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Handbook for Writers of Children's Books |
by Mem Fox |
Foreword |
The idea for the Handbook was inspired by two workshops for writers of children’s books, held in Tanzania and Uganda in January-February 2000. The workshops were organized by the Book Development Councils of Tanzania (BAMVITA) and Uganda (BODECU) under the UNESCO/DANIDA Basic Learning Materials Initiative (BLM) with the aim of assisting the countries to enliven their publishing industries by promoting local writing and the production of children’s books.
Having arisen from the Education for All programme, the overall objective of the BLM Initiative is to develop a favourable environment for the sustainable production and provision of low cost, good quality textbooks and other learning materials. Apart from assisting Member States in planning a policy for the book sector, strengthening national co-ordinating mechanisms for book development, and building partnerships, its development objective is to build capacity at the national level and provide skills training for the various stakeholders in the book chain. The workshops focused on this objective by teaching writers skills to enchant the young generation through literacy.
The author of the Handbook, Mem Fox, was invited by the BLM Initiative to provide expertise for the workshops. She is an internationally known Australian writer, who has written books for children that have put her on best-seller lists in both Australia and the USA. She has also dedicated herself for decades to teacher education, and is a highly regarded literacy consultant. Moreover, she has been presented with many awards, among which is an Honorary Doctorate of Letters in 1996.
The present Handbook is a direct outcome of the lessons learned in the Tanzania and Uganda workshops. It is hoped that it will reach a much wider audience than the workshops were able to address, and thus disseminate the knowledge and skills generated in the training for the benefit of writers from other countries. The Handbook does not pretend to provide a detailed and comprehensive guide, but aims to present some basic principles that should be taken into account when writing for children.
The BLM staff is most grateful to Mem Fox for compiling this work, and contributing to the Initiative in a spirit of commitment and co-operation.
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