Joanne Gail Johnson's MEANINGFUL BOOKS

The Dot by Peter Reynolds

2012-01-08T07:02:00.000-08:00

The courage to make your mark comes from within. We cannot assign creativity by facilitating Art projects. Peter Reynolds, author of "Dot" and other meaningful books, points out that children want to see grown ups enjoying their journeys. When kids see teachers expressing their individual uniqueness in a variety of creative ways, they learn how to access this in themselves and do so courageously.

Other meaingful must-haves from Reynolds: The North Star and Ish.

Also, find his resources online for teaching ideas and related media tools: DVD musical, classroom activities and more.

Small Man has the Heart to change Small Minds.

2011-09-24T08:33:00.000-07:00

Meaningful Books offer soul nourishment without indoctrination.

Children are not able to fully articulate the finer truths of life which they experience inwardly as their reality. My Meaningful Books like Pink Carnival, are created with a conscious intention to speak through my childhood, and own ongoing "inner child" experience. My prayer is that Meaningful Books will engage readers in contemplations, and both inner and outer conversations. My aim is to respect and awaken "in-tuition"; ( read inner teaching).

Pink Carnival is most obviously a concept picture book for children 5 and under but I have used it to inspire meaningful work with teens and adults.

The theme of gender equality is also obvious, but Pink Carnival playfully twists this by putting the onus on men and boys, to consider the disadvantages and limitations they impose upon themselves with gender stereotyping.

Considering the issue of gender equality from subtler points-of-view, invites readers of all ages to dig deeper.

Equality, after all, is not about sameness.

In the national anthem of Trinidad and Tobago, we value equality:

"Here every creed and race finds an equal place"

In essence, the desire expressed is that of... and for... DIGNITY.

Amidst our differences, we sing, let us each be rightfully entitled to experiences that are respectful of our essential human value.

Trying to unify everyone by stripping away the natural and necessary variety of external expression, or by legislating sameness of roles, according to caste or gender groupings is a miss, by a mile.

His colorful and diverse natural and cultural environments inspire Small Man in Pink Carnival. In his request for a pink hat, he is responding honestly to the impulse of his personal, intimate experience in the 'here and now".

The child is not rebelling against some known dogma or established tradition. Nor is he rejecting the father by questioning his ideas. He is negotiating, within their relationship, a new way of seeing. Small Man models an authentic use of masculine power.

Small Man is expressing the movement of natural joy from the inside out.

In his "Original Innocence", he shows that the truth of manhood rests securely in his "personhood " first.

He is making a clean, clear bid for self-hood with a mature subtext that could read something like, "By looking at me through your clouded impressions, you see me either as a gender or an age. You reduce me to an entity in need of rehabilitation and conditioning. On what authority can you rightfully endeavor to make me 'acceptable' through force-feeding me on your inherited, unquestioned beliefs, cultures and traditions; whether national, religious or familial?"

"Small Man", the precocious street name used for boy-children in the Caribbean, is a poignant element in Pink Carnival. There are important reasons why the child and his family do not have specific or personal names.

"Small Man", in this way, becomes an apt archetype:

He is "Young Man", Elihu, who speaks up in the Book of Job,. Elihu is exasperated that the elders have not fulfilled their rightful duty and spoken with Wisdom. He is angry that the ego self, Job, is being justified over the absolute divinity, God. Small Man in Pink Carnival! is speaking up for his own God aware DIGNITY; not just for himself, but on behalf of All.

Small Man is also New Man. He has the purity of heart and creative, courageous thought with which to change the small mindedness of the male culture he will inherit from his father's generation.

In even our earliest months and years, we are all masters capable of discerning meaning through tone. We are sifting and sorting, learning at a rate that slows by the time we are approved of by the adult world as 'reasonable'.

With Meaningful Books I aim to present opportunities for planting seeds during these early years. Seeds that place attention within one's own direct heart awareness, in relation to life matters. My effort is not just to entertain, but to nourish and protect the inner sense "innocence" of our children.

Joanne’s work is based on years of creative production and exploration in a number of fields. She is always honing a natural ability to balance her attention between unlimited, open-ended potential, and one-pointed, productive focus. Along the way, she learns through direct experience and acknowledges there have been endless sources of information, and above all, the supreme source of inspiration that flows through diverse expressions.

