The Virtual Tour for Kelly Starling Lyon's "One Million Men and Me"

A few weeks back, Kelly Starling Lyons sent me an email asking if I would like to participate in her virtual tour on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the Million Man March (October 16) - which was the inspiration for her picture book, One Million Men and Me. I was thrilled, of course. Not only do I like Kelly and her writing, this also falls perfectly into my continuing commitment to bridge the world.

We had to overcome a few challenges : first, I needed to get the book, and as I'm told that postal services cannot be trusted, here, it meant asking a friend at UNICEF headquarters in New York to send it by the pouch, and hope it would get here on time... Which it did.  But when I opened the envelope, the book inside was wet and quite damaged. I had to very slowly peel off the pages glued together and set them under the fan to dry (my hair dryer is in the container, with the rest of our personal effects). The bottom of many of Peter Ambush's expressive illustrations had suffered, but at least, the text was complete.

I had also hoped to involve the library at the American International School of Dhaka, but it proved impossible - this I found out only a few days before my post was due. In the end, I invited our daughters' new friends, and we read the book together in our empty, very echoing apartment.

The group was composed of girls aged 6 to 10, all from mixed backgrounds (France, Haiti, Indonesia and the US), and kids who've all already lived in at least two countries, spanning several continents. We talked about the beautiful illustration on the cover, and the Million Man March. After I read the book, we looked at pictures of the March on the Internet, and also discussed the March on Washington for Freedom and Jobs, on August 28, 1963, the civil rights struggle, and Martin Luther King Junior's historical speech. It was the perfect end to an extremely gloomy, rainy day in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

When I asked the girls what they had preferred in the book, they all mentioned the illustration with the African princess. One of them also said : "the first page, when the cousin said that no girls can go, but her daddy took her anyway." And she nodded, as if to say : there.

One Million Men and Me takes us back to that magical day, allowing us to experience it through the eyes of young Nia. We feel her pride, and we feel her joy, as she shares this very special moment with her father. She will never forget it, and nor will all the girls who read the book, I bet.

Thank you, Kelly, for this opportunity to discover and share your (and Peter Ambush) very touching book about not only the day when "Black men made history," but also the beauty and importance of the special bond between father and daughter (two daddies attended the reading, by the way, and my husband took the pictures.)

Anyone who posts a comment, here, or on Kelly's Facebook page or her blog, will be entered in a drawing for one of three prizes - One Million Men and Me T-shirt, tote bag or signed poster. Kelly will announce the winners on the March anniversary, October 16.

Follow up on my Skype visit at Bradenton Prep, in Dubai.

One of the beauties of being published is the feedback we receive from the children who read us. Yes, we write because we don't really have a choice. Writers write the way they breathe - sometimes easily, sometimes with some difficulty, but it's not something they can live without. And yes, we dream, hope, and work very hard so our writing can be published. And when it happens, it's an amazing high. But the best part is still to come : the children's reactions, their questions, thoughts, comments, and praise. As a follow-up on my visit to Bradenton Prep Academy, in Dubai, the teachers asked the 4th and 5th graders to write me a short letter. I discovered them in my mailbox this morning. What a treat !

A few excerpts about the virtual visit :

"I liked the skype interview. I thought it was cool. I liked the book a lot it was one of the best books I have ever read. I liked how you replied to all of my class mate's." 

"I really enjoyed the Skype interview!! It was very cool the way we got to see the original illustrations for Amadi's snowman. I really enjoyed the way you told us how it started and why you wrote it. I had a great time listening to all the interesting questions and all your answers. I also noticed during the interview that you have seemed to live in a lot of places. I also really enjoyed the book Amadi's Snowman."

"It was great to see you on skype the other day. I enjoyed listening to the story of Amadi and the snowman. It is very important to be able to read and write and this book reminds us about how lucky we are because we have lots of schools in dubai. [...]"

"Thanks for your time and information during our skype interview! It was very interesting and I learned a lot about an authors' work. I hope I will be able to write a book myself in the future."

"I loved the Skype talk that we had a couple of days ago, it was fun. I really liked the part in Amadis Snowman where Amadi finds out that his mum has the book. That was probably my favourite part. I liked the way you only put one sentence at the end of the book.  I thought that is was a really good book to read and it was great and very  interesting to meet an author on skype."

And a couple more - because I can't resist sharing some comments and showing the little graphics that accompany them :

"I really loved your book in so many ways. I loved the man that sells the books. Why? I love the way he says get out of here now! You had so much description. I love how a boy wants to do something new because most boys say no I don't want to read or reading is boring. But this boy wants to read, he's not like the other boys. I love how he's all around signs he can't read. Why does he want to be a businessman? You have to know how to read to be a businessman. I love how his mom encouraged Amadi to want to read. I just have one more thing to ask you. Is this how you started to read like Amadi? If not how did you start? Did you go to school? Did you go to a book store and you saw a cool book?

p.s. YOUR BOOK IS AWESOME"

"I loved the book. I think it was great! My favorite part was the end cause it was fun to read a page that has ony one sentence. My favorite charachter is Amadi. You must like writing right? your book was awsome!!!!"

