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It’s been a busy month here at PaperTigers with our 10th Anniversary celebrations in full swing as well as receiving lots of feedback  from recepeints involved in our WaterBridge Outreach: Books + Water Nourishing the Mind and Body (formerly known as Spirit of PaperTigers). It’s always exciting to receive a package in the mail or open an email and see images of students involved with the Book Sets and to read their thoughts and comments on the books.

Today we are highlighting feedback from Talisay Elementary School. Talisay Elementary School is located in a barrio in Barangay Talisay in the Northern Mindanao Area of the Philippines. A significant number of students at this school have parents who are unemployed and the school’s mission is to provide “the best quality education to everyone who enters the gates.”  Talisay has participated in our Outreach program for the past two years and when reflecting on the 2011 Book Set, teacher Brenda Abao commented:

When my pupils saw the pictures in the books, they were so attracted with the color presentation. Some laughed at the illustrations. Most of them enjoyed best the story Biblioburro.

The books you sent me were a big help in my class especially during the “DEAR” (Drop Everything And Read) period. The students took turns reading since I had 29 pupils and there were only 15 books. They felt for the children in the countries mentioned in the stories but they couldn’t search for more about these countries since only a few of them have access to the internet.

After all of my pupils were able to read the 3 stories, I discussed each story with the whole class. One pupil commented that they were so lucky since their schools are not made of mud and that they do not need to build their school every year. That’s after we talked about the story Rain School.

To read all the feedback from Talisay School and to see more photos click here. To learn more about the 2012 Book Set, click here.

Mount View School, administered by Mr Hotoshe Sema, is a Nursery to Class 10 school located in rural Suruhuto, in Nagaland, India. This school has participated in our Waterbridge  Outreach: Books + Water project for the past two year and we recently received students and administrators reactions on the 2011 Book Set.  Here is a brief selection , click here to read all.

Selected students’ feedback:

P:  Rain School – This is the first time I have heard of students and teachers building a school and I admire they way they did it. The language is quite simple and easy to understand. The main character Thomas’s eagerness to learn and read and his aim to have a new school was very inspiring as he had many obstacles but succeeded in overcoming all these with great determination.

A: Biblioburro – Through this book I come to know that without education, even a rich man is nothing. This is a good lesson for me in life”.

K: A Child’s Garden teaches us not to give up in anything, especially when it is for good.

Selected teachers’ feedback:

Mr. Mughaka:
Biblioburro - Pleasant and inspiring, with sweet, little pictures.
Rain School – Rumford’s Rain School is an encouraging story which will bring smiles to the readers and listeners. Appropriate for kids of any age.
A Child’s Garden – It is a heartening story. It reminds us that hope and determination, and even little things, can do wonders.

Mr. Abenito:
A Child’s Garden – An appreciable illustration about a never ending (undying) hope and concern for that which matures in a person’s mind and soul for a better living and freedom.
Biblioburro – An inspiring and well illustrated story that imparts the significance an individual can play through books.
Rain School – Rumford’s depictions emphasizing a teacher in inspiring and molding a child are quite amazing and interesting.

New on our Outreach site….photos from Pingliang Road No. 3 Elementary School in Shanghai, China. This school has participated in our Spirit of PaperTigers Book Set project for the past two years. Their latest feedback consists of photos of students’ work based on books in the 2011 Book Set:  A Child’s Garden: A Story of Hope, written and illustrated by Michael Foreman; Rain School, written and illustrated by James Rumford; and Biblioburro, written and illustrated by Jeanette Winter.

Here’s a sneak peek…..click here to see all the photos.

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Agape School has participated in our Spirit of PaperTigers Outreach Program for the past two years and recently sent us their feedback (including some lovely photos!) on the 2011 Spirit of PaperTigers Book Set which was comprised of the following three books:

A Child’s Garden: A Story of Hope, written and illustrated by Michael Foreman (Walker Books/Candlewick Press, 2009)

Rain School, written and illustrated by James Rumford (Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, 2010)

 Biblioburro, written and illustrated by Jeanette Winter (Beach Lane Books, 2010)

Agape School was established by Lipichem Sangtam, a former journalist who gave up his career to start his own school, and serves 180 primary students ages 4-11. In his 2011 feedback letter to us, Mr. Sangtam writes:

The students are doing well and have been greatly enriched by the story books that you have sent. The students composed illustrated stories in response to reading the 2011 Spirit of PaperTigers Book Set. The beautiful pictures supporting the stories motivated them and they started small paintings with the few colours they have; and they started displaying in the school campus, which is encouraging. The students enjoy reading the books and the quality of the material, which is excellent.