Caribbean Book Blog Review

2011-08-12T23:00:00.000-07:00

http://caribbeanbookblog.wordpress.com/2011/07/31/the-donkey-and-the-racehorse-new-book-by-joanne-gail-johnson/

"Johnson has made it clear that she never intended to “pen the next great West Indian classic,” even in the context of children’s literature. Nevertheless, her version of The Donkey and the Racehorse is, for the most part, a good read that should capture youngsters’ imaginations and give them food for thought. It’s told with simple but engaging characters and settings, all brought to life by the delightful illustrations of Carole Anne Ferris. They capture the irritable charm of Trinidad and its people and the colourful radiance of the island’s natural beauty. The 48-page storybook published by Macmillan Caribbean is designed to appeal to children aged 7-14." ( see link for entire article)

Teach Your Child To Affirm the Truth about themselves...

2011-05-20T06:31:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E93dYbhqBwQ&feature=related

3 NUDGES with New York Times Bestselling Children's Author: Deborah Underwood

2011-03-29T16:24:00.000-07:00

AVAILABLE APRIL 4TH - THE LOUD BOOK!
http://www.deborahunderwoodbooks.com/

BIO: Deborah Underwood is the author of A Balloon for Isabel, Granny Gomez & Jigsaw, and The Quiet Book. She co-writes the Sugar Plum Ballerina chapter book series with Whoopi Goldberg, and is the author of the easy reader Pirate Mom. Deborah has written more than 25 nonfiction books on topics ranging from smallpox to ballroom dancing. Her magazine credits include Highlights for Children, National Geographic Kids, Ladybug, and Spider.

SYNOPSIS:

The Quiet Book, illustrated by Renata Liwska and published by Houghton Mifflin, explores the different quiets that can fill a child's days from morning to night.

QUIET NUDGE 1 : Tell us about your seed of inspiration for The Quiet Book.

I got the idea for The Quiet Book while I was sitting in a church, waiting for a classical guitar concert to start. As I sat there, I noticed several types of quiet--the hushed conversations before the performer entered, the audience's polite silence while he was tuning, and then an expectant, almost-electric silence right before he started to play. During the concert, I started thinking about other kinds of quiet, and wondered if there were enough varieties to make a picture book. I scribbled some notes down, and the manuscript took shape over the next month or so.

QUIET NUDGE 2: What's been your favorite reader response/ review so far?

I'm honored by all the attention The Quiet Book has received from adult reviewers, and making the New York Times bestseller list was a tremendous thrill. But most gratifying of all is when I hear that a child loves the book. For instance, a friend recently told me that her kindergarten-aged niece sleeps with the book under her pillow--what adult review could possibly compare to that?

QUIET NUDGE 3: Tell us about a childhood moment or personal story that is relevant to The Quiet Book or to your work as a children's author.

One day when I was in grade school, the teacher had us lie on mats on the gymnasium floor, then led us through a guided relaxation exercise. Among other things, she asked us to imagine that we were floating on clouds. That experience of deep quietness is one of my fondest memories of elementary school. We desperately need quiet in order to rejuvenate and create, and I'm grateful to the teacher for giving us that moment of peace.

A CHILD'S GUIDE TO SILENCE

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/a-childs-guide-to-silence/article1903834/

The Aesop's Fable offers the archetypes for my contemporary Caribbean version

2011-02-08T05:41:00.000-08:00

A fable is a story that features anthropomorphized (given human qualities) animals and that illustrates a moral lesson. More than a visit to our island countryside, my contemporary Caribbean version of The Donkey and The Race Horse is an age-appropriate story of 'journey'. Considering the archetypes of "the donkey" - humility and helpfulness, and "the race horse" - arrogance and ambition, is the deeper journey for the thoughtful reader.

I chose Carole Anne's cinematic photo-illustrations to enliven an awareness that our Caribbean landscapes and cultural expressions are worthy of imaginative exploits. My seven year old loves reading Elisabeth Cody's "The Top Job" set in New York, or trekking across the English Countryside with Beatrix Potter's Jemimah Puddle Duck and Dick King-Smith's Golden Goose. Caribbean children's books and stories however, are the only ones that allow him, and children everywhere, to adventure our contemporary world through a small island lens - no less fun!

As a cultural ambassador, my books offer a world view from our Trinidadian nook. My aim is also to risk expanding our expression beyond the traditional retelling of Afro-/ Indo- folklore. We accept the worlds and works- the realistic and fantastic - of our counterparts every where in the world, almost unquestioningly. I have believed since my own childhood, readers in general are adventurers like me and would be just as happy to meet a donkey from Toco, Trinidad as she makes her way to Arima in search of fame and fortune; even, and especially if they have never heard those place names before!

