Pajama Press

“…a simple and poignant story.  Told in a clear, clean prose, the story is about Kato who goes to fetch water and do chores, but also finds something special to give the aid worker that gives out new shoes.

The art is digital.  It has a mixed media collage look to it…There are several terrific perspective spreads…I would use this with preschoolers to second graders, because of the simple storyline, but older children could be introduced to a study on Uganda with this title.”

Click here to read the full review.

“Alma Fullerton and Karen Patkau’s A Good Trade starts out simple. Kato, a young boy wakes on his mat in Uganda. He carries his gerry cans to the well for water, splashing his bare feet. Questions start to form in the reader’s mind. Why are the cattle-spotted fields guarded by soldiers? What is this “aid worker’s truck” Kato peeks into? He spies a single white poppy and makes a trade for what he’s seen: a pair of runners. The beautiful pictures and the one-sentence-per-page provide great starting points for discussing life in Uganda, world help organizations, and inequity in general.”

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“Patkau’s bright illustrations originally caught my eye. I grabbed this lyrical book to teach my children about a corner of the world they have no other way to experience. Fullerton shows life in this war-torn part of the world in an age-appropriate way.”

— Kristin W. Larson

Click here to discover the recommended activities to teach this book.

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“Something for the Young’Uns: Books with International Appeal”

“A Good Trade, by Alma Fullerton. This is the story of Kato, a young boy growing up in a Ugandan village. His daily routine includes chores and a long walk at dawn to the water hole.
One day, the routine is disrupted: an aid worker brings a life-changing gift of shoes for all
the village children, and Kato feels compelled to give her something precious is return. A good story to use when discussing life in rural Africa.”

—Margriet Ruurs

For more information about The International Educator, visit the TIE Online website.

On March 18 we announced that A Good Trade had been selected for The White Ravens 2013, a list of outstanding international books for children and young adults. Today we bring you the review A Good Trade received in the White Ravens catalogue:

“Kato lives in a small village in Uganda. He wakes early because his daily chores include trekking to the well outside the village and fetching the water his family will need during the day in two large jerry cans. On his way back, he spots an aid-worker’s lorry that carries wonderful gifts. Kato would love to offer the aid-worker something in return—and in the family garden, he finds just the right thing: a beautiful white poppy. In this deceptively simple and positive story of a little boy’s daily life in an African village, readers will discover subtle hints and overt references to the effects of civil war both in the quiet text and the brightly coloured digital illustrations. Thus the book will serve as a wonderful incentive to discuss this serious topic with younger and older children alike. (Ages 6+)”

Click here to learn more about the White Ravens.

To mark the American publication of A Good Trade by Alma Fullerton and Karen Patkau, Pajama Press is releasing a brand new book trailer. Click on the link below to view the video.

A Good Trade Book Trailer

You can also view the trailer on YouTube.

Gr 1-3–Kato, a young Ugandan boy, serves his family by filling jerry cans with a day’s worth of water each morning. His journey to the borehole takes him down hills, past cattle fields, and by soldiers standing guard. On this particular day, he pauses on his way back into town to peek inside an aid worker’s truck and sees that it is filled with shoes. While finishing his chores, he finds a white poppy in the field and picks it for the aid worker who gives the village children new shoes, the “good trade” of the title. The illustrations are bright and geometric, computer-generated but quite textural, appearing almost mixed media. The large images are full of subtle details that show the lifestyle and daily activities common in the small, lush village. The text is spare and poetic and the pictures capture the tone and supply the bulk of the information. Young readers will enjoy this sweet day-in-the-life snapshot.—Jennifer Miskec, Longwood University, Farmville, VA

The 4:00 Book Hook is a newsletter released bimonthly by a group of seven children’s book authors. In the current issue, author Alma Fullerton talks about her most recent book, A Good Trade, and why a new pair of shoes is so important to its protagonist—and to kids around the world.

“…I think it’s important for [children] to learn that even in North America, where children are expected to have two pairs of shoes for school every year, we have families that have to choose between groceries or shoes for their children.

It’s estimated that over 300 million children in developing nations don’t have shoes, and in many of those countries children cannot attend school without them. Could you imagine not being able to afford even a pair of flip flops for your child to go to school? Or if you could only afford one pair, imagine having to choose which child to send to school? For these families a pair of shoes can change the life and futures of their children
drastically.

In places like Uganda, where A GOOD TRADE is set, shoes can not only change a life, they can save one…”—Alma Fullerton

To read the full article—and to get lots of other great book news—click here for a free e-subscription to The 4:00 Book Hook.

“A simple but powerful story on the value of a gift. I read this book with my son and we had a wonderful discussion on the lives of other children in distant lands and the value we place on material objects. I could see it made him reflect deeply.

…With few words and illustrations that use earth tone colors with splashes of bright, patterned ones, this book conveys a heartwarming story about a boy who, despite living in a country ravaged by a generation of civil war and drought, can find joy in the gift of shoes and likewise show gratitude. This story opened up many questions for my eight-year old son. Where does the aid-worker get the things to give to the village? Can we also send shoes to children in Africa who are barefoot?”
—Laura Fabiani

Click here to read the full post.

Rated G: Good, even great at times, generally useful!

“Alma Fullerton, author of the award-winning novel Libertad, has created a simple and poignant story about the power of humanitarianism, gratitude, and simple acts of kindness.

In his poverty-stricken Ugandan village, one of young Kato’s daily jobs is to make the long trek to the village well to fill his two jerry cans with water. On this day, like all others, Kato passes by other groups of barefoot children along his way, as well as soldiers guarding fields of animals. When he arrives back to the village square, he notices an aid worker’s truck, and is overjoyed when he spots what is inside. He rushes to a field he passed earlier to pick the single poppy that grows there. Kato is first in line when the aid worker begins handing out her treasures to all of the village’s children—brand new pairs of shoes— and presents her in turn with all that he has to offer her, a beautiful symbol of peace.

A Good Trade is an eloquently told, beautifully illustrated, and heartfelt story. The children in the book, and Kato in particular, appear to be filled with a deep down happiness and certain light heartedness in spite of their country’s harsh situation. It is quite evident that they do not see their lives as being ones of misfortune, wheras it is simply their reality, and they are at peace with it. As a result, this story could serve as a humble reminder to children to be grateful not only for the material things they have that are normally taken for granted, but for the privilege of living in a country where they do not have to experience this type of day to day existence.

While there have been a few similar offerings in past years, such as Charlotte Blessing’s New Old Shoes, this story—with its simple message told through the eyes of a child who so joyously celebrates the good fortune bestowed upon his village—will have a definite place on library shelves.”

Thematic links: Uganda; War; Poverty; Gratitude.

—Nicole Rowlinson