Dandurand’s latest children’s book

Joseph Dandurand (l.) draws on Kwantlen cultural heritage to explore themes of interconnectedness through the magical bond between a master carver and the bears he rescues in his new book.FULL STORY

 

Hope is an activist

November 23rd, 2020

How Hope Became an Activist (Dixi Books UK $19.99) is George Johnson’s picture book for kids about sweat-shop labour and Fair Trade clothing. Illustrations are by Danielle Grandi.

The title will be the first of a series on how kids can get involved in activism and develop empathy and community at the same time.

The protagonist in the series, named Hope, discovers how to make positive change on issues from fairly traded clothes to refugee aid – and to have fun at the same time.

“It draws on a skit that I wrote and performed in with kids here in Kamloops called ‘Martha’s Donning of A-wear-ness’; on an anti-fashion show that we held; and on our Refugee and Friends Together (RAFT) refugee resettlement organization,” says Johnson. “I wrote it long before Greta [Thunberg], believing that kids can make a difference, and it seems even more relevant now with everything that is going on.”

Currently only published in the U.K., the book is available at www.bookdepository.com, using ISBN 9781913680008, with free delivery worldwide. Or use this link:  https://www.bookdepository.com/How-Hope-Became-Activist-George-M-Johnson/9781913680008?ref=grid-view&qid=1604780450955&sr=1-3

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Born in Hamilton, Ontario, George M. Johnson moved to Kamloops, B.C. in 1991, where he chairs the Thompson Rivers University English Department and teaches creative writing. He specializes in modern literature, particularly psychological approaches to it and the supernatural in it, as well as biography, playwriting and screenwriting.

As a long-time chair of the Global and Community Action Committee at Kamloops United Church, Johnson is a social activist whose plays deal with some form of social justice. His screenplay Peace Pledge about Canon Dick Sheppard and the Peace Pledge Union in the 1930s was selected as one of 12 finalists for the Euroscript Screenplay Competition in the U.K.

For his stories of positive change based on his social justice work over 30 years, Johnson received the Y.M.C.A. Peace Medal in 2019.

9781913680008

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