The real work is not in mimicking but in sincerely embracing an individual expression -exactly because there are so few sources of our island-specific reflection. The more committed we are to our place on planet Earth, to our unique details, both individual and cultural, the more potential there is to tap into an essence that is universally appealing.

Not for the purpose of global acceptance alone though, but for service too, those of us who care and dare...must, be very Donkey about it and just plod on.

I have posted this for parents and teachers using my book The Donkey and the Race Horse:
Source: Aesop's Fables. A new translation by Laura Gibbs.

http://mythfolklore.net/aesopica/perry/565.htm

The Aesop's Fable: THE DONKEY AND THE HORSE

A horse who was overly proud of his elegant trappings happened to run into a donkey. The donkey was worn out with work and slow to make way for the approaching horse. 'I am tempted to smash you to pieces with my hooves,' said the horse. The donkey said nothing and only groaned, calling upon the gods to take note of his suffering. Not long afterwards, the horse, now a broken down wreck from his life on the race track, was sent to work on a farm. When the donkey saw the horse carrying a load of manure, he laughed and said, 'What has happened to you, who were once so proud of your elegant trappings? Time has reduced you to the wretchedness you formerly scorned!'

When prosperous folk are inclined to look down on others, they should hesitate, mindful of the fact that nobody knows what the future may bring.

Oxford University Press (World's Classics): Oxford, 2002.

NOTE: New cover, with new ISBN, published in 2008; contents of book unchanged.

Also available on Amazon

donkeyandracehorse.mov

2011-02-06T05:07:00.000-08:00

Sugata Mitra: Barefoot in the Head

2011-01-26T22:21:00.000-08:00

For my guest post on Geoffrey Philip's blog, "In My Own Words"

http://geoffreyphilp.blogspot.com/2011/01/in-my-own-wordsjoanne-gail-johnson.html

I say that my work as a children's book author is more akin to the work of Sugata Mitra's Self Organized Learning Environments than to any literary man or woman of Letters.

You may find me eager to align myself with Mr. Mitra's genius, since I heard it said that our local (Trinidadian born) Nobel Laureate, V.S. Naipaul, considers children and literature to be mutually exclusive. I will put on the table though, the idea that there may be some obvious, if even playful similarities between Mitra's intentions and mine: My desire over ten years ago to offer Caribbean children picture books began with a little ditty, GO BAREFOOT (Macmillan) and Mr. Mitra's blog is titled BAREFOOT IN THE HEAD.

http://sugatam.blogspot.com/

On his blog, Sugata Mitra says, "My work with self organised learning by children shows that groups of children can learn to use computers and the Internet to answer almost any question. This happens everywhere and is independent of what language they speak, where they live and how rich or poor they are. All they need is free access and the liberty to work in unsupervised groups. The most effective group size seems to be 4-5 children."

Technology and the now "old fashioned", turn-the-page version of books are often pitted against each other these days. In my experience all things potentially work together for the greater good.

I for one am still pretty Jai Ho! about picture book "technology". They're what I do!

I dare say, an effective picture book can create, in the very moment of introducing its cover and title, a shared platform for challenging old and/ or exploring altogether new ideas in any subject, language and even well beyond the temporary reading or experiential level of any audience.

Although I favor societies that will purify and deepen meaningful adult-child relationships, a good picture book is certainly not dependent on adult "intervention". Even picture books in a language 'foreign' to the reader can serve effectively because of what may be innate strains of visual literacy that unlock meaning and serve over time to decode text.

Naturally the limitless access to vast amounts of Internet information, independent of any adult presence has pros and cons for the typical picture book audience but Mitra's inspiring, sometimes surprising work stirs in me a unifying spirit for truly creative, child-centered learning.

It is true that computers facilitate an immediate expansion into a universe of abstract Internet information and interconnections; while a sincerely interested adult and one good book potentially secure a profound and immeasurable intimacy within the child's own universe.

I follow with avid enthusiasm Mitra's Self Organized Learning Environments especially because he never intended his work to replace human/ adult interaction, but to fill a void in its absence by providing for those "places on Earth, in every country, where for various reasons, good schools cannot be built and good teachers cannot or do not want to go..."