English teacher Jevili Achumi comments:

The stories are filled with images and fanciful layers of illustration which attract the readers. The children were fascinated with the stories, the fanciful characters and the pictures which really take them to the roots. I also appreciate it if the illustrations and stories end up with a best moral.

Here is a sneak peek of the impressive artwork submitted to us. Do take the time to visit Agape School‘s page on our Spirit of PaperTigers Outreach site to see more photos! Click here to be taken there.

Just released today it’s the book trailer to Grace Lin‘s newest novel Starry River of the Sky! Already receiving rave reviews, Starry River of the Sky is the companion book to Where the Mountain Meets the Moon which was awarded the prestigious Newbery Honor Award in 2010. Starry River of the Sky officially launches October 2nd but for those of you that just can’t wait to get a copy it is already available on Amazon or, if you reside near Cambridge, MA, you can attend the  booklaunch this Sunday, September 30th and get a signed copy! Be sure to visit Grace’s blog on October 2nd and join in the online launch party! Grace will also be going on a short, 3 stop book tour in October to promote the book. Why such a short tour? Not only is Grace celebrating the launch of her new book, she and her husband just celebrated the birth of her first child, a daughter, a mere 4 months ago! Congratulations Grace!

NB: Where the Mountain Meets the Moon was one of the books we selected to be included in our 2010 Spirit of PaperTigers Book Set.  Each year we send carefully chosen books to particular schools and libraries in various parts of the world. The books chosen seek to provide “multicultural” or “trans-cultural” stories that promote awareness of, knowledge about, and positive acceptance of “the other” in ways children can learn and enjoy. We are convinced of the crucial role of literacy and reading in an education that fosters understanding and empathy. To learn more about our Outreach program click here and to read our recent announcement of the 2012 book set click here.

We are very proud to announce the new book set for our Spirit of PaperTigers Outreach Programme. This year we have selected four books in total: three books that will be sent to all the schools and libraries around the world participating in the Spirit of PaperTigers Outreach, and one more that will go to certain places that have older students. So, without further ado, the books are:

You can read more about the books with more links to PaperTigers features here, and the 2012 Book Set also features on the homepage of the Papertgers website.

 
Ana Maria Bacudio, the project leader and story-teller for the Dagdag Dunong Reading Center in Singalong Malate in Manila read the books from the 2011-12 Spirit of PaperTigers Book Set to different groups of children during story-telling sessions.  Here is a brief selection of reactions from the children:

About Rain School by James Rumford:

King Robert M. (age 10) felt sad when the school was washed away by the flood. It was a loss for him because the children did their best in constructing the school but because of the rain it was destroyed. There was a feeling of hope in him because by the next school year, the children will again help in building their school and they will again study and learn. He realized that the children should not waste learning time while there is still no rain and their school is still standing. When the rain comes, they cannot study anymore and will again make a classroom next school year.

About A Child’s Garden: A Story of Hope by Michael Foreman:

Jenielle S. (age 8 ) felt so happy when the fence was removed and the people joined together without separation by a barbed fence. She wanted to imitate the boy by taking care of their plants at home so that they will grow and shelter birds and insects like in the story. She became excited and happy because the girl from the other side of the fence also took care of the small plant which later grew into a big plant and covered the fence. She wanted to imitate the boy and the girl from the story on how they took care of the plants.

About Biblioburro by Jeannette Winter:

Angela R. (age 8 ) was happy and enjoyed the part when the children were asked to wear pig masks and listen to stories about pigs. She told me that we should also make masks when we tell stories about animals so that they will feel and internalize the stories more and feel that they are also characters in the story.

Read the rest of the Dagdag Dunong Reading Center’s feedback here.

Have you ever stopped to think in all the people that live in a poor country? Well, I was born in a poor country so I know in which conditions people in Chad live. I was born in a place called Cabo Verde, there are 10 islands and they live in poor conditions so I know how those children feel.

