"Day after day, the bag she dropped is still there. Introduction
I'm back today with the second book in my series reviewing children's books that take place in African countries. Today I chose One Plastic Bag: Isatou Ceesay and the Recycling Women of The Gambia (affiliate link) written by Miranda Paul with illustrations by Elizabeth Zunon. This is another true story that focuses on a remarkable woman who started a movement to recycle and reuse the many plastic bags she found polluting her community. Like the first book in my series Emmanuel's Dream, it showcases how one incredible person can make a difference.
Book Review
This is the true story of Isatou Ceesay, who found a group of women and girls to clean up their neighborhoods by creatively upcycling plastic bags. Although the story is uplifting as whole, the effects of plastic pollution on the animals and people of The Gambia is discussed, which may bother some sensitive readers. My daughter is relatively sensitive, so this part upset her a great deal. Because of her concern, learning how plastic waste hurts animals has motivated her to make sure she cleans up any plastic waste, so this story had a positive effect on her. Miranda Paul’s writing is lovely, and we adored the repetition of “one [person]. Then two. Then ten.” to highlight how change spreads slowly through one person’s efforts. For young children and overwhelmed adults, this is an essential message of hope; yes, the task may be enormous, but we can all contribute and inspire others.
Additionally Elizabeth Zunon’s illustrations bring to life the beauty of Gambian women. The images are richly textured and colorful; it almost seems possible to touch the recycled purses and feel the crocheting. On a personal note, I love that she shows mothers carrying their children in wraps. One of my favorite features is the glossary and pronunciation guide of Wolof words used throughout the story. These words are sprinkled throughout the story, giving a richness to the women’s language that wouldn’t be possible without them. I also appreciate the content in the Author’s Note for providing information about why Miranda Paul chose to write this story as well as the Timeline describing events in greater detail. For older children, these features offer additional context for the story and provide inspiration for them. For children who want to learn more about Isatou Ceesay and the other recycling women and girls in The Gambia, Climate Heroes have also created a short documentary about their work. The Gambia
The Gambia is a small country in western Africa with about 2,000,000 people; the shape of the country follows the shape of its namesake river and is bordered on all sides by Senegal except for a small part touching the Atlantic Ocean (Britannica). The official language is English, but there are many other languages spoken, including Mandinka, Wolof, Fula, Serer, Jola, Manjago, Karoninka, Sarahule and Aku. The capital city is Banjul, which houses many of the people living there. The economy is dependent on tourism and peanut exports, and as the second country to build a sustainable tourism board, The Gambia has been intentionally promoting eco-tourism and sustainable development (Gambia Tourism Board).
On February 18, 1965, The Gambia gained independence from British colonizers. It has been a stable democracy since Independence. About the Authors
Miranda Paul (author website) traveled to The Gambia as a volunteer teacher, where one of her friends told her about the difference Isatou Ceesay and the other recycling women were making in their communities. After meeting Isatou Ceesay and interviewing many of the women and girls involved, Paul was inspired to write this book. Paul has always loved recycling, repurposing old items, and going on adventures, so many of her titles feature these themes. Her other titles include the following (affiliate links):
Although illustrator Elizabeth Zunon (illustrator website) was born in Albany, New York, she grew up in West Africa in Cote d’Ivoire with her mother and brother. She loved creating art, even as a child, and now she has continued to paint, draw, and make jewelry. Many of these creations are inspired by her childhood in West Africa, and it’s easy to see how the lush colors of West Africa were captured beautifully in One Plastic Bag. Other books she has illustrated include the following (book title are affiliate links; book authors point to their websites):
Extensions: "Plarn" Weaving
In keeping with the spirit of One Plastic Bag, I decided to focus on upcycling some of the plastic bags and cardboard we have collected in our home. My daughter isn’t quite old enough to learn how to crochet, so I thought that weaving would be a bit simpler for her and other younger children. I was surprised by how excited she was to help me organize the bags for cutting and then actually cutting the bags into plarn. I used this tutorial for cutting up the bags. I used the spiral cutting method, but this tutorial provides two ways to cut. Although I already know how to make a “loom” from recycled cardboard, I like this tutorial for showing a method that is similar to how I create mine.
