Hooray! Our first feedback on the Spirit of PaperTigers 2010 Book Set has just gone live over on our website – 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 Made a Big Difference, 28 May 2010

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’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.

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.

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.

Start the chain and pay it forward, nothing is impossible.

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 here.

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 thousands of people receiving crucial assistance in many different countries.

This year is ShelterBox’s 10th anniversary: to celebrate they have set up a 10-month Challenge with UK scouts. 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 track “our” box to its destination…

When James, one of the Scout Challenge coordinators, emailed to say that he was about to leave for Haiti, I asked if he would send us a few words on his return: and I’m so glad he did as I didn’t know about their Classrooms in a Box before. Thank you, James; over to you:

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.

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.

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.

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.

The photos show smiling children who have just received the children’s pack – 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). “For children who have lost most, if not all, their possessions, these small gifts are treasured.”

Also, don’t miss the Young ShelterBox area of the website, which includes teacher resources. ShelterBox has expanded hugely in the last ten years and now has nine affiliates across the globe – check out their individual websites via ShelterBox UK’s homepage.

When asked about where they would like a Spirit of PaperTigers book set to go, both Bolormaa Baasansuren and Katie Smith Milway chose Haiti so it’s great to be able to announce that a set will be winging its way to the Matànwa Community Learning Center there in June.

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.

One of the few minority-owned publishing companies in the United States, co-founded in 1991 by Tom Low and Philip Lee, LEE & LOW BOOKS is an independent multicultural children’s book publisher whose goal is to publish stories all children can relate to. Since its first list, in 1993, LEE & LOW has published an impressive lineup of over 200 titles, many of which have been translated to Spanish and won a number of major awards and honors.

Jason Low, son of founder Tom Low and Lee & Low’s publisher, answered our questions about Lynne Barasch’s  First Come the Zebra, one of the seven books selected for inclusion in our Spirit of PaperTigers Book Set Donation Project; the company’s new developments; and other topics related to multicultural children’s literature.

PT: How did Lynne Barasch’s First Come the Zebra come about as a project for LEE & LOW?

JL: LEE & LOW has enjoyed a long relationship with Lynne since publishing her two other books Knockin’ on Wood and Hiromi’s Hands. Lynne had returned from a trip to Kenya, which planted a seed in her mind about the story that would become First Come the Zebra. The rest of the story came from Lynne’s own research on Africa and the harmful effects of tribalism in particular.

PT: Are there any plans to create a classroom guide/lesson plans for the book?

JL: We usually bring out a classroom guide when the book comes out in paperback so teachers can fully utilize both the book and the guide with their students.

PT: Can you please say something about working with Lynne on this and other projects?

JL: Lynne is a pleasure to work with. She is a true professional. She possesses a unique, spare style of writing and illustration that conveys sophisticated themes in such a way that children can enjoy and understand them.

PT: What can you tell us about LEE & LOW’s new imprint, Tu Books?

JL: Tu Books represents a chance for us to bring diversity to the science fiction and fantasy genres for middle grade and young adult readers in the same way LEE & LOW has brought more diversity to picture books since we began publishing in 1993. Since announcing the acquisition of Tu, we have received a substantial amount of positive feedback and I am anxious to see how our debut list is received in 2011. More details about this new venture can be found in an interview with Tu Books Editorial Director Stacy Whitman, posted on Cynsations.

PT: About your New Voices Writers Award, given annually for a children’s picture book manuscript by a writer of color, who are some of the voices you have published so far, and what has the reception to both the award and these new voices been?

Some of the New Voices Award Winners have been:

Sixteen Years in Sixteen Seconds: The Sammy Lee Story by Paula Yoo
Janna and the Kings by Patricia Smith
The Blue Roses by Linda Boyden

And these are some of the New Voices Award Honors:

Bird by Zetta Elliot
Ghosts for Breakfast by Stanley Todd Terasaki
Raymond’s Perfect Present by Therese On Louie

Two New Voices Award books are scheduled for release by the end of 2010 and two more are in production for next year.