Today we read a book about children that live in Chad and it talks about how children in Chad go to school. A child called Thomas was going to his first day of school and he was very ANXIOUS, EXCITED and NERVOUS. When he arrived, there was no school. The teacher was standing there and said ‘Our first lesson is to build our school.‘

Find out more about this AWESOME and INTERESTING book and discover the ending.

I give 10 HUGE stars to this book and I would like to say ‘thank you PAPERTIGERS for giving us this FABULOUS BOOK!’

This wonderful review of Rain School by James Rumford, one of the 2011 Spirit of PaperTigers Book Set, was written by 4th Grader Lucia F. from Woodlands School in Montevideo, Uruguay.

You can read the rest of the school’s Feedback on all three books here…

With our current PaperTigers issue focusing on the theme of Water in Multicultural Children’s Books and with water playing a crucial role in our Spirit of PaperTigers Outreach (read yesterday’s post to learn more), I was thrilled to learn that water-themed children’s stories will also by highlighted at next year’s Asian Festival of Children’s Content in Singapore!

Project Splash Asia! AFCC 2013

Next year will be the United Nations International Year of Water.

Community and school programmes in many countries will include reading, performing and creating water-themed stories.

Share your favourite stories that have water as a theme, such as Wave by Suzy Lee (California US: Chronicle Books, 2008), Amansinaya-Goddess of the Sea, by Eugene Evasco and Jomike Tejido (illustrator) (Philippines: LG&M, 2007), The Wakame Gatherers by Holly Thompson and Kazumi Wilds (illustrator) (California US: Shen’s Books, 2007), and Water Tales From Around the World (India: Tulika Publishers, 2010).

Project Splash Asia! aims to publish a bibliography and collection of favourite water-themed children’s stories from or about the region for AFCC 2013.

The National Book Development Council of Singapore (NBDCS) hopes the compilation of a bibliography of children’s stories around a universal theme will be a regular project for AFCC to showcase the diversity of talents and children’s literature in the region.

For suggestions and enquiries, please email [email protected].

The Spirit of PaperTigers (SPT) Outreach program seeks to further the overall goals of the PaperTigers Program: bridging cultures and opening minds, promoting greater understanding and empathy among young people from different backgrounds, countries, and ethnicities. More specifically, SPT outreach works to advance education through books and reading, and development through clean and accessible water.

Since 2009, the PaperTigers Program has put books into the hands of young readers through schools and libraries, encouraging literacy, developing understanding and making reading a lifelong habit.  Taking this work a step further, SPT outreach is seeking to ensure that, in areas where there is water stress or water scarcity, the children to whom the books are sent will have access to clean water and good sanitation. The possibility of effective education in certain parts of the world is linked to the basic realities of food and water.  By focusing on books and water together – nourishing both the mind and body – SPT continues to promote literacy and encourage children to become “hungry readers.”   Thus our Outreach motto: “Through Books and Water, Education and Development.”

For more information please head on over to our Spirit of PaperTigers Outreach page and be sure to read the latest feedback (and see photos!)  from Westwood Elementary School in Port Coquitlam, BC, Canada!

Head on over to the Spirit of PaperTigers site to see feedback from the following schools with regards to the  2010 Spirit of PaperTigers Book Set:

Gilead School ~ Tuophema, Nagaland, India

Posadas Mem Elementary School ~ Ajuy, Iloilo, Philippines

Cipriani Elementary School ~ Belmont, California, USA

Head on over to the Gallery section of the PaperTigers website to see some of the gorgeous illustrations from Michael Foreman’s A Child’s Garden: A Story of Hope, selected for the 2011 Spirit of PaperTigers Book Set, as well as from a few others of his many books.

One of the questions I asked Michael in our recent interview was about the relationship between color and monochrome, which is so important in conveying the theme of hope in A Child’s Garden. Here’s his reply:

The use of colour was an important element. The boy’s world of rubble is without colour until the tiny green plant appears. As the plant is nurtured, colour gradually comes into the ground. Colour spreads as the plant grows and recedes as the plant is pulled down. Fortunately, roots are deep and seeds spread – and so does the colour.

