The Children's Illustrated Eco-Storybook Series promotes conservation, regeneration and a harmonious relationship with nature. Through a contest recruitment process, an author and an artist will be selected from each country in the Central American region to create an illustrated storybook based on their culture, language, history and ancestral wisdom, to familiarize young children with how we can take care of our planet. From the heart of Central America for the children of the world!
Access to children's literature and illustrated stories in many Central American countries is incredibly scarce. Literacy rates are some of the lowest in the Americas. Teachers in public schools have few resources for supporting literacy and eco-literacy development. Through the eco-storybook series, we can promote children's literature while also actively involving children, their teachers, and their families in the conservation and regeneration of ecological spaces.
This project will create and distribute a culturally- and linguistically-responsive series of illustrated children's storybooks, one per country of the Central American region, in order to familiarize children with local ecological challenges and ways to protect the environment. It will also support teachers with environmental activity ideas related to ecological themes in the story, as well as provide a professional platform for emerging local authors and illustrators.
All children deserve storybooks that reflect their world and their experiences, while also honoring the resilience, well-being and sustainability of their communities and the planet. The Research Foundation for the Innovation of Eco-Education ("el Observatorio") celebrates and cultivates efforts towards powerful teaching, meaningful learning, and transformative education for living in harmony with nature, la madretierra (mother earth), and our comunidad planetaria (planetary community).
