“… books from around the world could help children feel connected to each other, and … were the best hope for preventing another war.”
“… good books help children of the world understand and feel connected to one another.”
The Lady With The Books
Today is our Book Day
We are celebrating our favourite books
Beloved characters and awesome adventures
We are also taking a moment to be grateful for all the books that we have
And to understand that for many children books are hard to come by
Not everyone has books in their home
Not all children have access to libraries
Not all children are able to go to school or be educated at home
Books are precious and important
And getting books into the hands of all children is something I feel passionately about
We have been looking at charities who help to get books to children around the world
And we have been reading stories about how books have survived wars
Thanks to the actions of brave people
And how books have helped children after the fighting has stopped
Today I want to share with you three of the books we have been reading
This is a beautiful story about a mother and daughter in Kabul, Afghanistan. The mother drives a library bus to different villages and refugee camps to enable girls to borrow and return books, collect supplies for drawing and writing, she also teaches them to read, write, speak English and count.
The daughter, Pari, is helping her mummy until the time comes when she will go to school.
Many of the girls in the story are unable to go to school and the library bus is an important resource and lifeline for them. This is a book that reminds us how precious books are, the importance of stories and education and how we should never take what we have for granted. This book honours the brave women like Pari’s mother who put themselves at risk to help young girls access books and education in Afghanistan.
This is the true story of Alia Muhammad Baker, chief librarian of Basra’s Central Library, and how with the help of her family and friends she rescued over 30,000 priceless books from the library’s collection before the library was burned to the ground.
This is an incredibly inspiring story of great courage. It shows children what can be achieved in the face of adversity when people work together. It highlights the importance of books to people and communities. This story gently shows children the horrors of war but it is a story of bravery and hope
The inspiring story of a truly remarkable German lady who I adore, Jella Lepman. This is a story of the power of literature and the hope that can be found within the pages of a book.
One day, while inspecting the war torn streets of Munich, siblings Anneliese and Peter follow a group of children into a large building, hoping they may receive food, but instead, they find a room overflowing with books – and hope.
The siblings had stumbled upon Jella Lepman’s exhibition of 4000 international children’s books. After WWII ended, she wanted to help the German children by bringing them books. She believed good children’s books could create “bridges of understanding” between people. She put together the exhibition hoping that it would allow the children to feel connected to others around the globe and help to prevent another war.
This book reminds us all of the power of stories to build bridges and connections, to help us understand the world we live in and have empathy for those we share the planet with.
I absolutely adore this book and find Jella Lepman hugely inspirational.
A lady who knew that to build a better future we need our children to read a range of books from a mix of countries and cultures. A lady who understood that to make the world a better place we must always start with the children.
“Let us set this upside-down world right again by starting with the children. They will show the grown ups the way to go.”
Jella Lepman, 1945