I’m Your Neighbor Books is honored to partner with Child’s Play Inc. and the Maine Humanities Council to offer a free multilingual StoryWalk designed to create conversations on immigrant welcoming and belonging.
What is StoryWalk®?
It is an international literacy movement that displays the pages of picture books on sequential signage in outdoor (and sometimes indoor) spaces. Spaced so you can walk or wheel between signs/pages, StoryWalk® adds a kinetic component to reading. The placement of a StoryWalk® in a community builds a surprising excitement about books and all the curiosity stories create.
Visit Let’s Move in Libraries and Barking Dog Exhibits to explore more about the movement and how StoryWalks can be displayed. The StoryWalk® Project was developed by Anne Ferguson in cooperation with the Kellogg Hubbard Library and the Vermont Bicycle & Pedestrian Coalition.
What is a Welcoming & Belonging StoryWalk®?
I’m Your Neighbor Books is a nonprofit that cares deeply about creating spaces where immigrants are welcomed and where we all belong. Each of our Welcoming & Belonging StoryWalks features a multilingual Immigrant or New Generation picture book and a set of conversation starters. Placing this literacy tool in your community says that you value the immigrant community and multilingualism.
Available to All:
Download Free StoryWalk Signage Files to Print Locally
We are featuring the French/English bilingual picture book Kende! Kende! Kende!. The book follows Lolie and her family from their village in the Democratic Republic of Congo to displacement to a wintry United States. Welcoming & Belonging StoryWalk® signs has not only a page from the book; but also a bilingual conversation starter.
QR Codes on opening signage allow families to engage with the StoryWalk with audio files in Arabic, Kinyarwanda, Lingala, Portuguese, and Swahili.
What does this StoryWalk® look like?
How can you bring this StoryWalk® to your community?
When you register below, you will receive an automatic email reply. In that reply is a link to a Dropbox file. What will you find inside?
StoryWalk Signage Featuring: Kende! Kende! Kende! written by Yaya Gentille & Kirsten Cappy, and illustrated by Rahana Dariah (Child’s Play)
StoryWalk Signage Size: 24″ W x 18″ L
Number of Signs: 18
File Type: 18 individual high-resolution PDF’s
What can you do with these files? Print and display them! While you can print them anywhere, our partner Banacom Sign specializes in StoryWalk® printing and display options and can ship anywhere! Request a Banacom quote or simply email Jeff & Nicole!
What else should you know?
Customization: While you can print these files at any size you wish, our team cannot alter the file size.
Sponsorships: If you need to thank sponsors, feel free to make an additional sign.
Copyright/Permission: The publisher Child’s Play has very generously waived the need for individual permission. You are NOT violating copyright by using this signage.
Display Permission: You can display these signs for five years from the time of your download.
How can you include a book giveaway?
Child’s Play Inc. has a $6.99 8″ x 8″ paperback version of Kende! Kende! Kende!. If you email Laurie at Child’s Play and let her know you are using the StoryWalk, she will offer you discounted giveaway books.
If you don’t receive the download link, contact I’m Your Neighbor Books.
Available in Maine Only:
Borrow Printed StoryWalk to Display
We are featuring the French/English bilingual picture book Kende! Kende! Kende!. The book follows a family from their home in the Democratic Republic of Congo to a refugee camp, and finally, to a new home in North America. QR-Codes read the story and conversation starters in Arabic, Kinyarwanda, Lingala, and Portuguese, Swahili.
Thanks to the support of the Maine Humanities Council, this StoryWalk—with weatherproof signage and stakes— is available for a free month’s loan. For Maine schools, libraries, and community groups only.