I also asked about the colour blue, in particular the vibrant shade that appears in so many of his illustrations. Having grown up myself with Michael’s books, then shared them so often with my children, if I close my eyes, it is always that blue that comes into my mind when I think of his work (and you can find it in a stunning image from One World (Andersen Press, new edition 2011) featured in the Gallery). I’m so glad I asked:

That blue is the blue of shallow seas over white sand – the blue that lifts your heart. The blue of our family’s happiest times.

Isn’t that beautiful?

You will find many of the features exploring the new Spirit of PaperTigers Book Set gathered together on our homepage; and do also take a look at our Outreach section, which focuses on the Spirit of PaperTigers project.

Head on over to our Flickr site to see photographs from some of the schools around the world participating in the Spirit of PaperTigers project… it won’t be long till we’ll have a slideshow in the sidebar here on the blog too. More feedback on the 2010 Book Set has come in, so we’ll be adding that over the coming weeks. In the meantime, enjoy seeing all those happy children rapt in books – both on the individual Participant Feedback pages and all together in Flickr…

Houghton Mifflin introduced its list of books for young readers in 1937. In December of 2007 the company acquired Harcourt Education, making the combined company, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Trade and Reference Publishing Group the largest K-12 publisher in the world. An imprint of the company’s Children’s Book Group, Houghton Mifflin Books for Children currently publishes approximately 75-100 books a year. Ranging from picture book to young adult titles and everything in-between, its line-up of contemporary authors and illustrators includes Lois Lowry, Sy Montgomery, Claire A. Nivola, Allen Say, and more.

Kate O’Sullivan, Executive Editor at Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, answered our questions about James Rumford’s Rain School, one of the books selected for inclusion in the 2011 Spirit of PaperTigers Book Set, and about the imprint Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and the children’s publishing industry in general.

Interview by Aline Pereira, former Managing Editor of PaperTigers and currently an independent writer, editor and editorial consultant specializing in multicultural children’s books.

***

Please tell us a little bit about your path to becoming an editor.

A college course in mythology had me looking at ancillary interpretations of old texts; I came across illustrated versions of The Odyssey and Argonautica and was hooked by the merging of word and picture to relay narrative. I figured children’s books was where it’s at—not being a writer or artist myself, editor seemed like a good fit.

The publishing industry being as competitive as it is, I worked my first couple of years in college textbook publishing at St. Martin’s Press before getting through the door to children’s trade. That was thirteen years ago and I’ve never looked back!

What makes you passionate about the projects you acquire?

If I laugh, cry, or go goosebumpy, I’m sold. I’m always looking for convincing, authentic stories.

Rain School draws on the author’s experience of teaching in Chad, Africa to portray a village’s commitment to educating its children, against all odds. What first attracted you to Rain School when you first read it? Was the story already illustrated then?

Rain School is such a simple, spare story—but it packs an emotive punch. I love how it shows us that with hard work and determination, the rewards of an education can last a lifetime. And that it does this without ever feeling preachy or forced is no small feat. As with all of Jim’s projects, this one first arrived as a beautiful dummy with exuberant sketches.

Houghton Mifflin has published several of Rumford’s books.  How long have you been working with James, and how is your relationship like?

I’ve worked with Jim since his longtime editor, Amy Flynn, left Houghton in 2003. Since then we’ve worked together on Dog-of-the-Sea-Waves, Sequoyah, Beowulf,

PaperTigers is pleased to announce that Biblioburro: A True Story from Columbia by Jeanette Winter is one of the three books included in the Spirit of PaperTigers book set. For more information about the Spirit of PaperTigers Project, please click here.

Jeanette Winter,
Biblioburro: A True Story from Colombia
Beach Lane Books, 2010.

Ages 4-8

We have all met children with a never-ending hunger for books.  Some of them have shelves full of them, but it seems there can never be too many: the prospect of a new story always whets their appetite for more.

There are other children whose hunger for books goes much deeper.  These are the children who may read a single book over and over because it is the only book they have, children who dream about that book when they are not reading it and wish they had others.  Deep in the jungles of Colombia, some of these children’s dreams have come true thanks to the ingenuity and determination of Luis Soriano, a schoolteacher and avid reader who has devised a way to bring books to these isolated communities: The Biblioburro, a mobile lending library carried on the backs of two donkeys.

