Everyone in the office was shocked to hear yesterday that we’d had a chieftain in our midst all this time. Here is one of our colleagues at Random House in his role as the youthful chieftain of the McQuarrie clan in the TV show ‘Good Guys’. Who knew?
Here are some of the motivations that have made Tamarind successful and that get the team out of bed on a Monday morning!
Why Tamarind?
Because we publish stories, not stereotypes.
Because children read pictures long before they read words.
Because no child should have to qualify for entry into a world aimed exclusively at children.
Because learning to read does not take place in a social vacuum – every word carries message, and so does every picture.
Because when I was growing up I never saw myself in a book.
Because black children can be heroes too.
Because cultural omission must not be perpetuated.
Because a high number of picture books aimed at children do not include black children as main protagonists.
Because diversity is life, not a niche of it.
Because we are much more than just a single story.
Tamarind will be on the road again this autumn, sharing the list with education practitioners. We’re visiting the Hilton hotel in Croydon on 27th September to meet local needs for inclusive resources. All the schools in the borough have been invited. It’s always a great exhibition to be at.
Here are some pics from last year’s show:
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Pore over a range of resources that you couldn’t find elsewhere. Equip your school with inclusive resources. Enjoy workshops and meet the people who create and distribute multicultural books. Tamarind will be among the exhibors at the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE) book fair. Several titles will be selling at only £1 each.
Multicultural Resources Fair
Wednesday 29th September 2010
12pm – 6.30pm
CLPE, Webber St, London SE1 8QW
CLPE is holding its seventh multicultural book fair where specialist booksellers and publishers display and sell their books and resources. The book fair will be of interest to teachers, early years practitioners, parents, librarians and students. www.clpe.co.uk
Become the darling of your reading group, or start one, by winning 8 copies of The Young Chieftain! Share the book and discuss the themes of heritage, legend and leadership woven into the pacey story. Click through to the ReadersPlace website to enter.
Only three weeks to go til publication!
For those who still don’t know what the fuss is about, author Ken Howard reads a gripping extract from the forthcoming page-turner, The Young Chieftain.
Click for more about the book.
Click to watch the trailer.
This week the BBC hinted at what Malaika Rose Stanley has long suspected: we are not alone in the universe! http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-10853905
Flick through Spike’s close encounter of the adopted kind. The TOP SECRET ending will be revealed in shops on September 2nd 2010.
At a recent event managed by Waterstone’s, Pelican Post supporters bought 120 children’s books for schools in various African countries. Among them were 20 copies of Amina and the Shell, which have now been delivered to the children at Dwabor School in Ghana, shown below. Find out how you can send multicultural books to African schools via Pelican Post.
Last month, Class 3O at Brecknock Primary School studied the work of Tamarind author Verna Wilkins. They each wrote her a letter asking questions about her life. On Thursday, Verna visited Class 3O in person! Their teacher Siobhan reports…
Class 3O have been studying many books by the author Verna Wilkins, including biographies of Stephen Lawrence and Benjamin Zephaniah, as part of the Literacy Unit Authors and Letters. When they wrote to her to ask her to come and visit, imagine their surprise when she did! Especially as they were to first to hear her read her new book, Abdi’s Day which is not due out until September 2010. Here are some of the class’ comments about her visit:
Danae: “It was delightful that what I wanted to happen happened on Thursday because Verna Wilkins came when we wrote letters to her.”
Josh: “It was extremely good that our dream to meet Verna Wilkins came true. She is an extremely nice woman and she told us about how she wrote her books.”
Merrill: “It was amazing to see Verna Wilkins and her telling us her new story, Abdi’s Day. I asked her if she would ever write her autobiography and she said she would get to work on it when she gets home!”
Amal: “It was so outstanding to meet Verna Wilkins because I really want to be an author when I grow up and she told me everything about how to be a writer.”
This morning Ben Morley, the author of The Silence Seeker, dropped into our office from Singapore during his holiday in London.
After a minute’s silence, Ben enthralled an audience with an intimate reading. The publicity director, managing director and production controller were among those who enjoyed the story and asked Ben questions. Although we can’t repeat the magic of the book read aloud, you can see a video Q & A with Ben below.
Ben signed copies of the book which you can win on Facebook and Twitter next week.
What inspired Ben to write The Silence Seeker
Ben Morley on… Favourite books
Ben Morley on… The Crown Prince of Brunei
Ben Morley on… Being a writer
Ben Morley on… Workshopping the book
