Kids Own Publishing
Focuses on giving voice to children, and involving them in all stages of conceptualizing and producing their own books.
Kids’ Own (KO) occupies a leading position in children’s community publishing. KO focuses on giving voice to children, and involving them in all stages of conceptualizing and producing their own books. In 2014 KO will celebrate partnerships with over 60 organisations, reaching disadvantaged children in metropolitan, regional and remote locations across Australia.
2014 Pitch
Funds raised: $10,975
KO presented at the TFN event held in partnership with the Australian Communities Foundation in Melbourne on 29 July 2014 and raised $10,975 to support two artist-led community projects: sharing stories and fortifying relationships made through the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC) and publication of All The Way Home (the Gippsland Project).
The impact...
Reflecting 'what is best about contemporary multicultural Australia’, Kids' Own Publishing combines narrative and anecdote to produce familial souvenirs and extend an invitation to discourse among new friends.
“The storytelling has increased in our homes ...we feel like our children now respect our stories and understand finally who we are and where we have been. People didn't know where we came from or why we came here. Now they understand.”
Children and families from the ASRC published a book reminiscing on relationships and rapport created through the eclectic Kidszone program which incorporated crafts and cartoons, drums and dancing… even a circus workshop on the banks of the Yarra! Over several art making and storytelling sessions, the group produced A Year of Sundays, celebrating and amplifying the ