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 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 here). The book is accompanied by a Good Garden Enrichment Program, an online resource developed by One Hen, Inc.

A portion of all book sales go to fund One Hen, Inc.’s programs in disadvantaged communities.

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 first anniversary with a celebration and fundraiser “It Takes a Village”. The celebration will take place  at the Wellesley Country Club in Wellesley, MA, USA from 6:30 – 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 One Hen and co-founder of One Hen, Inc.,  Katie Smith Milway 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.

There’s plenty to celebrate! In the past year visitors from over 133 countries have used the website www.onehen.org 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’s One Hen summer school enrichment program.

Tickets for the event are $75 and can be purchased by email or by calling 917-319-0485.

(Click on event name for more information)

Get Caught Reading Month~ USA

National Share-a-Story Month~ United Kingdom

Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month~ USA

Asian Heritage Month~ Canada

BOOKtopia Children’s Literature Festival~ ongoing until May 7, West Vancouver, BC, Canada

Buenos Aires Book Fair~ ongoing until May 10, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Drawing from a Story: Illustrations by Selected Caldecott Medal Winners~ ongoing until May 23, Chadds Ford, PA, USA

Once Upon a Time . . . Children’s Book Illustrators, Then and Now~ ongoing until May 27, Oakland, CA, USA

Mitali Perkins’ 2010 Fire Escape Short Fiction and Poetry Contest~ entries accepted until Jun 1, USA and Canada

Into the Wood: Antonio Frasconi’s Art for Children~ ongoing until Jun 13, Ameherst, MA, USA

Skipping Stones Magazine’s Youth Honor Award Program – Multicultural Awareness and Nature Appreciation~ entries accepted until Jun 25

The National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature Exhibit: Why Grow Up? Etienne Delessert~ ongoing until Jun 26, Abilene, TX, USA

Monsters and Miracles: A Journey through Jewish Picture Books~ ongoing until  Aug 1, Los Angeles, CA, USA

Everyday Adventures Growing Up: Art from Picture Books~ ongoing until Nov 28, Chicago, IL, USA

BOOKFEST – The Vancouver Island Children’s Book Festival~ May 1, Nanaimo, BC, Canada

“Second to the Right, and Straight on Till Morning:” Navigating the Narrative Realm(s) of Children’s Texts~ May 1, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Old Passions – New Technologies: Children’s and Young Adult Literature
in a Web 2.0 World~ May 1, Los Angeles, CA, USA

Expo 2010~ May 1 – Oct 31, Shanghai, China

SCBWI Presents: Shaping a Picture Book/Shaping Character~ May 6, Paris, France

Asian Festival of Children’s Content~ May 6 – 9, Singapore

Bermuda International Literary Festival~ May 6 – 9, Hamilton
Bermuda

SCBWI Hawaii Illustrators’ Exhibit: The Art of Picture Books~ May 6 – Jun 16, Honolulu, HI, USA

One Hen Inc.’s First Anniversary Celebrations: It Takes a Village~ May 7, Wellesley, MA, USA

National Centre for Research in Children’s Literature Conference~ May 8, London, United Kingdom

Mt. San Antonio College’s Children’s Literature Day~ May 8, Walnut, CA, USA

SCBWI Presents: Children’s Books and our Phil-Chinese Heritage~ May 8, Philippines

Children’s Book Week~ May 10 – 16, USA

New Zealand Post Book Awards Festival~ May 10 – 19, New Zealand

Forest of Reading, Festival of Trees~ May 12 – 13, Toronto, ON, Canada

Auckland Writers and Readers Festival~ May 12 – 16, Auckland, New Zealand

Seoul International Book Fair~ May 12 – 16, Seoul, Korea

Follow the Yellow Brick Road to Fresno! Oz the Books! A Conference~ May 14 – 16, Fresno, CA, USA

2nd Conference on Children’s Literature and Translation~ May 15, Taichung City, Taiwan

Children’s Books Ireland Conference: Nurturing the Seed: Prospects and Possibilities for Children’s Books~ May 15 – 16, Dublin, Ireland

Sydney Writers’ Festival~ May 15 – 23, Sydney, Australia

Mountain Echoes – A Literary Festival~ May 17 – 20, Thimphu, Bhutan

New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards Winners Announced ~ May 19, New Zealand

WriteAway Conference: READ, PLAY, THINK, CREATE: generating delight in learning~ May 21, London, United Kingdom

National Black Book Festival~ May 21 – 23, Houston, TX, USA

Bisto Children’s Book of the Year Awards Presentations~ May 23, Dublin, Ireland

Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award Week~ May 23 – Jun 1, Sweden

Library and Information Week~ May 24 – 30, Australia

The Foundation for Children’s Books New England Voices Series~ May 25, Boston, MA, USA

International Latino Book Awards~ May 25, USA

BookExpo America~ May 25 – 27, New York, NY, USA

National Simultaneous Storytime~ May 26, Australia

Book Blogger Convention~ May 28, New York City, NY, USA

World Book Fair~ May 28 – Jun 6, Singapore

World Village Festival~ May 29 – 30, Helsinki, Finland

The Guardian Hay Festival~ May 29 – Jun 6, United Kingdom

SCBWI Presents: THE BIG PICTURE: Exploring the Art and Business of Children’s Book Illustration~ May 30, Tokyo, Japan

Today’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 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’s around it.

By the time I got to this book with my daughter for her bed time read, she’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 one drawing.   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’s microfinance in a nutshell, or rather, in a children’s book! And the great thing about this book is that it’s based on the true life story of Ghanaian producer Kwabena Darko.

One Hen 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 One Hen: Microfinance for Kids organization.

Since it’s publication by Kids Can Press in 2008, One Hen: How One Small Loan Made A Big Difference, selected for the Sprit of PaperTigers 2010 Book Set, has evolved from an inspirational story into a non-profit organization, One Hen, Inc. Co-founders Katie Smith Milway and Amma Sefa-Dedeh tell the story of how and why this organization came about in this video.

To learn more about One Hen, Inc., be sure to visit the website, including games, activities and resources for teachers and librarians – not to mention great music! Also, be sure to read our recent interview with One Hen author Katie Smith Milway here.

Reading Today Daily, a bimonthly magazine published by the International Reading Association, recently reported: