Room to Read Blog

Big News from the ICC World T20 Tournament in Sri Lanka: Room to Read and ICC Bring Cricketers' Stories to Life

There is a lot of excitement around the ICC World T20 cricket championships in Sri Lanka these days, but not all of it is on the pitch. In partnership with the International Cricket Council, Room to Read has released two new original children’s books based on the lives of cricket stars Virat Kohli of India and Angelo Mathews of Sri Lanka. Amid the ICC World T20 excitement, we caught up with the writer of Virat’s Inning and the illustrator of Little Angelo’s Big Day in Cricket, to hear more about their experiences bringing the stars’ stories to life.

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Aruna Keerthi Gamage, illustrator of Little Angelo’s Big Day in Cricket, has been involved with Room to Read’s Book Publishing program for five years and has illustrated more than 10 books in Sri Lanka.

Room to Read: What made you interested in illustrating for children?

Aruna:  I read children’s story books while I was growing up—especially those from the Soviet Union and China. I realized that good children’s books manage to strike a harmony between storyline and illustrations. You cannot separate the two.  As I got older, my curiosity for learning the art of illustration also grew, so I started searching for new training opportunities in this area.

Room to Read: How was the concept for Angelo’s book developed?

Aruna:  Angelo’s book was a challenge since it was a biography and I had to determine how true I wanted to stay to his actual life. I had to imagine his childhood in my mind. I also tried to imagine what an aspiring cricketer would go through in this country—the feeling of wanting to play for their country.

For research, I surveyed newspaper articles, the internet and other archival materials to observe his features and physical attributes. I also met Angelo and his family members and did extensive interviews with them.

Room to Read: What makes an illustrator successful? What advice do you have for aspiring illustrators?

Aruna: Well, first and foremost: understand children. Illustrations should talk to children and be attractive. Think out of the box and also, newcomers should have the ability to observe the world around them.

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Bimal Mohan is a sports journalist by profession, but his passion for writing led him to Room to Read. He found his niche within our Book Publishing program in India, and authored this year’s original title Virat’s Inning, based on the life of cricket star Virat Kohli.

Room to Read: What initially interested you in writing children’s stories?

Bimal:  Well, being a sports journalist, the one question that we often ask sports stars is how they plan to give back to the game. This question stands true for me as a journalist, too. I believe that our generation will only leap forward when we give back to society. So when I got an offer to write for children, I had no second thoughts.

Room to Read: Was it difficult writing a book on a famous cricketer?

Bimal: Yes and No. No, because this exercise was in a way similar to reporting as a sports journalist. Yes, because normally when we write our news reports, we do so for audiences which are at least young adults and upwards and not small children. Writing for children requires a different outlook.

Room to Read: What interested you most in Virat’s story?

Bimal: Irrespective of the sport, every champion has a unique story. All of them cross a difficult hurdle to reach the pinnacle—athletes like Usain Bolt, Mo Farah, Sachin Tendulkar and Lance Armstrong. Virat is no different. He is a true champion in the making.

He lost his father in the midst of playing an important match, but continued to play, which speaks volumes about his mental state. Sports teach a lesson about duty, honor and teamwork. Virat Kohli learned it the hard way and came out the other side with flying colors. 

Room to Read: What advice do you have for aspiring authors?

Bimal: Observe, persevere and read as much as you can.

Learn more about our partnership with ICC at http://www.roomtoread.org/wt20

A Principal in Bangladesh Finds a New Voice on the Pages of a Children's Book

Rahamot Ullah is the Principal of Kishalay Girls’ School and College in Dhaka. “I have always aimed to be a friend to all my students,” he says, distributing a bag of chocolates to several of the school's tenth grade students.

In addition to running the school’s operations, Rahamot Ullah is also an avid writer, having penned many poems and articles on education issues in his native Bangladesh. It wasn’t until recently, though—when he came across a newspaper advertisement from Room to Read in 2010—that Mr. Ullah thought to combine his passion for teaching with his creative pursuits.

The ad was a simple one, like dozens more placed each year in periodicals across the ten countries where we work, but it struck a chord with Mr. Ullah. “Room to Read is seeking submissions from authors for Bengla-language children’s books,” it said, and upon reading those words, the principal began preparing his submission almost immediately.

When he heard back from our team, it was not good news. They explained to the principal that the greatest need in Bangladesh for children’s literature lies in books designed for very early readers. His stories, while captivating, were clearly written with more mature students in mind.

Not one to be dissuaded easily, Mr. Ullah worked hard to produce new stories that were more appropriate to the reading level described by our team, and in 2011 he submitted his work again. This time, he was elated to find that his stories had been selected.

The first step for Mr. Ullah after getting the good news was to attend an orientation for all new writers and illustrators working with Room to Read. There, he learned about how our Book Publishing program supports literacy across Bangladesh and how to write with a gender lens. He also learned that his book, once finished, would be distributed to hundreds of school libraries in rural villages, which for some students, would be their only option for reading material outside of their government textbook.

Next, Mr. Ullah attended a three-day residential workshop to revise his manuscript, a unique experience partially because of the company he shared it with. Other first-time children’s authors included a police officer, several university professors and a handful of journalists.

After the workshop, each author’s final manuscript was sent out into the field to be tested by students in nearby schools, while their creators awaited a final decision about which ten books would be published in 2011.

In the end, Mr. Ullah got the answer he was looking for, and his book, In the Land of Angels, was published late last year. Using rhyme, the book teaches children about colors through the familiar backdrop of Bangladesh’s countryside. “I am happy to know that a new generation of learners will be reading my book,” he says of his latest pursuit.

Learn more about our Book Publishing.

Guest blog from Australia: Best-selling Author Markus Zusak Celebrates Children's Book Week

This past week, Australia celebrated Children’s Book Week—the oldest running children’s festival in the country. At Room to Read, we love celebrating reading, so we asked Australian author Markus Zusak to mark the occasion by sharing what he loves most about books.

Markus is the author of the internationally best-selling novel The Book Thief, a father, and a Room to Read ambassador.

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It’s only when you sit down to do a one-off blog about your day that you realise how much you depend on words, and reading and writing.

I’m writing this after reading There’s a Wocket in My Pocket for possibly the four hundred and fifty-eighth time to put my daughter to bed. And I still love it.

To tell you the truth, Dr. Seuss is almost a god at our house. The books are lined up like the silliest soldiers ever. A giant picture of Sam-I-Am stands proudly in our children’s bedroom. When I walk past, I feel like he’s winking at me. He’s saying, ‘Oi, Markus. Quick. Come here…Do you like green eggs and ham?’ And I feel like shouting back: ‘I DO NOT LIKE THEM, SAM-I-AM!’

But I’m lying.

I do like them, or at least I know I’ll come around.

Most days, I work as early as I can, and it’s the best job in the world because I’m not me anymore. I get to travel thousands of miles, within myself.  Most importantly, I’m allowed to attempt the magic act of believing something that isn’t true.

That’s what made me want to be a writer.

It was reading stories and novels and knowing that none of it was real, but believing it anyway. That, to me, is the best magic act in the world; every time I sit down and read, I see a rabbit pulled out of a hat. I get to be the rabbit, or at least talk to it, or hear what it has to say. Every time I sit down to write, I try to find a new way to make those same things happen for someone else.

In the end, I realise how lucky I am. I have so many stories at my fingertips because there are so many books on the shelves here.

Tomorrow night I hope we’ll choose The Sleep Book instead of There’s a Wocket in My Pocket. It might be because I’m slightly scared of the vug under the rug…but it would also be timely.

In The Sleep Book, Dr. Seuss goes about counting how many kids and creatures are going to sleep at that exact moment. For me, it will also be a realisation that more and more kids in the world are being read aloud to, with the help of Room to Read.

In Honor of J.K. Rowling's Birthday: Meet the Next Generation of Storytellers

"It matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be." 

— J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire)

Today is J.K. Rowling’s birthday, and in honor of her literary contributions (over 4,000 pages of them!), we bring you the story of two young women from Sri Lanka who are following in her footsteps.

At just 15 and 17 years old, respectively, Sarasi and Chathurika have already written and illustrated a successful children’s book with the help of Room to Read’s Local Language Publishing program.  Now, three years after the book was first published, the two girls reflect on their first foray into children’s literature, and what the future has in store for them.

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Three years ago, a small ad in a leading newspaper in Sri Lanka inadvertently brought two young school girls together for the first time. It was a call for submissions for a competition held by Room to Read that aimed to find and develop young literary talent in Sri Lanka, as well as identify potential authors and illustrators for the Local language Publishing program.

When the competition ended, 12-year-old Sarasi and 14-year-old Chathurika were among the winners. “I had participated in several competitions so when I was told that I was the winner, I was happy and all I expected was some kind of prize… I never thought that I would get an opportunity to write a story to be read by children all across my country,” says Sarasi.

Chathurika, too, did not expect the competition to be a life-changing event. “When I submitted my painting, I did not even know that I had this potential—I enjoyed drawing but never took it seriously,” she confesses. “But when I was selected, it made me realize that I can draw—it was a moment of epiphany.”

Thinking back to her days at the illustrators' workshop held for the winners, Chathurika says she is almost embarrassed by how “raw” she was, having never taken a formal drawing class before. “I had no idea about scale or shading or about the different mediums of this craft,” she says, "it was at the workshop that I realized that there was much more to drawing than just copying—I learned that there was indeed a method to this madness!”

It took her precisely 20 days to do the artwork for Sarasi’s 20-page story, Baby Fish Goes to School, which the young author says came to her almost immediately when she joined the writers’ workshop. “We had just put a civil war behind us and because my dad is in the army, the message of peace was at the top of my head,” she says.

Three years later—after becoming a much beloved children’s book in their native Sri Lanka, Baby Fish is back, with a whole new set of illustrations, courtesy of Chathurika.

Since their first foray into children’s literature, both girls have continued to develop their talents. Sarasi has even begun illustrating some of her own stories. “I have dreams of becoming an army doctor or a scientist,” shares the 12 year-old with confidence, who plans to continue writing and publishing her stories on the side.

Chathurika, on the other hand, says that art has become her life, having illustrated several more Room to Read local-language books since Baby Fish. After passing her exams, she has decided to attend art school, and dreams of one day holding exhibitions of her work. “I will always find time to do books for Room to Read however,” she says with a smile, “for after all it was Room to Read that showed me the way.”

Learn more about our programs in Sri Lanka.

Room to Read Celebrates International Children's Book Day

On April 2, the world celebrates International Children’s Book Day, a forty-four year tradition established by the International Board on Books for Young People on the birthday of esteemed children’s book author, Hans Christian Andersen. International Children’s Book Day is designed to inspire a love of reading among children and adults. At Room to Read, we celebrate reading every day, as we work to provide the materials, environment and skills for children in some of the more marginalized regions of the world so that they can discover the joy of books.

The theme of International Children’s Book Day for 2011 is “The Book Remembers,” which means that books are reflections of the time in which they are written. Thus, they are invaluable sources of history, as well as being entertaining and inspiring. Room to Read’s Local Language Publishing program holds culture and tradition as critical elements of the books we publish. We want to be sure the children reading these books can identify with the setting, the characters, the habits and speech –- for in seeing themselves and their surroundings, they are better able to understand and learn.

Last week, the two global office members of our Local Language Publishing team, Wilfredo (Wili) Pasqual and Sarah Stewart, had just returned from a 60-day, seven-country trip through south and southeast Asia. Though they were still fighting off jetlag and wading through unread email, they couldn’t wait to share some of unforgettable moments and colorful stories they brought back from their recent journey. The fast-paced tour was planned in an effort to survey the Local Language Publishing program -– its strengths and opportunities for growth. Along the way, Wili and Sarah met with individuals from all the various groups involved with putting local language children’s books into the hands of young and budding readers. Their notebooks and Flip cameras were filled with conversations with authors, illustrators, librarians, teachers, ministers of education, publishers, and, of course, some of the children enjoying the colorful and inspiring books filling the shelves of their libraries and schools and filling their imaginations.

One of these children was Kimlay, from a village near Siem Reap in Cambodia. Two years ago, Kimlay struggled to keep up with her school work. Because her reading skills were poor, she was very embarrassed whenever asked to read aloud in class. The librarian at her school saw a dramatic shift in Kimlay’s performance once a Room to Read library was established. With the encouragement of her grandmother and aunt, both of whom had attended school themselves, Kimlay became a voracious reader, checking out up to 10 books each day and staying up late to finish every book so that she could check out 10 more the following day. Kimlay is now ranked third in her class and continues to bring home a stack of books each night, many of which she reads to her young cousin.

What Wili and Sarah found as they traveled via plane, bus, tuk-tuk and footpath, is that, the value of children’s books is universal. The words and the pictures touch the soul and imagination of young minds eager to discover and understand their world.

On International Children’s Book Day, we honor the authors and illustrators who create these portals to places undiscovered. We honor the librarians and teachers who make these tools available to young readers. And we honor the children who happily and enthusiastically pore over the colorful pages as they journey to magical places.

Read more about our Local Language Publishing program.

 

Visit Zak the Yak in His New Digital Home!

He’s hairy and hoofed
And trapped in a book,
But our friend Zak’s new home
Is on the web; take a look!

With color sheets and mazes
And tongue twisters galore,
Zak’s new site will inspire
Your little ones to do more

Like learn about our work
Or start their own page
Or maybe take Yak-tion since
Giving back’s all the rage

Zak’s online debut is really quite fun,
So hoof on over and enjoy
“For the sooner you start,
Then the sooner you’re done!”

Please give Zak a nice housewarming gift and visit him in his new online home!

Special thanks goes out to the Atlassian Foundation for their site design.

Our Own Top 10: Top 10 Books Published by Room to Read in 2010

It's that time of year when everyone is looking back and making their Top 10 lists so we decided to make one of our own -- Top 10 children's books that Room to Read created and published in 2010!

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 10. The Snake Who Wants to Buy a Shoe (Cambodia) This charming picture book tells the story of a little snake who asks the crab, the spider, the cricket, the frog, and a little girl to figure out how much he should spend if he only needs to buy one shoe. Skillfully weaving collage and paper folding in its illustrations, this delightful story introduces everyday math concepts to children. A product of our writers workshop, this book is the Room to Read debut of Mr. Sun Try, a senior student of Khmer Literature and Mr. Yuom Kosal, a young artist and book designer with exceptional skill, attention to detail and an aesthetic vision that sets the illustrations in this book apart. Kosal’s participation in the Room to Read  illustrators’ workshop prompted his first experiments in collage.

9. Who Makes the Best Papaya Salad? (Laos) The animals in the forest take pride in their own -- often secret -- recipes. But in order to make the most delicious papaya salad, a traditional dish in Laos, the animals need to learn to work together. A product of our writers and illustrators’ workshops, this is the first book written by Miss Manivanh Siphonesay working in collaboration with Mr. Nivong Sengsakoun, an award-winning local artist.

8. Thili’s Journey (South Africa) Thili’s middle finger tickled and itched, but she didn’t dare scratch it because she believed the superstition heard from her elders that this would chase away her chance for future money and luck. She was also superstitious of lizards and frogs, bees and crabs, rats and locusts, butterflies, and even chameleons. Because of all her fears, Thili never made the journey through the lush, green valley to visit Grandma vho-Nyawa...until now. Thili’s Journey is a story about a little girl’s adventures with fantastical superstition, folk and mythical beliefs that she has to conquer during her visit to her grandmother. The story, originally written in the Tshivenda language, is by poet and fictionist Gudani Ramikosi and illustrated by Jonas Mailula.

7. Traditional Riddles (Vietnam) This book promises to engage and delight countless Vietnamese children in riddle-solving. A compilation of humorous folk riddles passed on for generations, this book was put together by Miss Le Phuong Lien, who has written over 250 titles in teaching and learning for primary schoolchildren in Vietnam, in collaboration with artist Do Bien Thuy.

6. Mini’s Rainbow (Bangladesh) Mini the Kitten wakes up one morning and sadly sees that the rainbow had lost its colors. To bring the rainbow back to life, Mini seeks the help of the blue sky, the rooster, the kingfisher, the mustard field and the orange tree. One of the first Room to Read titles in the Bangla language, Mini's Rainbow is written by Shaheen Aziz, a local long-time author of children’s books, and illustrated by Sabyasachi Hazra, Bangladesh’s most prolific artists with over two thousand book cover designs in his portfolio.

5. The Power of Friendship (India) The Power of Friendship is a story about a group of numbers: Number One is new to the neighborhood and is having a hard time making friends; the other numbers think of him as unequal. Along the way, Number One meets Zero who, similarly, has no friends. In the end, they realize the added “value” of their friendship as the two digits stand right next to each other to form the Number Ten. This early reader book was written by Govind Sharma, India’s award-winning children’s book author and was illustrated by a young artist, Mehul Navodit, who was recently highlighted by CBS News about his contributions to Room to Read's Local Language Publishing program.

 

4. On the Road to Visit Grandpa (Bangladesh) Join Dragonfly aboard her leaf car on a magical, rhyming adventure to see Grandpa. Along the way Dragonfly encounters different characters, each with something to offer that Dragonfly picks up for her grandfather. This book was written by the Room to Read Bangladesh Literacy Team and illustrated by Sabyasachi Hazra.

 

 

3. The Red Flower (Nepal) A rabbit froze in the cold weather. Nearby, a fox and a vulture argue about who will take the rabbit away. Will the rabbit manage to escape? You'll have to read it to find out what happens in this tale with a strong traditional feel. Illustrated by Bhisma K. C. and written by young author Mr. Yashu Shrestha, The Red Flower was developed during a Room to Read writers' workshop held in collaboration with the Danish Writers Association and the Nepal Society for Children’s Literature.

2. Unjani (How Are You?) (South Africa) Unjani is a foundation phase book containing photos and illustrations depicting various facial emotions of children in South Africa with accompanying text in simple and predictable language to define each emotion. Originally written in English and the Xhosa language, and translated into five other languages (Afrikaans, Sepedi, Siswati, Xitsonga, and Tshivenda), the book is written by local author/illustrator Hillary Atkinson who worked with students in Khayelitsa through an organization that promotes skills training.

1. Baby Fish Goes to School, 2nd ed. (Sri Lanka) Originally published in 2006, Baby Fish Goes to School is the story of a baby fish who wants to go to school but discovers he can’t because he lives in water. Written by a 15-year old girl, the story won a creative writing competition organized by Room to Read and was illustrated by a 17-year old student who had won national art awards. In 2006, it was the first children’s book these girls had published. The first-edition book was written for advanced readers and thus, it was text-heavy and included three languages within one book. This new 2010 edition has been updated by the same writer and artist and is now being published with separate Sinhala- and Tamil-language versions. In addition, the story is now geared toward beginning readers so language has been simplified with less text and more basic vocabulary. It also includes an illustrated learning activity to teach about other animals that live in water.

