.  Can you tell us a bit about the website <a href="http://www.thegoodgarden.org/">thegoodgarden.org</a> and how you hope it will work alongside the book</strong>?<br />
</em><br />
The website offers resources around each word in our motto &#8220;Learn, Play, Make a Difference!&#8221;  Under the <strong>Learn </strong>icon, we offer schools free, downloadable lesson plans that relate the topic of food security to social studies, science, community service and other subjects.  In addition, it has a Meet Real People tab where we have biographies of many subsistence farmers from around the world, with each one exemplifying a tool or approach they adopted to move from hunger to having enough.  Under <strong>Play</strong>, we currently have an interactive quiz and we’re seeking funding to build out a virtual farm game.  We also have forms for schools to fill in if they want to order a free Good Garden Chutes and Ladders, to use in the classroom (the game will release this fall).  Finally, under <strong>Make a Difference</strong>, kids can register as a class, club or family to join our annual food drive where we try, as kids across the nation, to make a big difference for food availability.<br />
<strong><br />
<em>How does The Good Garden fit in with/compliment the other books in Kids Can Press&#8217; CitizenKid Series? </em> </strong> </p>
<p>Well, it addresses a new topic for the series: food security. But in a sense, it also builds on two earlier books: <em>Tree of Life</em> and <em><a href="http://www.papertigers.org/wordpress/books-at-bedtime-if-the-world-were-a-village/">If the World Were a Village</a></em>, which respectively lay out biodiversity and how the resources divide up around the world.</p>
<p><em><strong>The theme for this year&#8217;s World Earth Day is &#8220;<a href="http://act.earthday.org/">A Billion Acts of Green</a>&#8220;.  How do you hope </em>The Good Garden<em> can contribute to that? Do you have any special plans for World Earth Day?  </strong></em></p>
<p>I hope <em>The Good Garden</em> reminds kids how much power they have to trigger big things through small but consistent acts, whether it&#8217;s planting a tree a year, or planting an entire community garden with classmates or neighbors, and serving a harvest meal to those in need.  As for the Milway family project, we are going to plant our vegetable garden and pick up trash in our neighbourhood park!</p>
<p><em><strong>And what about for the future, regarding any new book projects?</strong></em></p>
<p>I do have another book in the works that will introduce kids to primary health care and how they can build healthier communities and help stem disease abroad.  It&#8217;s now in illustration with my <em>One Hen</em> collaborator <a href="http://www.papertigers.org/gallery/Eugenie_Fernandes/index.html">Eugenie Fernandes</a>, and due out Fall 2012.</p>
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		<title>Kidlit4Japan: PaperTigers Auction &#8211; #121: A Signed Spirit of PaperTigers 2010 Book Set</title>
		<link>http://www.papertigers.org/wordpress/kidlit4japan-papertigers-auction-121-a-signed-spirit-of-papertigers-2010-book-set/</link>
		<comments>http://www.papertigers.org/wordpress/kidlit4japan-papertigers-auction-121-a-signed-spirit-of-papertigers-2010-book-set/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 08 Apr 2011 22:18:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Marjorie</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Eventful World]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bolormaa Baasansuren]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Claire A. Nivola]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Clare Farrow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Eugenie Fernandes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[First Come the Zebra]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Grace Lin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Guo Yue]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Katie Smith Milway]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kidlit for Japan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Little Leap Forward]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lucia Gonzalez]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lulu Delacre]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lynne Barasch]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[My Little Round House]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[One Hen: How One Small Loan Made A Big Difference]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Planting the Trees of Kenya]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Spirit of PaperTigers Book Set]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Storyteller's Candle]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Where the Mountain Meets the Moon]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.papertigers.org/wordpress/?p=17575</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Now live over on the Kidlit4Japan site: Auction #121: A Spirit of PaperTigers 2010 Book Set of Seven Picture books, some signed. From PaperTigers.org Description: You are bidding for a set of seven high-quality picture books (all hardcover) which were selected as the Spirit of PaperTigers book set for 2010 to be sent to different [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Now live over on the Kidlit4Japan site:</p>
<p><strong><a href="http://kidlit4japan.wordpress.com/2011/04/08/kidlit4japan-auction-121-from-papertigers-org/">Auction #121: A Spirit of PaperTigers 2010 Book Set of Seven Picture books, some signed. From PaperTigers.org</a> </strong></p>
<p><strong>Description:</strong> You are bidding for a set of seven high-quality picture books (all hardcover) which were selected as the Spirit of PaperTigers book set for 2010 to be sent to different schools and libraries around the world.</p>
<div><img class="aligncenter" title="Spirit of PaperTigers Book Set 2010" src="http://www.papertigers.org/blog/SPT2010Bookset.jpg" alt="" width="450" height="123" /></div>
<p>The Book Set comprises the following titles with some, as indicated, containing book plates signed by the author/illustrator:</p>
<p><strong><em>First Come the Zebra</em> &#8211; SIGNED</strong><br />
Written and illustrated by Lynne Barasch<br />
