The four of us who currently write regularly on the PaperTigers blog are delighted to be joined by one of our colleagues, Jeannine, who was a fellow-panelist in choosing the books for the 2010 Spirit of PaperTigers Book Set. Here, she focuses on one of those books, Planting the Trees of Kenya by Claire A. Nivola:

I think everyone on the panel agreed that it would have been great to be able to choose 25 or more books for the first Spirit of PaperTigers Book Set, but our resources are not infinite, so each book we chose would have to have to go a long way toward expressing the true “Spirit of PaperTigers.” To me, and to others on the panel too, Planting the Trees of Kenya was an ideal book for the set, because it expresses so many important ideas and values while also being enjoyable to read and beautiful to look at.

As the subtitle says, this book is based on the inspiring story of one Kenyan woman, Wangari Maathai. As explained in the book’s afterward, Maathai was the first woman from Africa to be awarded with the Nobel Peace Prize. She founded Kenya’s “Green Belt Movement” in the 1970s, which — in her own words — was “not simply about planting trees. It was about inspiring people to take charge of their environment, the system that governed them, their lives and their future.”

In a deceptively simple way, this book and its truly lovely illustrations show how Maathai learned to appreciate nature as a child and later grew up to be a powerful force in the renewal of her country’s environment and the well-being of its people. Maathai’s true story will encourage young readers:

to care about the environment and see the connection between the health of the natural world and people’s health

to take personal responsibility for caring for the Earth

to do the right thing even when it is difficult or takes a long time

to see that the poor, children, girls, and women — not only powerful men or governments — can have a strong influence on their society

to value education. Maathai’s education empowered her to take action.

I want to emphasize that the true story of Wangari Maathai makes a powerful statement on its own, but it is the way that Claire Nivola tells and illustrates Maathai’s story that makes it accessible and meaningful for young readers. Here is an example of her evocative writing:

“In the stream near her homestead where she went to collect water for her mother, she played with glistening frogs’ eggs, trying to gather them like beads into necklaces, though they slipped through her fingers back into the clear water.”

Nivola’s illustrations are as detailed as photographs. I can almost imagine her spending hours and hours painting every leaf on a tree, every blade of grass on a meadow, the intricate patterns on the African women’s skirts and headscarves. Groups of people fill many scenes so that the overall impression is “a group planting trees,” or “a group listening to Maathai speak,” but notice the individuals in the crowds. A girl peers shyly around her mother; an older girl helps her little brother to climb high enough to pick fruit from a tree; an excited dog peers eagerly into a big hole dug for a well; a baby reaches out to touch her sister’s face.

If you are paying attention, you will see more charming details every time you read this book with a child. And then may you be inspired to go outside and plant a tree with her!!

Thank you for sharing this with us, Jeannine!

Pam Allyn’s recent article in the Huffington Post, Bedtime Reading: Children’s Stories to Inspire You In Your Sleep, lists her top recommendations for bedtime reading for all ages for the year 2010. Why did she make this list?

When the sun goes down, fears come up. The blessing of a transcendent story for any age is that it helps us to escape, to relate, to connect and to understand the perils and magic of our mortal universe. [...]

In the midst of the swirling clouds of conversations on recession, terrorism threats and environmental anxieties, our great authors, honoring the mysterious yet profound world of childhood, steer us toward peace and community, and the promise of hope in the morning.

Pam’s list is comprised of 8 books and includes Planting the Trees of Kenya and One Hen: two books which we chose for our Spirit of PaperTigers Book Set! Here is what Pam has to say about these two books and why they made her list:

Planting the Trees of Kenya: The Story of Wangari Maatthai by Claire Nivola. Wangari Maathai won the Nobel Prize in 2004 for her efforts to repair the environmental damage done to Kenya. She taught women and children to plant seeds and grow trees. Nivola shows the children restoring the health of a country. How this book will inspire: it’s not just Wangari who rallies us; it’s the tenderness of the children and their mothers, taking political action by planting gardens.

One Hen: How One Small Loan Made a Big Difference by Katie Smith Milway, illustrated by Eugenie Fernandes.  Kojo lives in a small Ashanti village. His life is changed when he is given a micro-loan by his village and he is able to buy a hen. His success after this impacts everyone in his community and beyond. Why we all should read this: When we try to figure out what to do to help in this year 2010, this book gives us a good model for how teaching a man to fish is more important than the fish itself.

Be sure to click here and read about the other books on Pam’s list.

Today we are thrilled to be announcing our Spirit of PaperTigers Project, an initiative of Pacific Rim Voices, whose aim is to promote literacy while raising awareness of our common humanity. The idea is to donate 100 book sets of 7 carefully selected multicultural books to libraries and schools in areas of need across the globe.

The following titles have been selected for inclusion in the 2010 Book Set:

Planting The Trees of Kenya: The Story of Wangari Maathai, by Claire A. Nivola. Frances Foster Books, 2008.

First Come the Zebra, by Lynne Barash. Lee & Low, 2009.
.

Little Leap Forward: A Boy in Beijing, by Guo Yue and Clare Farrow, illustrated by Helen Cann. Barefoot Books, 2008.

The Storyteller’s Candle/La velita de los cuentos, by Lucia Gonzalez, illustrated by Lulu Delacre. Children’s Book Press, 2008.

My Little Round House, by Bolormaa Baasansuren, English adaptation by Helen Mixter. Groundwood Books, 2009.