If you haven't encountered the work of Sugata Mitra listen to his TED Talks and find him on Face Book too!

http://www.ted.com/talks/sugata_mitra_the_child_driven_education.html

My guest post on Peepal Tree Press author, Geoffrey Philip's Blog

2011-01-26T20:21:00.000-08:00

http://geoffreyphilp.blogspot.com/search/label/In%20My%20Own%20Words

In My Own Words...Joanne Gail Johnson

“Nuff Respeck!”

My Caribbean Children’s Books are “Self Organized Learning Environments”

excerpt:

"I heard it said that V.S. Naipaul, in a lecture at U.W.I. during his two million dollar, 2007 visit to Trinidad, responded to a question about Caribbean children’s literature by saying something to this effect: “There is no such thing. Children are in fact not capable of understanding any work which could qualify as literature.”

This amounts to hearsay, I know. But I will address the thought itself and will acknowledge first that the tone of the word “literature” spoken in the mouth of a Nobel Laureate dictates a very capital and intimidating “L.” Even so, I will risk a bit of adventure..."

Read more - click link to Geoffrey's blog, JJ

Warren Hanson's THE NEXT PLACE: On my 2011 recommended list of Meaningful Books:

2011-01-15T09:15:00.000-08:00

It has been said that a good children's book draws out the child in an adult and the adult in a child. Meaningful Books do just that.

Today I launch my 2011 Meaningful Books list starting with Warren Hanson's "The Next Place". My seven year old son and I both feel elated and honored that Warren himself has stopped by my blog to respond to a few 'nudges' in his own words: the three main things readers most often want to know when I am featured at a "Meet the Author" session or school visit. Read on...

Bio: Warren Hanson is the author and/or illustrator of some of the most beloved books in the U.S. A Cup of Christmas Tea, Older Love, Kiki's Hats, Beginning, Reading with Dad and our featured book THE NEXT PLACE. http://www.warrenhanson.com/

JJ: I first discovered THE NEXT PLACE five years ago at our National Library here in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad when my son was a toddler. When either of us does not want to return a book I know we need to have a copy in our family library. Since then the euphemism "The Next Place" is a part of our vocabulary which was a blessing when Bobbin our dog died, and then a few fish along the way. These days my beloved father is ailing and my gratitude for this book grows more profound. I am relieved that I included it early on as a part of what I think of as my son's "Life Wisdom" education. There was ease for contemplation without grief at that time when we were not in any specific life or death situation.

AUTHOR WRITES: Warren Hanson in his own words...

WH Synopsis:

The Next Place is a peaceful, comforting, quiet and hopeful book for times when we face the loss of someone we love. Or for when we face the reality of our own certain death. It is very deliberately not a traditionally religious look at death and the hereafter. We live in a world of many beliefs and backgrounds. I did not want the book to leave anyone out of its message of comfort. So I created the words and the illustrations in such a way that I hoped the reader would bring his or her own faith to it. Since the book came out, it has been embraced by people of many different religions and beliefs.

1. Seed of inspiration for The Next Place:

WH: Many years ago, in the Minneapolis newspaper, there was a photo of two young kids, a brother and a sister who appeared to be about 8 or 9 years old. The reason for the photo was that both of their parents had just been killed in a car crash. The sad, bewildered, lost looks on those two young faces made me want to do something for those two kids. I wanted to wrap my arms around them and give them simple, quiet comfort. But I knew that I would never actually meet those children, so I started writing a book of comfort for them instead. At that point the book I had in mind was very different from the book that exists today. While I was working on it, a very close friend of mine died of a heart attack in his sleep. He was the first close friend I'd lost. And in struggling with my feelings over his death, I realized that the book I was working on needed, yes, to be simple enough for kids to understand, but it also needed to have enough depth that adults might find comfort in it, too. And so I created The Next Place as it exists today.

2. Your favorite reader response/ review so far:
WH: I have received many hundreds of responses to The Next Place, many of them very moving. Though it may seem difficult to choose a favorite response, there is one that stands out. It was from a second grade boy in a school I visited. A few days after my visit I received a packet of letters from the students. The teacher had obviously told the kids that they should tell me which of my books was their favorite and why. This boy wrote, in wildly cockeyed lettering, "My favorite book is The Next Place because it full of love." [sic]
3. A childhood moment or story of yours that is relevant to The Next Place or meaningful to you as a children's author:
WH: My father never showed emotion, except, occasionally, anger. Ours was an emotionally inert household. No overt expressions of joy or love or sadness. So it made an indelible impression on me when, at his mother's funeral, my dad came to tears. I can remember looking up at him and realizing how difficult it was for him to be showing his emotion. He was doing everything he could to hold it inside, but he couldn't. I can remember thinking, "He really loved her." He had never put that love on display while she was alive. Although I couldn't bring it into focus or put it into words then, what I was feeling was that this thing called death must be a very powerful thing. That experience was very much with me as I created The Next Place.

