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.
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.
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.
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
Friday July 9th saw Brighton’s Balfour Infants School in for a treat – not only did they get a visit from their newly-elected local Green Party MP Caroline Lucas, but also Tamarind illustrator Karin Littlewood! The Year 1 and 2 pupils listened cross-legged to a great speech from Caroline about biodiversity. She explained that if you imagined the world as an apple, only a quarter of it would be land, and the rest water… and only a half of that bit of land was habitable! So you can imagine how important it is to protect that relative slither of land we live on.
After Caroline spoke, Karin gave a brilliant reading of The Day the Rains Fell. The book explores the idea of how the watering holes appeared in the savannah desert and celebrates the diversity of the animals living in the plains. One by one, each animal lends its colours to Thandi’s beaded necklace until she has a rainbow assortment of colours! After the reading the children decorated their own beads with all the patterns of their favourite animals.
The children enjoyed the arts and crafts no end, but the event had a serious message. Caroline Lucas said “…young people need to learn about the earth’s fragile state. We’ve taken the biosphere for granted for too long. The global climate talks last year in Copenhagen failed to tackle climate change in any meaningful way so time is running out.”
Caroline also praised the book, saying “The Day the Rains Fell is the best book I’ve seen for younger children – and for parents who want their children to enjoy and learn at the same time – about why humanity and every species on the planet is threatened.”
More of Tamarind’s ‘green’ books:
This week Ealing Council held its Early Years conference. Tamarind founder and author Verna Wilkins gave the keynote speech. Verna shared a lifetime of experience and success with local practitioners. The event was held to launch Building Futures: Believing in Children, a government document giving guidance on inclusion in the Early Years. Verna brought the Tamarind titles to life, injecting heart and humour into good inclusion practice. Here’s what the audience thought:
“She was so inspirational. Every word she said had a deep meaning to it. I thoroughly enjoyed her speech.” - Attendee from Ealing Montessori School
“[Verna's speech] reminded me as to why I am still in teaching. Does she do talking books???!!! What a fantastic reader.” – Delegate from Greenfields Children’s Centre
“We should have more sessions like this to enhance our creativity and understanding of the world.” – Attendee from Sudbury Hill Montessori School
“[Verna] encouraged me to look and think about what children say and to promote children learning through their personal experiences.” – Delegate from Windmill Children’s Centre
Multicultural bookseller Colourful Kids displayed the full range of Tamarind’s Early Years titles on the day.
Tamarind’s first fiction title release is fast approaching. For over 20 years, children have grown up with our sumptuous, fun and diverse picture books. Now, The Young Chieftain provides the next step in their reading journey.
But all the images are not lost… Enjoy this book trailer by the BAFTA and EMMY nominated author Ken Howard.