Lee &amp; Low, 2009. Ages 4-8</p>
<p><strong><em>Little Leap Forward: A Boy in Beijing </em>– SIGNED BY THE AUTHORS</strong><br />
Written by Guo Yue and Clare Farrow, illustrated by Helen Cann<br />
Barefoot Books, 2008. Ages 9-12</p>
<p><em><strong>My Little Round House</strong></em> <strong>- SIGNED</strong><br />
Written and illustrated by Bolormaa Baasansuren<br />
Groundwood Books / House of Anansi Press, 2009. Ages 4-8</p>
<p><strong><em>One Hen: How One Small Loan Made a Big Difference</em> – SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR</strong><br />
Written by Katie Smith Milway, illustrated by Eugenie Fernandes<br />
Kids Can Press, 2008. Ages 7+</p>
<p><em><strong>Planting the Trees of Kenya: The Story of Wangari Maathai</strong></em><strong> &#8211; SIGNED</strong><br />
Written and illustrated by Claire A. Nivola<br />
Frances Foster Books/Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2009. Ages 5-8</p>
<p><strong><em>The Storyteller&#8217;s Candle / La velita de los cuentos </em>– SIGNED BY THE ILLUSTRATOR</strong><br />
Written by Lucia Gonzalez, illustrated by Lulu Delacre<br />
Children&#8217;s Book Press, 2008. Ages 4-8</p>
<p><em><strong>Where the Mountain Meets the Moon</strong></em><strong> &#8211; SIGNED</strong><br />
Written and illustrated by Grace Lin<br />
Little Brown Books for Young Readers, 2009. Ages 9-12</p>
<p><strong>Estimated Value</strong>: $150</p>
<p><strong>Bio</strong>: PaperTigers.org is a colorful website devoted to multicultural books from around the world for children and young adults, with a particular focus on the Pacific Rim and South Asia. We seek to promote the celebration and tolerance of diversity, and to nurture literacy and a love of reading. As well as highlighting the world of multicultural children&#8217;s and ya literature on our website and blog, we work to reinforce our goal of promoting cross-cultural understanding via our Spirit of PaperTigers Outreach, under the banner Books and Water: Nourishing the Mind and Body.</p>
<p><strong>PaperTigers&#8217; website:</strong> <a href="www.papertigers.org">www.papertigers.org</a></p>
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		<title>Boston Book Festival Panel: Understanding Social Justice Through Fiction ~ Oct 16, Boston, MA, USA</title>
		<link>http://www.papertigers.org/wordpress/boston-book-festival-panel-understanding-social-justice-through-fiction-oct-16-boston-ma-usa/</link>
		<comments>http://www.papertigers.org/wordpress/boston-book-festival-panel-understanding-social-justice-through-fiction-oct-16-boston-ma-usa/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 15 Oct 2010 07:31:26 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Corinne</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Eventful World]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bamboo People]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Boston Public Library]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Busing Brewster]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Christina Gonzalez]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Katie Smith Milway]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lionel Vital]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[One Hen: How One Small Loan Made A Big Difference]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[refugee]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Richard Michelson]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Selavi: A Haitian Story of Hope]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[social justice]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[social justice in children's books]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Red Umbrella]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[understanding social justice through fiction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Youme Landowne]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.papertigers.org/wordpress/?p=15166</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Mitali Perkins, author of Bamboo People, Christina Gonzalez, author of The Red Umbrella, Richard Michelson, author of Busing Brewster and Lionel Vital (inspiration for Youme Landowne’s Selavi: A Haitian Story of Hope) tell the stories and struggles of children around the world. This free Boston Book Festival event is moderated by Katie Smith Milway, author of [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.papertigers.org/wordpress/tag/mitali-perkins/">Mitali Perkins</a>, author of <em><a href="http://www.papertigers.org/reviews/USA/papertigers/BambooPeople.html">Bamboo People</a></em>, Christina Gonzalez, author of <em><a href="http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780375861901">The Red Umbrella</a></em>, <a href="http://www.rmichelson.com/Artist_Pages/Gallery/RM/RM_Childrens.htm">Richard Michelson</a>, author of <a href="http://www.rmichelson.com/Artist_Pages/Gallery/RM/B_Busing-Brewster.html"><em>Busing Brewster</em> </a>and Lionel Vital (inspiration for <a href="http://216.150.2.26/youme/">Youme Landowne’s</a> <a href="http://www.cincopuntos.com/products_detail.sstg?id=92"><em>Selavi: A Haitian Story of Hope</em></a><em>)</em> tell the stories and struggles of children around the world. This free <a href="http://www.bostonbookfest.org/">Boston Book Festival </a>event is moderated by <a href="http://www.papertigers.org/wordpress/tag/katie-smith-milway/">Katie Smith Milway</a>, author of <a href="http://www.papertigers.org/reviews/USA/papertigers/OneHen.html"><em>One Hen</em></a><em>.</em></p>
<p>Following a brief introduction, each author will present individually for 10 minutes. The presentations will be followed by a discussion and question and answer period with the audience, moderated by the session host. The event will culminate with a booksigning.</p>
<p>The event takes place tomorrow, Saturday, October 16 from 11:30am &#8211; 12:30pm at Church of the Covenant, 67 Newbury Street, Boston, MA , USA.</p>
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		<title>Just released: The Good Garden, by Katie Smith Milway</title>
		<link>http://www.papertigers.org/wordpress/just-released-the-good-garden-by-katie-smith-milway/</link>