In many developing countries, finding children’s books that are relevant to the local context and written in the local language is difficult. Our Local Language Publishing program develops materials from the ground up by tapping emerging and established local writers and illustrators. Room to Read now publishes in 23 languages across Asia and Africa. The titles above are just 10 out of 120 titles that Room to Read published in 2010. Learn more about our Local Language Publishing program.

Twas the Night Before Christmas...Room to Read Style

Twas the night before Christmas, and in library nooks,
Were millions of children reading Room to Read books.
The bookshelves were stocked by the librarian with care,
In the hopes that more kids would discover them and share.

These children had never seen so many choices,
Of books in their own language read by their teacher in playful voices.
And even after these children had read books and heard stories,
They found puzzles, toys and games -– these kids were truly in their glory.

With a focus on literacy and keeping girls in their classes,
In 10 years Room to Read’s education movement has reached out to the masses.
There are now libraries, books, reading lessons and schools.
And girls learning academics and life-coping tools!

Now Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Cambodia,
Sri Lanka, Laos, Vietnam, Zambia and South Africa,
Can celebrate literacy and help kids by the million,
Because World Change Starts with Educated Children.

 

Please don't forget:

Unwrap world change through our Holiday Gift Catalog. All gifts made online through the end of December will be matched 100% up to $500,000.

In Observance of World AIDS Day: Introducing An Unlikely Heroine for Children in South Africa

World AIDS Day was established by the World Health Organization in 1988 to raise awareness of a disease that has devastated generations worldwide. Every December 1, as we observe this solemn day, it’s hard not to be completely overwhelmed by the staggering statistics: 1.8 million deaths from AIDS in 2009; 2.5 million children worldwide infected with AIDS, and 30 child deaths from AIDS every hour. Of those infected by the disease, nine of every 10 live in Sub-Saharan Africa.

And while the numbers are daunting, one little hero is making a big difference to children in South Africa whose lives have been shattered by this ravaging epidemic. Her name is Thandi, and though she doesn’t have the notoriety or spell-casting powers of Harry Potter, her story is very powerful and has brought hope and comfort to some of the millions children who are ill or have lost one or both parents to AIDS.

Thandi is the heroine of a series of books produced by Catherine Groenewald and Room to Read’s Local Language Publishing program in South Africa. Thandi made her debut in I Could be Anywhere, written by Groenewald in 2004 after working with her friend, Sarah Oosthuizen, to establish a women’s sewing collective for an impoverished community in South Africa.  The local women learned sewing skills by making ragdolls, named Nosipho dolls, from scraps of material. It was here Groenewald and Oosthuizen met Gogo, a grandmother who was the sole bread winner for a large family in a community ravaged by HIV/AIDS, TB, poverty, illiteracy, teenage pregnancies and alcohol abuse. Groenewald remembers, “Forming a friendship with her, and seeing her daily life, the children around her and her personal struggles, made me want to tell her story.” 

In I Could Be Anywhere, Thandi, an orphan who has lost both of her parents to AIDS, moves in with her grandmother, Gogo, and together they make a doll named Nosipho from the scraps of Thandi’s deceased parents’ clothing. Through Nosipho, Thandi finds comfort and healing, and the two become inseparable. The second Thandi book, Nosipho Comes to Stay, written by Oosthuizen and illustrated by Groenewald, was published by Room to Read in 2007, translated into 11 South African languages, and distributed to Room to Read libraries throughout South Africa. 

Groenewald later produced three more books in the Nosipho series, two of which are Room to Read publications: Jingle-jingle in My Pocket, published in 2009, and The Big Secret, to be published by the end of 2010.
In addition to having the books about Thandi in our libraries, Room to Read South Africa partnered with two local non-profit organizations, ABC Stories and Siphosenkosi, to have the books and handmade dolls distributed to orphanages and children’s clinics throughout the country. Groenewald notes, “While speaking to a doctor, who works for Kidz Positive, an HIV/AIDS Clinic in Kayalitsha, Cape Town, I was struck by the huge burden HIV-positive children bear. They feel they must keep their status secret for fear of family scorn, reprisals and rejection by a sometimes uncompassionate community. The Clinic Sisters and counselors comfort and counsel these children - hopefully with the doll (as a tangible comfort) and book (gentle education about the truth) these children feel heard and less burdened.”