Each week Luis loads up books from his private collection and carries them from his remote village of La Gloria to even more remote villages in the Colombian jungle.  Luis and his burros, Alfa and Beto, endure heat, tiredness, and even bandits as they carry their precious cargo to people hungry for books.  When Luis arrives, he reads to the children before allowing each of them to select a new book and return their books from the previous week.  Then Luis returns home and reads his own book late into the night.

With characteristic simplicity and her signature bold, bright colors, Jeanette Winter tells the beautiful story of this man who has enriched the lives of hundreds through his efforts.  Children with an insatiable appetite for reading despite full shelves and access to local libraries will appreciate the tale of the Biblioburro that brings books to children who would not have them otherwise. The fact that Luis himself lives a simple life and is willing to endure inconvenience and even danger to bring books where there are none underscores the value and power of reading to those of us who have come to take it for granted.  Biblioburro is a heartwarming profile of one man who is making the world better in a simple yet profound way.

Abigail Sawyer
September 2011

The Japan Times recently published an article entitled Fate’s path led Canadian to Kamakura: Heather Willson makes her mark, keeps focused on road ahead and her Cambodia school. The school referred to in the article, Butterfly School, is a free English school in the village of Popeae, near Udong, Cambodia, established by Heather Willson with Head Teacher Sovann Phon in September 2005.

Last year we were pleased to have the Butterfly School involved with our Spirit of PaperTigers Outreach Project. Holly Thompson, author and SCBWI Tokyo regional advisor, hand delivered a 2010 Spirit of PaperTigers Book Set to the school.  The photo accompanying the Japan Times article (and reprinted here) shows Heather reading one of the 2010 Spirit of PaperTigers books, My Little Round House, to the Butterfly School students.

To read more about the Butterfly School’s involvement with our project and to read their feedback on the 2010 Spirit of PaperTigers Book Set, please click here

Head on over to the PaperTigers website to see some examples of James Rumford

We’ll be bringing you Galleries featuring the other books in the SPT 2011 Book Set soon.

PaperTigers is pleased to announce that A Child’s Garden: A Story of Hope is one of the three books included in the 2011 Spirit of PaperTigers book set.

Michael Foreman,
A Child’s Garden: A Story of Hope
Walker Books / Candlewick Press, 2009.

Ages 5-11

A Child’s Garden: A Story of Hope is a timeless fable with particular relevance for today’s young readers.  Michael Foreman, one of the UK’s foremost illustrators and storytellers, has created a masterpiece that combines uncluttered but meaningful prose with beautiful watercolors in contrasting monochrome and joyous, unstoppable color.

A boy finds a “speck of green” among the rubble that is the bleak, monochrome landscape of his home, and nurtures it with almost desperate care.  His world is separated from the outside by a tall, barbed wire fence: but as the plant grows, it covers the fence, bringing welcome shade, and birds and butterflies.  Other children come there to play and help care for the sturdy vine. Then the unthinkable happens.  Soldiers from the other side of the wire rip the vine away, leaving it to die in a ditch.  Color has once again gone out of the world.  The boy’s heartbreak is palpable.

Life continues through a joyless, cold winter but spring brings with it new growth – on the other side of the fence.  A girl appears and nurtures the plants in her turn, under the disinterested eyes of the soldiers.  Soon there are shoots on the boy’s side too.  Tendrils meet and entwine across the fence, and children on both sides come together to play and tend the vine.  The boy realises that it will grow despite the soldiers’ efforts to destroy it – and in the same way, the fence itself will one day disappear.  The seeds for that have been sown.

Perfectly honed for young children, A Child’s Garden also has much to offer older readers.  At first glance, Foreman’s use of monochrome versus the color of the vine and the life it attracts seems very clear cut.  However, a deeper reading, picking out details in the illustrations especially, provides provoking food for thought, reinforcing the tenacity of the seeds of hope not only sown in the boy’s heart but spreading and growing elsewhere. Foreman’s virtuoso illustrations draw out the story’s multilayered complexity and provide wordless stimuli for readers to put out their own tendrils of hope for the future.

A Child’s Garden is a moving, empowering read that, like all good fables, will leave a lasting, deep-rooted impression on its readers.

Marjorie Coughlan
September 2011

Looking for a lovely calendar for 2012? Be sure to check out award winning author/illustrator Grace Lin‘s Red Threads Calendar, the sales of which will go to assist orphans in China.

