Our Mission

We co-create dynamic picture books that reflect and support the ideals of our non-profit partners. Through artistic collaboration, we transform principles into powerful words and illustrations that convey meaning, inspire conversations that matter, and aid organizations in making change.

 

What’s New with
For Kids By Kids?

 

For Kids By Kids is partnering with Mariposas in 2019 to amplify the voice of this community of young Latinas and their parents, through illustrating, producing and publishing a picture book. In April, Peg Gignoux led the girls in completing individual pennants.

Mariposas (which means “butterflies” in Spanish) was born in 2013 with the vision of igniting the voice, identity and role of Latina youth and their families in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro community.

 

They follow a curriculum that accents tradition, family narratives, social, racial and political issues of the Latino diaspora also underscores their studies.

The For Kids By Kids collaboration seeks to further the goals of this powerful organization by aiding these young women and their families to: empower their agency; bring out their creative gifts; and communicate their messages through the arts. For Kids By Kids and Mariposas are already creating a list of ways to reach families across the country through wide distribution of the finished book.

 

Today Mariposas is a community of over 80 engaged students and family members who come together weekly to learn, collaborate and work towards pursuing educational success, de-marginalizing themselves and engendering activism. It’s notable that many of the parents and some of the students are undocumented.   Also notable is that there is 100% participation for all meetings. This year the students studied immigration throughout history and ended with a trip to New York to visit historic sites. See the students below showing their butterfly pennants at the Statue of Liberty.

 

 

In June, Susie Wilde began working with families to determine a theme for the book. Of an impressive number of ideas, we chose the theme of Liberation and set about imagining ideas of unique characters who dream of possibilities no one else has thought of. After reviewing more than a hundred ideas, we have come up with our character: A RIVER THAT LISTENS 

 

 

 

Want more information about Mariposas? Read the article about them in the “Teaching Tolerance Magazine” https://www.tolerance.org/magazine/spring-2017/mariposas

Past Projects

 

• Tell Me a Patch- This picture book reveals the raucous nature of a library and a timid little pillow who is comforted by a storytelling chair. Patrons of all ages of the Hemphill Library in Greensboro, NC collaboratively wrote and illustrated the tale. This 2006 project had support from the Greensboro Public Library.

• What Can A Small Bird Be?- A tiny bird’s life gets bigger when he discovers important virtues like courage and perseverance. A partnership between the North Carolina Department of Instruction and North Carolina Museum of Art, this book was written by eight teams of teenagers across the state of North Carolina in 2011.

 

 

• Transplanting Traditions- The Karen Youth Art Group wrote, illustrated, and photographed this picture book documenting the growth of a garden and a community that finds a home in the United States when the tradition of gardening they embrace takes root. The book was created in Chapel Hill in 2015 with the support of FRANK Gallery.

 

 

• Planting Hope – A hard-working girl and golden seed unite a contentious garden. This 2016 book was comissioned by PORCH in Chapel Hill and produced in collaboration an ELS class at Smith Middle School and after school students at Rogers Road Community Center, both located in Chapel Hill.

 

 

Who We Are

 

Susie Wilde is a writer and teaching artist who has worked in North Carolina classrooms, libraries, after schools and museums for over 20 years. She has composed hundreds of stories with children and families and shared thousands of books. Wilde is the children’s book columnist for the Raleigh News and Observerandinterviews and writes reviews for Audiofile Magazine. Along with thousands of columns, her published works also include a picture book,  Extraordinary Chester, and a  book for teachers, Write-A-Thon!  How to Conduct a Writing Marathon in Your 3-5th Class.

 

Peg Gignoux has facilitated over 60 successful community based textile art residencies in NC over the past twenty years.  Her work as a teaching artist has allowed her to work with diverse communities of all ages and abilities in a variety of settings: hospitals, K-12 schools, museums, colleges, libraries and shelters throughout North Carolina. Projects have included pop-up books, story quilts, and mixed media works for public spaces.

 

Steve Godwin is a book designer with 25 years of experience. During the last 10 years he has designed a number of books for private publishers, including full collaboration on several children’s books. Since 2012 he has worked as a designer for Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill. Before that, he directed the design and printing of curricular materials for K12, Inc., an education services company. His freelance clients have included Georgetown University Press and Smith Center for Healing and the Arts. Additionally, Steve is a visual artist and writer, and has been awarded residencies at The Vermont Studio Center in 2005 and 2008.

Andrea Tanner is a grant writer with For Kids By Kids, whose mission is to work in collaboration with children and families of diverse populations to create picture books that reflect, support and voice the ideals of non-profit partnering organizations while providing positive quality art programming.  She served on the Board of Directors for a local public library in suburban Philadelphia, for which she wrote grant applications and explored other funding opportunities in the community.  For the last six years, she has been a member of the Town of Carrboro Human Services Advisory Board, which is responsible for reviewing outside agency funding requests from nonprofits who serve its residents.

 

Support Our Work

 

Contributions can be mailed to:

Chapel Hill-Carrboro Public School Foundation

P.O. Box 877

Carrboro, NC 27510

 

Or make a donation online here.  Please specify “Mariposas Book Project” in the space provided.