The reception to the New Voices Award books published since the award was established, in 2000, has been strong. Two books in particular, Sixteen Years in Sixteen Seconds (Texas Bluebonnet Award Masterlist) and Bird (Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award, Ezra Jack Keats Book Award) have received tremendous awards recognition and have sold well.

The New Voices Award is important because not only does it promote diversity but it also introduces new authors to the world of children’s books, playing a vital role by infusing the children’s book industry with new blood.

PT: Can you tell us about your company’s social media presence and what benefits you have seen from developing it, so far?

JL: We started social networking in 2009 and can be found at:

The Open Book Blog
Twitter
Facebook

Our social media efforts have allowed us to communicate with our supporters and customers in a more open and frequent way. Since many of LEE & LOW’s titles are so topical it is an efficient way for us to build timely connections between our books and what is happening in the world. Before our social media channels, the people who were interested in what we were doing would only hear from us once a month via our E-News. Now people hear from us several times a week, which promotes a more fluid flow of information.

PT: Do you think the public’s attitude toward multicultural books for children has changed much since Lee & Low was established? How so?

JL: As the company continues to grow, the demand for the diverse books we publish has also grown. I would like to preface this by saying the growth we have seen has been a slow, steady increase—this is still book publishing and it takes a sustained effort and a lot of patience to sell books of any kind. It is difficult for me to get a sense of whether attitudes have shifted favorably toward diverse books since we began publishing. I will say the enthusiasm for our books renews itself every season, and the amount of awards and reviews we have received is the kind of encouragement that tells us we’re moving in the right direction.

PT: What would you say is the most challenging aspect of being an independent publisher of children’s books these days?

JL: Finding good stories used to be the biggest challenge, but I would have to say patience is the biggest challenge we face now. Exercising the patience to publish what we can afford to publish each year. Waiting to see if the books we have placed our faith in do well as they are released into the world. For us, the publishing cycle takes a few years to really see whether or not a book has found its audience. For this reason it is a good rule of thumb to step back every once in a while, and look back at the work that has been accomplished, rather than being too consumed by what still needs to be done.

PT: What are your hopes for the future of Lee & Low?

JL: I would like to see us grow more, so we can provide more opportunities for authors and illustrators to tell the stories that need to be told. I’m a big book person but I do see how e-books may significantly change the way books are read. In whatever future form we will be reading our books, the demand for good stories isn’t going to go away anytime soon, and I see LEE & LOW playing a crucial role in providing diverse stories for years to come.

PT: Anything else you would like to add?

JL: I would just like to thank PaperTigers for helping us spread the word about what we are doing. We appreciate your support.

PT: It’s our pleasure and honor to have such great books to help spread the word on, Jason! Many thanks for taking the time to answer our questions. We are very grateful for the copies of First Come the Zebra you’ve donated in support of our Spirit of PaperTigers project and wish you and LEE & LOW continued success!

…

Make sure to also read Nathalie Mvondo’s February interview with Jason Low at Multiculturalism Rocks!. And for an in-depth look at the history and philosophy of the company, read Jason’s article, Balancing Words, Pictures and Diversity: The Story of Lee & Low Books.

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!

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.

Sheila Barry, Kids Can Press’ editor-in-chief, answered our questions about One Hen: How One Small Loan Made a Big Difference, one of the seven books selected for inclusion in our Spirit of PaperTigers Book Set Donation Project, and about other topics related to the company and to multicultural children’s literature.

Q&A

PT: One Hen by Katie Smith Milway, 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?

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.

PT: 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?

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 One Hen, 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.

PT: What about the choice of Eugenie Fernandes to illustrate One Hen? How did CBP go about finding the best match for the story?

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 Kitten’s Spring just came out), she has also illustrated an older book for us called Earth Magic, (more…)

The Middle Country Public Library in Centereach NY, USA, currently has an exhibition entitled “The Creative Worlds of Lynne Barasch”. Ongoing until May, the exhibit features six of Lynne’s books (including Hiromi’s Hands and First Come the Zebra) with interactive stations relating to each title.