DON'T GO JUST YET! If you enjoyed this post and hearing from the author in his own words, join my mailing list as Deborah Underwood and her New York Times bestseller THE QUIET BOOK feature next! Stay tuned for more of my 2011 Meaningful Books list. JJ

Healing Stories - Jacqueline Golding PhD

2011-01-11T07:15:00.000-08:00

http://healingstoriespicturebooks.blogspot.com/

Welcome to the online home of Healing Stories: Picture Books for the Big and Small Changes in a Child's Life. Here you'll find information about Healing Stories, along with unique resources to support you in using picture books to help children through the challenges they face, from the everyday to major trauma.

Teaching With Picture Books by Keith Scoch

2011-01-11T06:46:00.000-08:00

http://www.squidoo.com/teachingwithpicturebooks

Featured Author - Sormag Blog

2011-01-09T09:51:00.000-08:00

http://sormag.blogspot.com/search?q=Pink+Carnival

"I could not articulate it until I was well into adulthood, but I felt clearly a question forming within me. “Why aren’t there any children’s books about the Trinidad world in which I live?” On my twelfth birthday my mother gave me a notebook. She had covered it herself in denim on which she embroidered My First Diary. The clasp was a denim loop and brass button. I have been writing daily for my own sanity and contentment ever since" ...Click link above to read more..

A beautiful life question: "Is it true?"

2010-12-14T08:07:00.000-08:00

A Beautiful Question: "Is it true?"

Why do we seldom question whether something is really true?

There is so much history behind the color pink. It is a derivative of red which speaks to passion, life force as blood, rage. Pink is seen as sacred love by some. Historically the colors of royalty, kings and princes include Burgundy and Purple, which are related to Pink.

Yet in the Catholic faith you will see images of Mother Mary shrouded always in blue.

SO where did the idea "Pink is for girls and blue is for boys" originate?

My take is that it is not divinely ordained. (smile)

It was likely to have been commercially hyped if not entirely fabricated more recently in the 20th century with the advent of mass advertising through the electronic media. Somewhere along the line the idea was promoted and we bought into it collectively.

The same way for example that Santa Claus in his present incarnation sold Coke into a household name and the world wide brand that it is today. So much so that his fantastical chimney-hugging, snowy bearded image provokes us into a decorating, shopping frenzy for weeks every year. Santa has seeped out of the realm of imagination to become the basis of a "Let's pretend" Disney-esque faith culture. An advocate only for good measure, I observe that many parents today feel they would do their young children a disservice if they curtailed the experience even a little.

In the same way, other insipid, fantastic ideas like "pink is for girls, blue is for boys" have taken root.

"So what?" you ask.

Well for one, Louise Hay in her book YOU CAN HEAL YOUR LIFE points out:

"Beliefs that "Boys don't cry," and Girls don't climb trees," create men who hide their feelings and women who are afraid to be physical."

Of course when we value feelings as a part of the whole human intelligence, rather than repress, reject or try to cut them off, we begin to ask more often, "Is it true?" And a reasonable parent would want to teach their child to ask this beautiful question as a life skill.

Sameness and equality are so often confused. We do not need to be the same externally to experience equal dignity and value. This applies not only to gender of course, but to seeing each person as he or she is - unique.

Changing our minds is easy. Changing "my own" mind is necessary. Unless and until we let go the bramble of false selves behind which our true beauty sleeps we live only in a disappointing illusion. How do we wake up and offer our kids a nudge in a healthy, fruitful direction? One moment at a time, one issue at a time, and I created Meaningful Books and Pink Carnival to inspire this growth in kids; so - one book at a time.

Fear is experienced, even as mild discomfort or awkwardness, when we look squarely at oure need to change. Having meaningful conversations tends to take a back seat. Meaningful Books serve as a creative script for sensitive, willing care givers of children. Together, adults and children can speak about the storyline, the characters, the illustrations comfortably. This offers enough emotional distance from personal issues and creates a safe space. Over time, the process establishes a bridge for deepening the conversation, and interested adults should take advantage of their child's love of repetition. In this way, Meaningful Books, without theorizing or being preachy, may help introduce open ended life lessons.