"I really enjoyed your book! It inspired me to think that reading gets you into stuff. 

I mean, you learn spelling from reading,but also you learn reading from knowing how to spell words!" 

Thanks again to the 4th and 5th Graders at Bradenton Prep, and their teachers. I will never forget my first school visit in Dubai - even though I never set foot there. 

Keep reading !!!

Virtual School Visit in Dubai, UAE

In August 2006, I went to my first SCBWI conference, in Los Angeles, and met a young woman who lives in Dubai. She had asked a question about multicultural stories at one of the sessions, and I zoomed in on her afterwards. Funny, as this is rather untypical of me. We exchanged email addresses, and later on, found ourselves attending one of Uma Krishnaswami's online workshops. We've always kept in touch, since, and a few weeks back, Maha sent me an email saying that she had just read Amadi's Snowman with her 4th grade class. I was thrilled, of course. Another stop for Amadi's global travels. I asked her if she would like me to do a Skype author visit ? Maya responded with a resounding YES! She set up a Skype connexion at her school, and we both did some research. Elizabeth Dulemba offers great information on her website, and I also visited the Skype An Author Network. Once we had figured out the time difference between Dubai and India (only 1 hour and half), we did a Skype test a couple of days before. We were ready!

Here is an account and some pictures of my first virtual visit -- at the Bradenton Preparatory Academy in Dubai, January 27, 2010.

Hyderabad, India, 10:28 AM : My desk is ready. Computer is on. Skype is on. And I have my big writer's file, the dummy and the book close by.

At 10:29 AM, I call the school's number, and almost immediately, the children at Bradenton Prep appear on my screen. Out of curiosity, I checked the distance between Hyderabad, India, and Dubai, UAE. It is 1588 miles (2555 km), but thanks to Skype, I had the whole class with me, in my office, and they had me, right in their classroom in Dubai.

I worried about technical or connexion glitches, but there were none. The children did have to get up and stand closer to the class computer for me to hear their questions clearly, but other than that, no frozen image, no loss of sound or noises that force us to stop or call again.

And here is what it looked like on the other side:

Thank you to the 20 pupils for their interesting questions and comments. And special thanks to their teachers, Maha Shehadeh (who is also the author of a picture book titled Raya's Globe, published by Jerboa, and about to be translated into Arabic) and Kingsley Griffin for making it happen, and sending me the pictures. It was FUN !

Amadi around the World

Amadi's Snowman continues his travels around the world and I'm thrilled to take you to Dubai, UAE, today. Here are pictures of M. Griffin reading the book to the 4th and 5th graders at the Bradenton Preparatory Academy. I'll soon post of a report of my first Skype Author Visit with these two classes. I can't wait...

Our Life in India : A Motorcycle Pooja

A little while ago, we had the privilege of taking part in a pooja, thanks to our friends who recently bought a motorcycle. 


A car or a motorcycle (or any type of machine, in fact) pooja, is a Hindu ritual that involves blessing said machine, and basically asking God for its protection.


So, we went to the colorful temple dedicated to the Goddess, Durga.

First, we had to buy the offerings.

Of course, we attracted our share of attention.

Coconuts, flower garlands, incense sticks, lemons, betel leaves...

On the side, was the barbers' shop.

Some Hindu rituals involve shaving the head - do you see the hair next to the green bucket?

The mobile phone is very useful to pass the time, in between clients (below).

The tools of the trade

This gentleman is checking his beautiful mustache in a mirror

(my husband took this fantastic picture, and I was warned to give due credit to the artist, so there.)

Time to go inside the temple. We took off our shoes, and washed our feet, although I'm not sure how useful that was, as we had to walk barefoot to the entrance of the temple, a good fifty meters away.

As cameras are not allowed inside the temple, we could not document that part of the ritual. We saluted the Goddess, inside, and were given holy water by a priest, out of a small, deep and round silver spoon. I saw other people bring the water to their mouth and forehead, before they sprinkled it on their head. I did the same (careful not to drink it, though) and ended up with water all over my clothes.
Our friend Torsten broke a coconut, and out we went. We'd bought some red cotton string (Kalava in Sanskrit) and tied them up to each other's wrists.

Unfortunately, the red cotton gives color - as I soon realized when red stains appeared all over my kids' clothes. I still have mine, though, and a red ring on my skin, underneath, although it's fading away.

It was then time to prepare the motorcycle.

Finally, all the motorcycles were ready for the priest's blessing.

The priest asked our friend's name and recited some mantras while drawing sacred symbols on the motorcycle with the powder and paste he carried in the containers below : most likely turmeric, and sandalwood paste. If I'm mistaken, please, don't sue - just let me know, and correct me. :)

Then, Torsten had to make three circles, clockwise, with a coconut, and break it on the ground, before sprinkling the tire with its water.

Our neighbors were doing a car puja, and they broke a pumpkin.

Here is the blessed motorcycle.

Torsten could now ride it, and his first guest was our daughter.

Thanks to my husband and Kathrine for letting me use some of their pictures. And thanks to our friends for allowing us to partake in this lovely ceremony.