		<comments>http://www.papertigers.org/wordpress/just-released-the-good-garden-by-katie-smith-milway/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 10 Sep 2010 20:23:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Aline</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cultures and Countries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Latin America]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Middle Grade Books]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Picture Books]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[food security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Katie Smith Milway]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kids Can Press]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[One Hen Inc.]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[One Hen: How One Small Loan Made A Big Difference]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Good Garden]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.papertigers.org/wordpress/?p=14273</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[First came the very special One Hen: How One Small Loan Made a Big Difference, which taught kids about microfinance. Now, Katie Smith Milway brings us another powerful book: The Good Garden: How One Family Went from Hunger to Having Enough (Kids Can Press). The Good Garden tackles the topic of food security and is [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.papertigers.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/GoodGardencover_sm.png" alt="The Good Garden, book cover" title="The Good Garden, book cover" width="100" height="133" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-14275" />First came the very special <em><a href="http://www.papertigers.org/ptOutreach/spt/2010BookSet.html#OH">One Hen: How One Small Loan Made a Big Difference</a></em>, which taught kids about microfinance. Now, <a href="http://www.papertigers.org/interviews/archived_interviews/kmilway.html">Katie Smith Milway</a> brings us another powerful book: <em><strong>The Good Garden: How One Family Went from Hunger to Having Enough</strong></em> (Kids Can Press). <em>The Good Garden</em> tackles the topic of food security and is the inspiring story of a Honduran young girl and her family’s journey to growing enough food to meet their needs (you can watch a book trailer <a href="http://www.thegoodgarden.org/LearnTheStory.php">here</a>). The book is accompanied by a <a href="http://www.thegoodgarden.org"> Good Garden Enrichment Program</a>, an online resource developed by One Hen, Inc.</p>
<p>A portion of all book sales go to fund One Hen, Inc.&#8217;s programs in disadvantaged communities.</p>
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		<title>Spirit of PaperTigers: We Have Feedback!</title>
		<link>http://www.papertigers.org/wordpress/spirit-of-papertigers-we-have-feedback/</link>
		<comments>http://www.papertigers.org/wordpress/spirit-of-papertigers-we-have-feedback/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 09 Jun 2010 16:55:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Marjorie</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Spirit of PaperTigers Project]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uruguay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Katie Smith Milway]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[One Hen: How One Small Loan Made A Big Difference]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Spirit of PaperTigers Book Set]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Woodlands School]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.papertigers.org/wordpress/?p=12613</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Hooray! Our first feedback on the Spirit of PaperTigers 2010 Book Set has just gone live over on our website &#8211; from the Grade 6 class at Woodlands School in Montevideo, Uruguay. They have been reading One Hen: How One Small Loan Made a Big Difference together and wrote the following class review: One Hen [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-10170" title="SPT Seal" src="http://www.papertigers.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/SPTSeal.gif" alt="SPT Seal" width="152" height="103" />Hooray!  Our first feedback on the Spirit of PaperTigers 2010 Book Set has just gone live over on our website &#8211; from the Grade 6 class at <strong>Woodlands School in Montevideo, Uruguay</strong>.  They have been reading <em><a href="http://www.papertigers.org/ptOutreach/spt/2010BookSet.html#OH"><strong>One Hen: How One Small Loan Made a Big Difference</strong></a></em> together and wrote the following class review:</p>
<blockquote><p><strong>One Hen Made a Big Difference, 28 May 2010 </strong></p>
<p>Do you think a little loan and a little brown hen can change the future of a whole country? This tale is based on a true story about a small boy (called Kojo) who lived in a poor village in Ghana. It all started when his mother gave Kojo the rest of the loan she had asked for. He had an amazing idea. Kojo&#8217;s plan was to help his mother by buying a hen which would give them food and money. After finding the perfect hen his life started to change.</p>
<p>Read this book to find out how Kojo was able to change his life. This is a fantastic and interesting story which shows how a small boy with a great and clever idea could improve the life of many people.</p>
<p>We recommend this beautiful book because we read it aloud in class and learned a very important lesson about solidarity, effort, hard work and commitment.</p>
<p>Start the chain and pay it forward, nothing is impossible.</p></blockquote>
<p>Thank you for sharing your thoughtful evaluation of the book with us, Mrs Storace and Grade 6.  Everyone else, you can read the rest of their feedback <a href="http://www.papertigers.org/ptOutreach/spt/recipientsFeedback.html">here</a>.</p>
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		<title>Guest Post: James Webb from ShelterBox about his recent trip to Haiti</title>
		<link>http://www.papertigers.org/wordpress/guest-post-james-webb-from-shelterbox-about-his-recent-trip-to-haiti/</link>
		<comments>http://www.papertigers.org/wordpress/guest-post-james-webb-from-shelterbox-about-his-recent-trip-to-haiti/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 07 May 2010 12:09:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Marjorie</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Global Voices]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Guest Posts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Haiti]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Spirit of PaperTigers Project]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[World Literacy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bolormaa Baasansuren]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Classrooms in a Box]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[guest post]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Haiti earthquake]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[James Webb]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Katie Smith Milway]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Matanwa Community Learning Center]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Scouts ShelterBox Challenge]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ShelterBox]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Spirit of PaperTigers Book Set]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.papertigers.org/wordpress/?p=11876</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Today we welcome James Webb to the PaperTigers blog. James works for ShelterBox, a charity based in the UK that delivers survival boxes, each containing a tent and other life-saving equipment, in the immediate aftermath of disasters around the world. The signature green box has become an iconic presence in such situations, with hundreds of [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.shelterbox.org/"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-11916" title="ShelterBox Logo" src="http://www.papertigers.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/ShelterBox_Logo_small.jpg" alt="ShelterBox Logo" width="162" height="190" /></a>Today we welcome James Webb to the PaperTigers blog.  James works for <a href="http://www.shelterbox.org/">ShelterBox</a>, a charity based in the UK that delivers survival <a href="http://www.shelterbox.org/about.php?page=9">boxes</a>, each containing a tent and other life-saving equipment, in the immediate aftermath of disasters around the world.  The signature green box has become an iconic presence in such situations, with hundreds of thousands of people receiving crucial assistance in many different countries.</p>
<p>This year is ShelterBox&#8217;s <a href="http://www.shelterbox.org/news.php?id=312">10th anniversary</a>: to celebrate they have set up a 10-month <a href="http://www.youngshelterbox.org/partnership.php">Challenge with UK scouts</a>.  Little Brother is taking part in this with Cubs and I have got to know much more about the charity, as a Cub Leader.  We are hoping to raise enough money to pay for a whole box so that we will be able to <a href="http://www.shelterbox.org/trackbox.php">track </a>&#8220;our&#8221; box to its destination&#8230;</p>
<p>When James, one of the Scout Challenge coordinators, emailed to say that he was about to leave for <a href="http://www.shelterbox.org/news.php?id=302">Haiti</a>, I asked if he would send us a few words on his return: and I&#8217;m so glad he did as I didn&#8217;t know about their Classrooms in a Box before. Thank you, James; over to you:</p>
<blockquote><p>When I was deployed to Haiti in mid April as a ShelterBox Response Team member, I was shocked by the level of destruction still evident over three months after the earthquake devastated the country. Rubble is still everywhere and there are still thousands of people desperately in need of shelter.</p>
<p>While ShelterBox specialise in emergency shelter, we also send Classrooms in a Box which help children continue their education and provide some sort of normality for people who otherwise have lost everything.</p>
<p>In my 12 days in the country I visited two schools which were each severely damaged by the earthquake, leaving them dangerous to use. One of these schools was operating from a large tent instead, which had very little access to basic materials such as pencils and notepads. We immediately provided the school with another large tent and are planning on giving them a number of children’s packs which will each contain a small blackboard, note pads, crayons, pens, rubbers and a number of other items.</p>
<p>So much has been affected in Haiti but the people’s attitude is still inspiringly positive. Having the opportunity to make a difference by providing shelter and basic materials was a huge privilege and the experience of a lifetime.</p></blockquote>
<p><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-11901" title="ShelterBox in Haiti delivering Children's Packs" src="http://www.papertigers.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/ShelterBox_Haiti1-225x300.jpg" alt="ShelterBox in Haiti delivering Children's Packs" width="225" height="300" /></p>
<p><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-11902" title="ShelterBox in Haiti delivering Children's Packs" src="http://www.papertigers.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/ShelterBox_Haiti2-225x300.jpg" alt="ShelterBox in Haiti delivering Children's Packs" width="225" height="300" /></p>
<p>The photos show smiling children who have just received the children&#8217;s pack &#8211; and if you watch this video, you can see what an oasis these packs provide (not to mention the incredible journeys the boxes often go through to reach their destinations).  &#8220;For children who have lost most, if not all, their possessions, these small gifts are treasured.&#8221;</p>
<p><object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="433" height="346" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="src" value="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/m4-YwPpIlE4&amp;hl=en_GB&amp;fs=1&amp;" /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="433" height="346" src="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/m4-YwPpIlE4&amp;hl=en_GB&amp;fs=1&amp;" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></p>
<p>Also, don&#8217;t miss the <a href="http://www.youngshelterbox.org/">Young ShelterBox</a> area of the website, which includes teacher <a href="http://www.sense-of-place.co.uk/shelterbox/forteachers/">resources</a>. ShelterBox has expanded hugely in the last ten years and now has nine affiliates across the globe &#8211; check out their individual websites via ShelterBox UK&#8217;s <a href="http://www.shelterbox.ca/">homepage</a>.</p>