Grace Lin is the author and illustrator of picture books, early readers and middle grade novels. Her book Where the Mountain Meets the Moon was a huge success and won many awards including the prestigious Newbery Honor.  It was chosen as one of seven books in our Spirit of Paper Tigers Book Set and Grace was one of our nominations for the  2011 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. Don’t miss our interview with Grace or her two Gallery features here and here.

I had the great pleasure this past weekend of going to Tokyo for two PaperTigers related events — one, to give a talk about PaperTigers to the SCBWI Tokyo chapter, and two, to visit the Bologna Children’s Book Fair Exhibit held annually in Japan at the Itabashi Art Museum.  On Friday, July 8 a small but enthusiastic audience of SCBWI members came to my talk at Tokyo’s Women’s Plaza in Shibuya to hear me explain what PaperTigers is all about.  I told everyone how there were three main components to PaperTigers — the blog, the website, and the outreach program.  When my focus turned to the SPT outreach program, I was also able to introduce host Holly Thompson’s particular outreach contribution which involved a set of books being donated to the Butterfly School in Cambodia.  That was a great plus!  After our talk, we had a round of Q and A about PaperTigers and I got to see some of the lovely work of illustrators such as Izumi Tanaka and hear about writer and illustrator Yoko Yoshizawa’s work with the retelling of folktales around the world, using the work of local illustrators.  I met Ruth Gilmore, librarian and church worker, and author of kidsermons– a four book series of children’s sermons.   I was able to meet with Annie Donwerth Chikamatsu, creator of the wonderful website about Japan called Here and There Japan.  And of course, it was quite exciting for all of us to chat about Holly Thompson’s new fundraising project, the Tomo anthology of Japan-related YA fiction, which is now receiving submissions.  Check out the Tomo blog as well as Holly’s own blog and website, Hatbooks.

The following Saturday I went to the Itabashi Art Museum to see the 2010 Bologna Book Fair exhibit.  The Book Fair exhibit tours Japan annually.  In the Tokyo area,  the hosting museum is the Itabashi Art Museum which has been hosting the book fair for thirty years.  I was most intrigued by the artwork of the winner of the 2010 International Award for Illustration, Philip Giordano.  His illustrations were for a rather fantastical re-telling of the famous Japanese fairytale — Kaguyahime.  There were many other wonderful illustrations, but I was a bit dismayed by how few there were from the Americas — south and north.  Yet, I was very glad to get a taste of some of the world’s best art for children; it certainly inspired me to think about writing for children in a new way!  I picked up the Illustrator’s Annual and have been enjoying browsing through it. 

As delightful as my Tokyo visit was, it ended rather soberly with tremors from a 7.3 earthquake that hit Tohoku on the morning of July 10.  I was in my cousin’s apartment when things started to sway and shake

Head on over to the Spirit of PaperTigers site to see feedback from the Laguna Bel Air School, City of Santa Rosa, Laguna, Philippines. Students in Grades 3 though 6 provided their comments on the books in the 2010 Spirit of PaperTigers Book Sets. Here is a sampling of what they wrote:

Planting the Trees of Kenya

KY, Grade 4: I recommend this book because it shows concern for our mother earth and nature. It shows us how to protect and plant trees, so that we can help the environment.

Little Leap Forward: A Boy in Beijing

MZM, Grade 5: My favorite part is when Little Leap Forward’s father told him that ‘With your music and your imagination, you can travel anywhere; you will always be free’ because it’s very inspiring and also because I’m a musician, too.

CM, Grade 5: My favorite illustration is when Little Little and Little Leap Forward are lying down on the riverbank. It shows that both of them are free and are best friends. When I do what both of them are doing, I will focus on the sky and realize that I still have to do many things before I reach heaven.

AJA, Grade 6: I really like Little Leap Forward because he is kind to his family, friends, pet bird (Little Cloud), and most especially to Blue. He did everything just to let Little Cloud sing. He even let go of her just to be happy and to sing. I will always remember these words from Little Leap Forward: “Wouldn’t you rather be free, just for a day, than spend a lifetime in a cage?”.