We all anxiously await the day we can close the book on the tragedy of AIDS, but until that day, we’re honored to be part of an effort bringing some comfort to children coping with extreme loss and sadness.  

Meet Thandi personally by reading Jingle-jingle in my Pocket via Scibd (and also check out Scribd's Read for a Cause promotion benefitting Room to Read).

Visit our website to learn more about our Local Language Publishing program.  

 

Spreading Literacy Through Our Books: Bringing New Children’s Books to Life

This week, in recognition of International Literacy Day, we’re focusing on the power of literacy, reading and books. Sarah Stewart, Room to Read Local Language Program Associate, recently returned from Room to Read-sponsored writers’ and illustrators’ workshops in Cambodia. Fifteen aspiring writers attended a five-day workshop and produced 48 manuscripts -- seven of which were selected for illustration during the illustrators' workshop two weeks later. In this guest blog, Sarah introduces us to an author and artist who is excited to bring some of our children’s books to life.

With his infectious energy and bright smile, Nuon arrived early on the last day of the illustrators’ workshop. He bounced from table to table, greeting everyone and checking out the progress his fellow artists had made on their illustrations, offering praise or mock criticism in his charming manner. Every morning started with a light-hearted ice-breaker activity, and on this last day, Nuon -- flashing that grin we had all grown to adore and barely able to contain his excitement -- pleaded that he had dreamed of a game last night, and please could we play it? Within minutes, we were laughing hysterically as this group of adults frantically formed and re-formed “cages” with partners and tried to avoid being the only “animal” without a place to reside. 

Nuon's ability to spark excitement and enthusiasm, even from a group of sleepy adults, is evident in everything he does. As a grade 1 teacher at Phreas Lean Primary School in Krolunch, Cambodia, Nuon captivates his young students with both his art and his storytelling -- they learn while having fun!

Last year, Nuon participated in the illustrators’ workshop. This year, he decided to attended both the writers’ and illustrators’ workshops, despite the six-hour journey between his home and the workshop location. Nuon was incredibly productive, and at the end of the five-day writers’ workshop, he had ambitiously completed 10 fiction and non-fiction manuscripts, all tied to the grade 2 math and science curricula.  

An aspiring children's book author and self-taught artist, Nuon has a built-in audience of first-graders to tap into as a resource when trying to come up with story ideas. He sees what interests them, what keeps their attention, what they find humorous, and what tools might help them better understand the curriculum material.

After completing the writers’ workshop, Nuon returned home for a week before turning around and making the long trip back to Phnom Penh for the illustrators’ workshop. On day one of the workshop, copies of the seven selected manuscripts from the writers’ workshop were distributed to the artists.  Each artist would then select a story to work on during the week, using various methods of illustration. At the end of the first day, after all the other workshop participants had left, Nuon approached the facilitators with a look of disbelief and asked if he understood correctly – had Room to Read really chosen not one, but two of his stories to be illustrated? An affirmation incited a literal jump for joy from Nuon and that famous grin -- and in an instant he was out the door to get started.

The Dog and the Coconuts, a fiction story intended to promote early math skills, will be published by Room to Read in 2010. Who Am I?, a non-fiction book about water, will be printed in 2011. When asked if he wanted to illustrate his own books, Nuon humbly declined, citing the outstanding talent of his fellow artists.

Room to Read’s Local Language Publishing program has published 433 original children’s local language titles and printed more than 4.1 million books.

Please also continue to help us promote literacy:

TWEET out the International Literacy Day tweet.
INVEST in the publication of a new children's book for South Africa.