<p>When asked about where they would like a <a href="http://www.papertigers.org/ptOutreach/spt/index.html">Spirit of PaperTigers</a> book set to go, both <a href="http://www.papertigers.org/wordpress/spirit-of-papertigers-if-you-could-send-your-book-anywhere-in-the-world-part-1/">Bolormaa Baasansuren </a> and <a href="http://www.papertigers.org/wordpress/spirit-of-papertigers-if-you-could-send-your-book-anywhere-in-the-world%e2%80%a6-part-2/">Katie Smith Milway</a> chose Haiti so it&#8217;s great to be able to announce that a set will be winging its way to the <a href="http://matenwaclc.org/">Matànwa Community Learning Center</a> there in June.</p>
<p>Thank you again, James, for sharing your eye-witness account with us.  Our thoughts go with you and all your colleagues at ShelterBox as you carry out your vital work.</p>
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		<title>One Hen Inc. celebrates its first anniversary</title>
		<link>http://www.papertigers.org/wordpress/one-hen-inc-celebrates-its-first-anniverary-with-a-special-celebration-on-may-7th/</link>
		<comments>http://www.papertigers.org/wordpress/one-hen-inc-celebrates-its-first-anniverary-with-a-special-celebration-on-may-7th/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 06 May 2010 07:10:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Corinne</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Eventful World]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Spirit of PaperTigers Project]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[2010 SPT Book Set]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Amma Sefa-Dedeh]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[It Takes a Village]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Katie Smith Milway]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[One Hen Inc.]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[One Hen Inc. Anniversary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[One Hen: How One Small Loan Made A Big Difference]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.papertigers.org/wordpress/?p=10155</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Since its publication by Kids Can Press in 2008, One Hen: How One Small Loan Made A Big Difference, selected for the Spirit of PaperTigers 2010 Book Set, has evolved from an inspirational story into an equally inspirational non-profit organization, One Hen, Inc. On the evening of May 7th, One Hen Inc. will mark its [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="alignleft" title="https://5dd6a32f3d-custmedia.vresp.com/library/1270495211/d671d2c27a/ItTakesLogoV3.jpg" src="https://5dd6a32f3d-custmedia.vresp.com/library/1270495211/d671d2c27a/ItTakesLogoV3.jpg" alt="" width="250" height="165" />Since its publication by Kids Can Press in 2008, <em><a href="../../reviews/USA/papertigers/OneHen.html">One Hen: How One Small Loan Made A Big Difference</a></em>, selected for the <a href="../../ptOutreach/spt/2010BookSet.html">Spirit of PaperTigers 2010 Book Set</a>, has evolved from an inspirational story into an equally inspirational non-profit organization,<a href="http://onehen.opportunity.org/about/aboutoneheninc.php"> One Hen, Inc</a>.</p>
<p>On the evening of May 7th, One Hen Inc. will mark its first anniversary with a celebration and fundraiser <a href="http://onehen.opportunity.org/newsletter/feb2010.html">&#8220;It Takes a Village&#8221;</a>. The celebration will take place  at the Wellesley Country Club in Wellesley, MA, USA from 6:30 &#8211; 10pm. Highlights will include an African market, vibrant music, dance and inspiring stories from youth who have gained an entrepreneurial vision for their future through One Hen programs.  Author of<em> <a href="http://www.papertigers.org/reviews/USA/papertigers/OneHen.html">One Hen</a></em> and co-founder of One Hen, Inc., <a href="http://www.papertigers.org/interviews/archived_interviews/kmilway.html"> Katie Smith Milway</a> will be speaking, and attendees will be shown a multimedia presentation of One Hen’s unique summer school enrichment program that helps inner city kids learn to build small businesses and share their success with their communities.</p>
<p>There&#8217;s plenty to celebrate! In the past year visitors from over 133 countries have used the website <a href="http://www.onehen.org">www.onehen.org</a> and have accessed the One Hen resources that teach youth that true success comes with personal initiative, financial responsibility and a commitment to community. 7,000 children have been involved in direct One Hen programs and  Executive Director/Co-Founder Amma Sefa-Dedeh says that with this anniversary celebration/fundraiser they hope to raise enough funds to send 1,000 inner city kids to this year&#8217;s One Hen summer school enrichment program.</p>
<p>Tickets for the event are $75 and can be purchased by <a href="mailto:amma@onehen.org">email</a> or by calling 917-319-0485.</p>
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		<title>Books at Bedtime: One Hen</title>
		<link>http://www.papertigers.org/wordpress/books-at-bedtime-one-hen/</link>
		<comments>http://www.papertigers.org/wordpress/books-at-bedtime-one-hen/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 22 Mar 2010 08:00:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Sally</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Books at Bedtime]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cultures and Countries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ghana]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Picture Books]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Eugenie Fernandes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Katie Smith Milway]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kwabena Darko]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[One Hen Inc.]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[One Hen: How One Small Loan Made A Big Difference]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Spirit of PaperTigers Project]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.papertigers.org/wordpress/?p=10620</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Today&#8217;s Books at Bedtime feature is One Hen by Katie Smith Milway, illustrated by Eugenie Fernandes.   Much has been written already about this book in PaperTigers and elsewhere.  It was selected for the Spirit of Paper Tigers Project and will likely see its way into many hands hence.  The story is about microfinance and features [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51AeBC9Nu8L._SL125_.jpg"><img class="alignleft" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51AeBC9Nu8L._SL125_.jpg" alt="" width="95" height="125" /></a>Today&#8217;s Books at Bedtime feature is<a href="http://www.papertigers.org/reviews/USA/papertigers/OneHen.html"> <em>One Hen</em></a> by Katie Smith Milway, illustrated by<a href="http://www.papertigers.org/gallery/Eugenie_Fernandes/01.html"> Eugenie Fernandes</a>.   Much has been written already about this book in PaperTigers and elsewhere.  It was selected for the <a href="http://www.papertigers.org/ptOutreach/spt/2010BookSet.html#OH">Spirit of Paper Tigers Project</a> and will likely see its way into many hands hence.  The story is about microfinance and features Kojo, a little Ghanaian boy, who, with a loan, buys himself a hen.   What Kojo does with that one hen changes his life and everyone else&#8217;s around it.</p>
<p>By the time I got to this book with my daughter for her bed time read, she&#8217;d already been exposed to it at school.  But that did not diminish her enjoyment of the story the second time round.  She loved the colorful illustrations by Eugenie Fernandes and was quick to point out some lovely things I would have never noticed in the pictures like the colorfully clad chicken mothers in the market of <a href="http://www.papertigers.org/gallery/Eugenie_Fernandes/02.html">one drawing</a>.   The story is set up perfectly for children to understand.  The purchase of one hen leads to the purchase of another and so forth until by the end of the book, Kojo, a grown man, is shown as a producer of one of the largest poultry farms in West Africa.   That&#8217;s microfinance in a nutshell, or rather, in a children&#8217;s book! And the great thing about this book is that it&#8217;s based on the true life story of Ghanaian producer Kwabena Darko.</p>
<p><em>One Hen</em> is a truly inspirational and informative read.  If you can, I suggest you buy the book as some of the proceeds of the sales will go directly to the <a href="http://onehen.opportunity.org/">One Hen: Microfinance for Kids organization</a>.</p>
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		<title>Q&amp;A with Kids Can Press, publisher of &quot;One Hen: How One Small Loan Made a Big Difference&quot;&quot;</title>
		<link>http://www.papertigers.org/wordpress/qa-with-kids-can-press-publisher-of-one-hen-how-one-small-loan-made-a-big-difference/</link>
		<comments>http://www.papertigers.org/wordpress/qa-with-kids-can-press-publisher-of-one-hen-how-one-small-loan-made-a-big-difference/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 15 Mar 2010 17:44:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Aline</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cultures and Countries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Spirit of PaperTigers Project]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Eugenie Fernandes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Katie Smith Milway]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kids Can Press]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[One Hen: How One Small Loan Made A Big Difference]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sheila Barry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Spirit of PaperTigers Book Set]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.papertigers.org/wordpress/?p=10556</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Started in 1973 by a small group of women in Toronto who wanted to produce books for Canadian children, over the years Kids Can Press has broadened its mandate to produce books for children around the world. The company is now owned by Corus Entertainment Inc., a Canadian-based media and entertainment company. Their catalog includes [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.papertigers.org.php5-16.dfw1-1.websitetestlink.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/kids_can_press_logo1.jpg" alt="kids_can_press_logo" title="kids_can_press_logo" width="324" height="53" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-10575" />Started in 1973 by a small group of women in Toronto who wanted to produce books for Canadian children, over the years Kids Can Press has broadened its mandate to produce books for children around the world. The company is now owned by Corus Entertainment Inc., a Canadian-based media and entertainment company. Their catalog includes a long list of award-winning titles, in over 30 languages, with each book designed to develop children’s literacy levels and a love of reading. They are considered forerunners in publishing books that promote a world view.</p>
<p>Sheila Barry, Kids Can Press’ editor-in-chief, answered our questions about <em>One Hen: How One Small Loan Made a Big Difference</em>, one of the seven books selected for inclusion in our <a href="http://www.papertigers.org/ptOutreach/spt/index.html">Spirit of PaperTigers Book Set Donation Project</a>, and about other topics related to the company and to multicultural children’s literature.</p>
<p><strong>Q&#038;A</strong></p>
<p>PT: <strong>One Hen <em>by <a href="http://www.papertigers.org/interviews/archived_interviews/kmilway.html">Katie Smith Milway</a>, illustrated by Eugenie Fernandes is one of the most talked about books of the last few years (and arguably the one most used in classrooms across the United States and Canada). How did this project come about for Kids Can Press?</em></strong></p>
<p>SB: Katie wrote a picture book for Kids Can some years ago, so we were the first people she approached when she decided she wanted to write an informational picture book that would allow her to share her knowledge of development issues in Africa, where she once worked in a village very like the one in the book. Since we had already published other informational picture books on global subjects, we were excited to work with Katie on developing her concept—and obviously we’ve been thrilled with the end result.</p>
<p>PT: <strong>Did Kids Can expect the book to do as well as it did, or have some of the ripple effects of its publication come as a surprise?</strong></p>