One Hen: How One Small Loan Made a Big Difference, by Katie Smith Milway, illustrated by Eugenie Fernandes. Kids Can Press, 2008.

Where The Mountain Meets The Moon, by Grace Lin. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2009.

Our website currently highlights all the authors and illustrators whose books have been selected, as well as other features related to the project. Please note that we will be further exploring the particular reasons for selecting each title, here, on the blog, during the month of February.

One important aspect of the Spirit of PaperTigers project is that we will be receiving feedback from the book set recipients. In the course of the coming months, as feedback comes in, we will be posting it to the blog and the site, so everyone can find out about where the books are going and who they are reaching.

To learn more about the project and enjoy the new features, visit the website. And please help us spread the word on this exciting new venture!…

The Jane Addams Peace Association and the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom are pleased to announce that the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award 56th Annual Award Ceremony will be held on Friday, October 16th at 2:30 PM at the 777 United Nations Plaza (2nd Floor) in New York City, NY. This event is free and open to all. Reservations are not needed.

Join us for a memorable afternoon of award presentation and responses by authors and illustrators. Come meet and talk with the honored guests, including Award winner Margarita Engle and honorees Anne Laurel Carter, Lucia Gonzalez, Lulu Delacre, Scott Reynolds Nelson, and Marc Aronson. Enjoy a reception and an opportunity for book signing after formal presentation of the awards. All the award books will be available for purchase.

The Award Winners:

Planting the Trees of Kenya: The Story of Wangari Maathai written and illustrated by Claire A. Nivola is the winner in the Books for Younger Children Category.

The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba’s Struggle for Freedom by Margarita Engle is the winner in the Books for Older Children Category.

The Honor Books:

Books for Younger Children:

The Storyteller’s Candle/La velita de los cuentos written by Lucía González and illustrated by Lulu Delacre

Silent Music: A Story of Baghdad written and illustrated by James Rumford

Books for Older Children:

The Shepherd’s Granddaughter by Anne Laurel Carter

Ain’t Nothing But a Man: My Quest to Find the Real John Henry by Scott Reynolds Nelson with Marc Aronson

For additional information about the Jane Addams Children’s Book Awards and a complete list of books honored since 1953, click here.

Press Release

Winners of the 2009 Jane Addams Children’s Book Awards were announced today by the Jane Addams Peace Association. Books commended by the Award address themes or topics that engage children in thinking about peace, justice, world community, and/or equality of the sexes and all races. The books also must meet conventional standards of literary and artistic excellence.

Planting the Trees of Kenya: The Story of Wangari Maathai, written and illustrated by Claire A. Nivola, Frances Foster Books/Farrar, Straus and Giroux, an imprint of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group, is the winner in the “Books for Younger Children” category.

The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba’s Struggle for Freedom by Margarita Engle, published by Henry Holt Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group, is the winner in the “Books for Older Children” category.

Planting the Trees of Kenya: The Story of Wangari Maathai profiles the first woman from Africa to win the Nobel Peace Prize (2004) (more…)

I have been a frequent visitor to the Willesden Bookshop’s website over the years. It’s a veritable honey-pot for anyone looking for “Children’s Books from Around the World”: they stock many books it is difficult to find elsewhere in the UK. On our last trip to London we decided to go to the actual bookshop, where we were overly tempted by the array of books, and met Steve Adams, the owner.

As its name suggests, the bookshop is situated in Willesden, in North West London, which is one of the most ethnically diverse boroughs in London with upward of 30 languages spoken in its schools. Steve talked about rising to the challenge of finding books that reflect this diversity of culture in modern Britain. As far as publishing goes in the UK, “There’s a great time lag between recognising that diversity and publishers coming out with appropriate books” – with some notable exceptions, namely Frances Lincoln, Tamarind Books and some books from a few of the big publishers like Penguin. There’s an increase in books reflecting contemporary African heritage but it is still difficult to find Asian children in a normal British setting. There are some lovely books like My Mother’s Sari but they do not often step outside the stereotypical view. However, looking out into the wider world, books are starting to appear which show modern Indian cities – and the same with Africa: not just a focus on rural life in these countries but also books showing the modern urban areas. (more…)

Jeanette Winter’s Wangari’s Trees of Peace: A True Story from Africa (Harcourt Books, 2008), is featured as a new review in our current issue of PaperTigers and I very much look forward to seeing this version of Wangari Maathai’s story as I love both Jeanette Winter’s illustrations and her turn of phrase.

We have recently read instead, as part of our PaperTigers Reading the World Challenge, another version of the same true story, which also came out last year – Planting the Trees of Kenya: The Story of Wangari Maathai, written and illustrated by Claire A. Nivola (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2008). It was recommended to me by the wonderful Willesden Bookshop in London, and I’ll be blogging about my visit there soon! Like Wangari’s Trees of Peace, Planting the Trees of Kenya tells the story of Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai’s campaign to save the landscape of Kenya and, through the foundation of her Green Belt Movement, to enable people to help themselves.

It begins, just as a book aimed at a young audience should, with her childhood and progresses through her time as a student in the US, to the changes she discovered in the landscape of Kenya when she returned. My two were so engrossed that Little Brother immediately took in the disastrous implications of Wangari standing in the midst of agricultural workers, gazing at the stump, which was all that remained of her beloved, sacred fig tree. However, Wangari did not just sit down and lament. She began by (more…)