Materials
Instructions
More Extensions
The official website for One Plastic Bag includes other activities that may be interesting for older kids as well. There are worksheets, activities, and more information about Isatou Ceesay. There is also an informational brochure about actually visiting the recycling center.
The organization that Isatou Ceesay created was renamed the Women Initiative The Gambia in 2014 and became an official non-profit. Their website contains more information as well as many photos of the women who are featured in this book. I highly recommend checking out this site to view the photographs. African Picture Book Series
Here are the additional books in this series.
One of the best messy art activities I have ever planned for my daughter and her art play group was this Jackson Pollack-style drip painting session. It's incredibly messy, so I recommend doing this outside. The image below shows just how beautiful the results were. One of the participants decided to add a little dirt, too. Materials
Instructions
I hope that you have enjoyed reading this, and I look forward to any comments or questions you have below. Thanks for visiting.
One of the most difficult aspects of parenting is balancing the desire for your kids to have magical, life-affirming experiences with making sure the hum-drum daily tasks are completed. This is one of the most common concerns I hear from other parents; they want to provide incredible art experiences for their kids, but it’s really hard to maintain a clean home at the same time. Until I found The Artful Parent, this is something I struggled with as well. Jean Van’t Hul, the creator of The Artful Parent, has created one of the most inspiring places for children’s art-oriented resources in her website. She has broken down how to provide these rich, art-filled experiences while also simplifying the process to make it easier. Her blog is my personal happy place, and I love her approach to offering art invitations to children. Her Weekend Inspiration emails are also helpful, and I recommend signing up for them. She has also written two wonderful books called The Artful Parent: Simple Ways to Fill Your Family’s Life with Art and Creativity and The Artful Year: Celebrating the Seasons and Holidays with Crafts and Recipes. I own both books and refer to them weekly to find inspiration. I especially adore the seasonal activities from The Artful Year, and I have used several of these activities as a guide for my homeschool co-op classes. Although I could easily link every blog post, the most essential lesson I learned from The Artful Parent was how to cultivate a mindset that allowed art-based activities to happen without worry. As Jean Van't Hul writes in her About Me: I want to parent in a way that encourages creative expression, imagination, joyfulness, and a love of learning, not just in my daughters but in our entire family. This spoke to my soul when I read it, and I have worked to nurture this in my family, even under the most stressful circumstances (like a visit from the inlaws). I followed her advice, threw down a cheap table cloth, and allowed the magic to show up. And it did. In the form of a grandma and auntie from Hong Kong creating slime and painting pumpkins. Thanks for reading today. I hope that you allow yourselves the time to cultivate this type of magic too. A cheap tablecloth or shower curtain can make all the difference.
We've had a full week in my household, so I thought that it was a good time to slow down and assess where we put our energy. Based on the posts I've seen popping up all over my social media feed, it seems like my family hasn't been the only one that needs this space. For that reason, I changed my originally scheduled post to one about self-care.
It seems like the idea of self-care is everywhere; it's such a buzzword now that it may seem like it's just a trend. But I think that we need to let ourselves go deeper. We need to find time for us to connect with ourselves, with the person we are outside of the parent, or the educational guide, or the person getting the money that supports our lives. At its essence, self-care is about making sure we nourish ourselves too. I know that this isn't always easy, and we all have a million-and-three excellent reasons why we can't do it right now. I get it. Truly, I get it (I am a founding member of the excuses club). I also know that without taking the time to feed ourselves (sometimes literally), we can't feed others. We just can't. There isn't anything there to give. One of the most helpful resources I have found happens to be an organization from the UK called Blurt that focuses on de-stigmatizing depression. Even if you aren't depressed, taking the time to work on self-care rituals can help you live your life in a more meaningful way. Blurt offers a lot of free resources, including several podcast episodes (so, so good) and a mental health toolkit. Many of the practices in the mental health toolkit can be useful for all of us, so I want to focus on some highlights with links back to the full pages.
Habits
This past year, I have been working on my own habits, so I know just how powerful this one is. It's hard to make constant decisions all day; creating good habits makes it much easier to practice healthy behaviors because we are no longer spending the mental energy on making those decisions. We are just running the script. Blurt focuses on simple habits and actionable steps that can make an enormous impact, including the following:
Self-Compassion
Although I love helping other people, I find it hard to turn that kindness toward myself sometimes. Listening to Dr. Kristen Neff on the podcast was helpful and opened me up to new perspectives. Her comments about breaking down our own resistance to showing ourselves kindness helped me, and I think that they would be helpful for others as well. Dr. Neff's self-compassion website is also filled with free resources. So much good stuff here, including her TEDx Talk, meditations, and published books.
Blurt Self-Care Guide
I adore this short guide (pdf), and I think that it is an incredible bite-size resource covering all of the basics. My favorite piece is the "Self-Care Alphabet" filled with helpful practices. Here is a taste:
I know that this has been long, but it's a topic that I am passionate about, especially for other homeschooling mamas. It's hard being a parent, and it can be lonely. We need to dig deep and find time for ourselves too. Let me know in the comments if you have any questions or ideas. Thanks, as always, for reading.
As part of our homeschooling co-op, we had a chance to visit one of our local apple farms. We tried to pick apples last year, but we arrived too late in the season to find many left. Thankfully we had apples this year. My daughter loves baking with me in the kitchen, so I try to find simple recipes that are at her skill level. This baked apple recipe from Happy Healthy Mama was perfect. It allowed my daughter to cut using her wavy cutter and to pour as much cinnamon on as she wanted. She also loves stirring, so this recipe made her heart happy. Watching her joy at creating food makes my heart happy. The recipe is very simple, only requiring a few ingredients. We used apples from our local apple orchard, butter, and some cinnamon, and our baked apples were amazing. Because there is no added sugar, it's also a recipe I feel comfortable sharing with my daughter.
This year we are integrating a kid-friendly mindfulness practice into our homeschool. I noticed that all of the members of my family have been struggling a bit with staying present and regulating our emotions, so it seemed like a wise choice to put the beautiful cards I bought from Barefoot Books into practice. This particular deck is called Mindful Kids, but many of the practices have been applicable to adults as well. It's available here (affiliate link: I sell them). The below image is from the card set; it's called Mindful Mood. The image is on the front with instructions for putting the mindfulness activity into practice. This one is recommended for starting your morning well, and it's been a helpful addition to our Cosmic Kids Yoga practice as well (not an affiliate link). This particular practice requires paper and some sort of crayons or markers. Here is a simplified version of the practice:
My daughter has been into expressive art lately, so this particular practice has been speaking to her strongly. Let me know if you and your family benefit from this practice. "Be respectful, take care of your family, don't ever beg. And don't give up." Mama Comfort's last words to her son Emmanual Ofosu Yeboah Introduction
As part of my daughter's Around the World curriculum, I have been sourcing books about people from countries all over the world, but I noticed that there is a dearth of information about titles focusing on people and stories from African countries. It has been incredibly difficult finding high-quality picture books, so I wanted to share these resources. For September and October, I will focus on books from African countries, including some background information about the country, the authors, and some extensions.
For my first review, I decided to choose Emmanuel's Dream: The True Story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah by Laurie Ann Thompson with illustrations by Sean Qualls (affiliate link with more photos from the inside). I adore this book about this courageous man from Ghana, and I hope that you find his story pulling on all of your heartstrings too. Book Review
This is the true story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah, a man who rode his bike across Ghana to bring awareness of the remarkable things that people with disabilities can do. Its sparse, poetic language covers his struggles growing up with one strong leg, the loss of his mother and his new responsibilities to his siblings resulting from her death, and his journey as a heroic athlete bringing attention to other people with disabilities. The exquisite, evocative illustrations complement the language perfectly, giving life to Emmanuel and the others in his story with brightly colored patterns on predominately white backgrounds. The characters’ faces are decidedly and beautifully Black African, giving this story even more appeal for those of us struggling to provide our children with picture book characters who look like them. However, the story itself is one of triumph over struggle and the power of one person to make a difference for others, offering important lessons for all of us no matter our backgrounds.
The Author’s Note provides important information for readers, focusing on the actual results of Emmanuel’s bike ride. His ride was the main inspiration for the passage of the Persons with Disabilities Act, which reiterated that disabled Ghanaians have the same rights as others. He has also continued to spread the message that “disability does not mean inability” through his foundation Emmanuel Educational Foundation and Sports Academy (Thompson). His original bike ride was given support from the Challenged Athletes Foundation, which is worth checking out for many more inspiring stories of athletes. There has also been a documentary about his life produced by Oprah Winfrey. Ghana
Since Emmanuel's Dream takes place in Ghana, it makes sense to provide a bit of background on this country since many adults are not very familiar with African countries themselves. Ghana is a country on the western side of Africa, bordered by Cote d'Ivoire, Togo and Burkina Faso, with approximately 27,500,00 people who mostly live in urban environments (Britannica). Accra is the capital city, and Lake Volta is the world's largest man-made lake. The geography includes lush forests and sandy coastal beaches as well as diverse animal populations; there are many natural resources available. Although English is the official language, there are many other languages spoken, including Asante, Ewe, Fante, and others.
Additionally, Ghana was the first black Sub-Saharan country to gain independence from colonists on March 6, 1957. There are many beautiful photos and more specific information about festivals, cultural customs, and special attractions at the official Ghanaian tourism site here. I highly recommend checking out the site, even if it is just for the photographs. About the Authors
Laurie Ann Thompson is the author of several books for children, including Be a Changemaker: How to Start Something that Matters, My Dog Is the Best, and Two Truths and a Lie: It's Alive (affiliate links). She also blogs and provides more information about herself at her own website; she has a strong sense of social justice, giving her a unique perspective for writing about Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah.
Sean Qualls is a fine artist who has also illustrated several books, including Why Am I Me? (written by Paige Britt and Selina Alko), Grandad Mandela (written by Ambassador Zindzi Mandela, Zazi Mandela, and Ziwelene Mandela: link goes to legacy site), Little Cloud and Lady Wind (written by Toni Morrison and Slade Morrison), and Before John Was a Jazz Giant (written by Carole Boston Weatherford); titles are affiliate links to Amazon while author names are links to authors' websites. He has also had several exhibitions of his fine art and occasionally performs as a DJ in his current home of Brooklyn. Extension: Adinkra and kente cloth
Like all countries, there are traditional crafts that are associated with Ghana, but the most famous crafts are two different types of cloth: kente and adinkra. Kente cloth is woven fabric; the patterns created with the colors hold special meaning. On the other hand, adinkra cloth is made with wooden blocks that stamp repeated designs onto the fabric. These designs also hold special meanings, and many refer back to traditional stories and are only allowed to be worn for special occasions. In fact, some of the illustrations throughout Emmanuel's Dream are reminiscent of adinkra fabric, making this extension particularly meaningful if you also have your child find similarities between their own designs and the ones in the book.
Because I didn't want to use designs with specialized meanings, I chose to have my daughter design her own "wood block" and stamp it onto paper. I based this extension on the tutorial found here at PBS Kids, but I simplified it for younger children. Adinkra-inspired Craft for kids
Materials
Instructions
Resources for Adinkra and Kente cloth
This website is a treasure trove of information about traditional African crafts from many different countries. I have the link for Ghana here, but it's worth exploring in depth.
Although I linked the official tourism site of Ghana above, I wanted to link their page for Ghanaian handicrafts here as well. It's a quick guide and worth exploring as well. On Mondays in September, I will be presenting some easy ideas for collaborative art projects that will inspire kids to create. This first one is from a co-op class I taught in the spring called Artful Story Adventures. We read beautiful books and created an art project inspired by the book's artwork or content. This particular project was inspired by Swatch: The Girl Who Loved Color by Julie Denos. My students worked together to create bubble art. The images below show what the art looked like while it was still wet; the students took the art home before I had a chance to grab images of their dry paintings. For this project, Jean Van't Hul has an excellent tutorial here (non-affiliate link). I adapted her ideas a bit because of the materials I had on hand, so this is what I used. Materials
In the future, I think that I will use more permanent paint, so I can use either a painting drop cloth or a white sheet as a canvas. Completing this art project outside would also be fun.
I hope that you have enjoyed this quick tutorial, and I would love to see yours if you end up creating some bubble blower art yourselves. Thanks for reading. |
Author
I'm Heidi, the lead teacher for Stone Bridge Academy. We are a homeschool serving one fabulous student. This blog occasionally uses affiliate links, which means that we will earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. I only link to products or services that we use and love in my family. These commissions allow me to continue providing helpful content here. Thank you for your support.
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