<p>SB: We hope all our books will do well, but sometimes it does seem that a book comes into the world at exactly the right time to take off. With <em>One Hen</em>, we knew we had done something pretty original in making the subject of microloans both accessible and inspiring for children. We hoped buyers would appreciate our accomplishment, and we’ve been gratified to see that our title clearly struck a chord for many, many readers.</p>
<p>PT: <strong><em>What about the choice of <a href="http://www.papertigers.org/gallery/Eugenie_Fernandes/index.html">Eugenie Fernandes</a> to illustrate</em> One Hen? <em>How did CBP go about finding the best match for the story</em>?</strong></p>
<p>SB: Eugenie Fernandes is very well-known in Canada as both a writer and an illustrator of picture books for very young children. But in addition to her classic picture books (her new book <em><a href="http://www.kidscanpress.com/US/Kitten8217s-Spring-P3169.aspx">Kitten&#8217;s Spring</a></em> just came out), she has also illustrated an older book for us called <em>Earth Magic</em>, <span id="more-10556"></span>a collection of poems by Dionne Brand, a Trinidadian-Canadian writer. This book marked a real departure for Eugenie, and it also showed us that she would be perfect for <em>One Hen</em>. Eugenie’s mixed-media artwork creates the effect almost of magic realism, a hybrid style that is perfect for this book, since it is at once a picture book and a work of non-fiction.</p>
<p>PT: <strong>For those readers who may not be familiar with Kids Can Press, how would you describe your catalog? What are some of your bestselling books/or genres?</strong></p>
<p>SB: Kids Can Press is a Canadian publisher dedicated to children’s books. We publish for children from birth to age 16, and we publish in all genres—picture books, non-fiction, fiction, graphic novels, craft and activity books, and so on. Our list is diverse, but we keep children at the centre. We hope that every book we produce will both entertain and enlighten, and we believe that you don’t have to sacrifice one aspect in order to achieve the other.</p>
<p>PT: <strong>Can you please tell us a little bit about the CitizenKid Series and how it fits in with Kids Can&#8217;s overarching goals?</strong></p>
<p>SB: <a href="http://www.kidscanpress.com/Canada/CitizenKid-C5065.aspx?section=5&#038;series=2">CitizenKid</a> has been percolating for nearly 10 years now, ever since we published <em>If the World Were a Village</em>. That book touched people around the world, and we realized that there was a real appetite for books that introduced children to a global perspective on important issues. We started working hard at making sure we had a book a year that brought this global perspective to our publishing programme.  When we realized in the spring of 2009 that we had a substantial collection of books on a breadth of topics, we decided it was time to brand them officially.</p>
<p>PT: <strong>How does Kids Can reconcile taking risks with making projects work from a financial perspective?</strong></p>
<p>SB: In a perfect world, all our projects would be both innovative and financially successful. Unfortunately, I don’t know that there’s formula that anyone can use to reconcile risks versus financials. We make decisions one project at a time, by gathering people from editorial, design, sales and marketing into a room, where we debate (and sometimes argue) until we reach a decision that everyone is happy with. It’s not a very scientific method, but it does let us feel confident that whichever way we go, all viewpoints have been heard and acknowledged. And I think the result is a list that has a good balance between books with greater commercial appeal (and perhaps greater financial viability) and books that are more unusual (and perhaps appeal to a smaller market).</p>
<p>PT: <strong>What are some of the biggest challenges Kids Can faces as a children&#8217;s book publisher in Canada? What main changes in the industry have you noticed, since 1973, in regards to the publishing of multicultural books?</strong></p>
<p>SB: Canada is a small market, and it can be difficult to generate sufficient revenue from Canadian sales alone. We are therefore eager to sell our books both in the US and into other international markets. The biggest problem we face is that we are a relatively small publisher. Our promotional budgets are correspondingly small, and sometimes it can be hard to get noticed in a world that is full of really wonderful books. We rely a great deal of on word of mouth, especially from librarians and teachers. It has been clear to us for over a decade that educators are increasingly eager to give the children in their care information about the whole world, in all its diversity, and so we have tried hard to produce books that will fill that need. I think we have been successful with <em>One Hen</em> and the other books in the CitizenKid collection.</p>
<p>PT: <strong>What are your hopes for the future of Kids Can?</strong></p>
<p>SB: We hope we will continue to produce innovative and original books for children of all ages for many years to come.</p>
<p>…</p>
<p>Thank you, Sheila, for taking the time to answer our questions. We are very grateful to Kids Can Press for donating copies of <em>One Hen</em> in support of the Spirit of PaperTigers project. We wish you and the company continued success!</p>
<p>To find out more about Kids Can Press and for a list of their authors and illustrators, visit their <a href="http://www.kidscanpress.com/">website</a>.</p>
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		<title>Spirit of PaperTigers: If you could send your book anywhere in the world… (Part 2)</title>
		<link>http://www.papertigers.org/wordpress/spirit-of-papertigers-if-you-could-send-your-book-anywhere-in-the-world%e2%80%a6-part-2/</link>