When confronted with "issues", there is a tendency today to say, 'think positive' and all will be well. This is a good lesson but it is incomplete and will not wholly work for at least two specific reasons:

1. The subconscious which is driving us and shaping our life experiences does not have a sense of humor and takes our thoughts, words, and feelings literally. This is why it is vital that we get in touch with ourselves at a more essential level than inherited, traditional and cultural opinions. By example our children will do the same and Meaningful Books can serve the process of self inquiry in light-hearted ways. Glossing over, making dismissive jokes or the worse option of all hurtful, confusing silence has never worked for generations.

2. Using the metaphor of a garden: even if we plant beautiful roses and tend them with water, the right amount of light and fertilizer - all in the name of being positive - if we neglect the weeding and pest control, or if we choose a poor location, soil and so on, it is easy to see that we would, on the flip side, be creating a gross and monstrous duality of imbalance waiting to wreak havoc on all our good efforts.

"Positive thinking" often prohibits the necessary look into the negativity mirrored. We may fall into blaming everything and everyone without accepting responsibility for the work of the self.

Our rigid ways of seeing create unnecessary suffering for ourselves and others. Perpetuating ideas without examining and questioning them sincerely simply feeds insecurity and does nothing to emulate the authentic strength we wish to embody and pass on to our kids. Good values often become caricatures - a strong man is either a flying super hero or cruel bully. Looking at existing popular media, it may seem no one knows what a strong man is or how to model him. In Pink Carnival, Daddy's strength is exhibited not in perfection, but in his capacity to change his mind, to listen, to be taught by his son, to explore new ideas and to admit that he can be wrong.

"Pink is for girls", is not the only way we label and restrict the infinite self. My main problem with some of our accepted sayings, is the ugly tone with which we most often convey them. In the case of gender bigotry it comes across not only as a rejection of the essence of human softness, but even as an oppositional stand off; as though boys and girls, men and women are created primarily as mortal enemies at worst, and at best, as inevitable opposites doomed to struggle in their duties to each other.

I don't buy into the Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus culture too whole-heartedly. There are trends, and styles, perhaps even genetics of expression and these can be grouped according to gender, nationality, ethnicity, family, religion on and on....

Neither do I subscribe fully to "It's all good, do and be what you want" culture. The way this is bandied about tells a subtle lie about Freedom as though it is only ever that which is careless, selfish and an indulgent distraction away from Truth. The capacity to manifest a personal truth is not the highest litmus test of Reality. Our unconscious beliefs are always creating and manifesting the good, the bad and the ugly.

Enforcing pseudo-solutions to absolve the world of our personal and cultural fears, mis-creates a quagmire of complicated painful experiences for ourselves and others. When we force or shame ourselves and the children under our care into a generic cookie cutter of a "He" or "She", we restrict the opportunity for fulfillment of divine potential.

My increasing preference is to cultivate language and ideas that honor each person, in so far as I am capable, as a valuable expression of the same Source...

And to continue the sincere work of purifying and expanding the capacity within myself to experience Reality through manifesting its eternal values in my own life.

PINK CARNIVAL celebrates family values amidst the backdrop of Carnival

2010-12-12T13:38:00.000-08:00

Title of book: Pink Carnival!
Genre of Book: Concept Picture Book
Audience: Boys and Girls 6 and under
Available online: Barnes & Noble/ Amazon
Direct Orders: Xlibris.com

(Publisher’s note: because of the ‘high interest’ concept this book is suitable and has been used for workshops on gender studies and emotional intelligence with teens and adults.)

In this concept picture book, “Small Man” and Dad go walkabout. He feels inspired by the colors of nature and chooses a pink hat. His father says “No! Pink is for girls!”…or is it?

Pink Carnival offers sunny inspiration for kids and opens a door to meaningful conversations with interested adults.

Set against the splendid back drop of Trinidad's world famous carnival and using the radiance and delight of color, Pink Carnival gently addresses the issue of gender stereotyping. With his game of I Spy Pink, "Small Man", playfully debunks the bias in his father's mind.

Carole Anne Ferris’s vivid photography celebrates the natural beauty and life-giving qualities of the Caribbean. (www.caroleanneferris.com)

COMING SOON - More inspiration for kids and their grown ups!

2010-12-10T06:20:00.001-08:00

COMING SOON from Meaningful Books:

- Articles and FREE content from my "Relevant Reading" workshops for parents and teachers.

- Meaningful Books next concept picture book, "Please, Tell Me Where it Hurts" a children's book about feelings.

So sign up - Follow This Blog.