VAdR, Grade 6: My favorite chapter is ‘Autumn Song’ because it shows that Little Leap Forward finally gets his wish: to play the flute along with Little Cloud. He played the bamboo flute by just letting the music out from his heart, which for me is the most beautiful music of all.

One Hen

KMS, Grade 3: I like Kojo because he wanted to save money for their needs.

EA, Grade 3: I like the illustrations because they’re all very, very creative.

Head on over to the Spirit of PaperTigers site to see feedback from the Harvest Centre in Sentul, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, including lots of great photographs.

Today we hope you will join with us in celebrating the launch of our new Spirit of PaperTigers Outreach website.

On the front page you will find an interactive world map showing all the SPT participants, who are also listed alphabetically and by country. On the feedback pages, you will be now not only be able to read comments from teachers and students, but where available, you will also be able to watch slideshows and enlarge images to view children’s work. All information about the project, including our Mission Statement and annual Book Set can be found in the About Us section.

Over the next few weeks we will be adding more and more feedback from SPT participants around the world. In the meantime, as well as feedback which was already available from Agape School and Mountain View School, both in Nagaland, India, and Woodlands School in Montevideo, Uruguay, you will now find newly posted feedback from the following schools:

Monroe and Fairmount Elementary Schools in San Francisco, California, USA:

“Two books were a HUGE hit, One Hen and First Come the Zebra.

With One Hen, the kids want MORE… They want to know how much of this story is true, and what has happened since the story was written They loved the idea of the domino effect of helping each other, and related it to their own classrooms and how things work better when they all pitch in. I read this book to 3rd, 4th and 5th graders.

I believe that First Come the Zebra was a huge hit, because the kids can relate to the happenings in the books, especially the conflict between the two boys. They were full of questions and, of course, gave personal anecdotes of times when they were in those situations…”

Pingliang Road No. 3 Elementary School in Shanghai, China:

“Our favorite book was First Come the Zebra [...] They enjoyed the book very much. Their interest partly came from the pictures, the English words and expressions. In the book, there are very different ways to express the ideas from Chinese. Sometimes it has idioms to express the meaning. We don’t know much of English idiomatic expressions in our daily life.”

and Talisay Elementary School in Agusan del Norte, Philippines

“The story about <

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Don’t forget to take a look at our 1,000th post, with the chance of winning a Spirit of PaperTigers 2010 book set. This fabulous set of seven books contains:

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).

You can enter the draw for yourself – and/or you can nominate a school or library anywhere in the world where you would like the books to go to: just let us know.  But hurry as the deadline for entries is midnight PST, Wednesday 19 January. The draw will take place in San Francisco on Thursday 20 January and shortly after we’ll announce the winner here on the blog! Stay tuned!

To reinforce our goal of promoting cross-cultural understanding through books, in February 2010 PaperTigers launched its Spirit of PaperTigers (SPT) Project. As part of this project, we have been donating a set of books which reflect the aims of PaperTigers to schools and libraries in different parts of the world, focusing mostly, though not exclusively, on places where resources are particularly lacking. The seven books that form the SPT set were chosen because, as well as being an enjoyable read and beautifully presented, their content and focus contribute to bridging cultures and opening minds, and promote greater understanding and empathy among young people from different backgrounds, countries, and ethnicities.

When I told Mrs. Chantal Dickson, Grade 3 teacher at Anmore Elementary School in Anmore, BC, Canada, about the SPT project she was very keen to take part. Although Anmore School may not be considered  “needy” in  financial terms, it is a very unique school in that the student population and surrounding neighbourhood really do not reflect British Columbia’s visibly multi-ethnic society.

Anmore Elementary School….(click on photos to enlarge)

Because of feedback we have been receiving from earlier recipients of the SPT book set, we decided to try something a little different with Mrs. Dickson and provide more than one set of the books – especially as she often breaks her class down into small literature circles of about five or six students. Each circle reads and talks about the books amongst themselves, and then the groups are brought together for class discussions. To help facilitate the use of the books in this setting, we sent Mrs. Dickson six book sets. This amounted to 42 books so I recruited my daughter, who attends Anmore, and four of her friends to help me deliver the books…

Heading up the hill to the Mrs. Dickson’s class…

5 happy helpers and 1 very excited teacher…

We look forward to hearing how Mrs. Dickson uses the books in her class and of course receiving feedback from the students.  I al