		<comments>http://www.papertigers.org/wordpress/spirit-of-papertigers-if-you-could-send-your-book-anywhere-in-the-world%e2%80%a6-part-2/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 10 Mar 2010 08:56:59 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Marjorie</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Spirit of PaperTigers Project]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Clare Farrow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Eugenie Fernandes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Guo Yue]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Helen Cann]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Katie Smith Milway]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Little Leap Forward]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lucia Gonzalez]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lulu Delacre]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[One Hen: How One Small Loan Made A Big Difference]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Spirit of PaperTigers Book Set]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Storyteller's Candle]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.papertigers.org/wordpress/?p=10462</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A couple of weeks ago I posted the responses of some of the authors and illustrators of the books in our Spirit of PaperTigers&#8216; 2010 Book Set to the question, “If you were to pick a place anywhere in the world to send your book, where would it be and why?” &#8211; and what about [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-10170" title="SPT Seal" src="http://www.papertigers.org.php5-16.dfw1-1.websitetestlink.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/SPTSeal1.gif" alt="SPT Seal" width="152" height="103" />A couple of weeks ago I <a href="spirit-of-papertigers-if-you-could-send-your-book-anywhere-in-the-world-part-1">posted </a>the responses of some of the authors and illustrators of the books in our <a href="http://www.papertigers.org/ptOutreach/spt/index.html">Spirit of PaperTigers</a>&#8216; 2010 <a href="http://www.papertigers.org/ptOutreach/spt/2010BookSet.html">Book Set </a>to the question, “If you were to pick a place anywhere in the world to send your book, where would it be and why?” &#8211; and what about the others, what did they say?</p>
<p><a href="http://www.papertigers.org/interviews/archived_interviews/lgonzalez.html">Lucia Gonzalez</a>, author of <em><a href="http://www.papertigers.org/reviews/USA/papertigers/TheStorytellersCandle.html">The Storyteller&#8217;s Candle</a></em> (<a href="http://www.papertigers.org/wordpress/qa-with-childrens-book-press-publisher-of-the-storytellers-candle/">Children&#8217;s Book Press</a>, 2008):</p>
<blockquote><p>I would like <em>The Storyteller’s Candle</em> to travel to Puerto Rico, to be in classrooms, libraries, and homes from the smallest town to the capital city San Juan. I want children in the island to know and be proud of the work of Pura Belpré, and to re-encounter the stories that belong to them.</p></blockquote>
<p>and <a href="http://www.papertigers.org/gallery/Lulu_Delacre/index.html">Lulu Delacre</a>, the book&#8217;s illustrator:</p>
<blockquote><p>I  would like to send <em>The Storyteller’s Candle </em>to Tibetan schools for monks and nuns in Ladakh, India. Their lovely children have no libraries, and live off the generosity of others. They are taught English and the lesson that Pura Belpré imparts at the end of the book might be one they truly connect to.</p></blockquote>
<p><a href="http://www.papertigers.org/interviews/archived_interviews/kmilway.html">Katie Smith Milway</a>, author of <em><a href="http://www.papertigers.org/reviews/USA/papertigers/OneHen.html">One Hen</a></em> (Kids Can Press, 2008):</p>
<blockquote><p>If I could send <em>One Hen</em> anywhere in the world right now, it would be to Haiti, in Creole, to inspire children there to play an entrepreneurial role in rebuilding their nation. Happily, a Haitian Creole edition of the book is due out in 2010 through publisher <a href="http://www.educavision.com/about.us.php">EducaVision</a>.</p></blockquote>
<p>and <a href="http://www.papertigers.org/gallery/Eugenie_Fernandes/index.html">Eugenie Fernandes</a>, the book&#8217;s illustrator:</p>
<blockquote><p><em>One Hen</em> is already at the White House, so… after that I would like to send it&#8230; everywhere!, because it&#8217;s a book that connects us all.</p></blockquote>
<p><a href="http://www.papertigers.org/interviews/archived_interviews/cfarrow_guoy.html">Guo Yue and Clare Farrow</a>, authors of <em><a href="http://www.papertigers.org/reviews/USA/papertigers/LittleLeapForward.html">Little Leap Forward: A Boy in Beijing</a></em> (<a href="http://www.papertigers.org/wordpress/qa-with-barefoot-books-publisher-of-little-leap-forward-a-boy-in-beijing/">Barefoot Books, 2008</a>):</p>
<blockquote><p><em>Little Leap Forward </em>is about the lives of children who are growing up in a very poor, overcrowded society, in which food is rationed and there are no toys (beyond what they can make themselves) &#8211; a closed society in which freedom, knowledge and creativity are suppressed, and the people they love are about to be taken away from them. It is also a story about the irrepressible power of friendship, love and the imagination, even in the face of hardship and revolution.</p>
<p>So if we could send the book to children in areas of need in the world, it would be to any country where people are not free to express themselves, where families are divided, and children suffer from hunger, fear and poverty. In some small way, we would love to give those children the feeling that they are not just tiny grasses blowing helplessly in the wind (there is an old Chinese saying about this), but that they can find strength through nature and friendship, and hope for a better future by making the most simple gestures of freedom and compassion, whether it is releasing a caged bird (as Little Leap Forward does), finding music in everyday sounds, taking care of a friend, or flying a homemade kite in the wind.</p></blockquote>
<p>and <a href="http://www.papertigers.org/gallery/Helen_Cann/index.html">Helen Cann</a>, the book&#8217;s illustrator:</p>
<blockquote><p>I&#8217;d like <em>Little Leap Forward </em>to go anywhere where lives are repressed and people are told what to think and do.  <em>Little Leap Forward </em>is about the triumph of hope, love and imagination over oppression.</p></blockquote>
<p>Once again, those interviewed have provided us with plenty of food for thought &#8211; and perhaps you have very particular ideas about where you&#8217;d send special books like those that make up the Spirit of PaperTigers Book Set? Do let us know&#8230;</p>
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