First Come the Zebra has been selected for the 2010 Spirit of PaperTigers Book Set. Click here to read Aline’s post exploring the particular reasons why it was selected, here to read Aline’s interview with Lynne, and here to see images from the book.

A couple of weeks ago I posted the responses of some of the authors and illustrators of the books in our Spirit of PaperTigers‘ 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?” – and what about the others, what did they say?

Lucia Gonzalez, author of The Storyteller’s Candle (Children’s Book Press, 2008):

I would like The Storyteller’s Candle 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.

and Lulu Delacre, the book’s illustrator:

I would like to send The Storyteller’s Candle 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.

Katie Smith Milway, author of One Hen (Kids Can Press, 2008):

If I could send One Hen 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 EducaVision.

and Eugenie Fernandes, the book’s illustrator:

One Hen is already at the White House, so… after that I would like to send it… everywhere!, because it’s a book that connects us all.

Guo Yue and Clare Farrow, authors of Little Leap Forward: A Boy in Beijing (Barefoot Books, 2008):

Little Leap Forward 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) – 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.

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.

and Helen Cann, the book’s illustrator:

I’d like Little Leap Forward to go anywhere where lives are repressed and people are told what to think and do. Little Leap Forward is about the triumph of hope, love and imagination over oppression.

Once again, those interviewed have provided us with plenty of food for thought – and perhaps you have very particular ideas about where you’d send special books like those that make up the Spirit of PaperTigers Book Set? Do let us know…

Written and directed by Alison Duddle and based on the book Little Leap Forward: A Boy in Beijing, written by Guo Yue and Clare Farrow, the stage production of Little Leap Forward is touring again this Spring in the United Kingdom. Click here to see the tour dates and here to read Marjorie’s post from last year when she went to the show. Little Leap Forward is presented by the Horse + Bamboo Theatre Company in creative partnership with Barefoot Books Ltd and The Royal Exchange Theatre. With set design by Bob Frith, the production incorporates mask, puppetry, shadows and animation with original music by Loz Kaye. The music also includes the distinctive flute playing of Guo Yue (recorded).

Little Leap Forward: A Boy in Beijing has been selected for the 2010 Spirit of PaperTigers Book Set. A wealth of information about the book can be found here on our PaperTigers main website.

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.

Chosen as one of the Spirit of PaperTigers 2010 Book Set, middle-reader Little Leap Forward: A Boy in Beiing by Guo Yue and Clare Farrow (Barefoot Books, 2008) is an absolute gem of a book, which all of us (and our children) on the selection panel fell in love with. It also made a beautifully balanced pair with Grace Lin’s Where the Mountain Meets the Moon: one with a boy as the main character, the other with a girl; both lovely to hold and richly illustrated; both with Chinese culture at their hearts, but each also weaving allegory and metaphor into their narrative.

Based on Guo Yue’s childhood, Little Leap Forward tells the story of the young, flute-playing Leap Forward’s love for a songbird he keeps in a cage and calls Little Cloud, set against the shadows of the looming Cultural Revolution in China. You can read a full review, including a synopsis, here. Beautifully illustrated with full-page color plates by Helen Cann, it certainly offers a pleasurable read to young, independent readers – but it also makes a lovely bedtime story for older children, who enjoy a sustained read over several evenings. The writing is lyrical and so lends itself to being read aloud; and, although the story itself follows universal themes of friendship, freedom and learning to let go of those we love, the book’s cultural setting may well give rise to questions and discussion. The end-notes provide historical facts about the Cultural Revolution, filling in details of what happened to Yue and his family. An added dimension for us reading the book together was that both my boys were really keen to know everything that was written here and enjoyed making comparisons with the story – yet I know that when they each read the book on their own, they read the captions to the photographs but didn’t really look at the text.

We were also fortunate enough to see the stage adaptation of Little Leap Forward last year (you can read my post about it here) and I have recently come across this “SoundCloud” from its opening sequence – so head on over and close your eyes for a few minutes, imagining Leap Forward and his friend Little-Little on the river bank, flying their kites high into a cloudess blue sky…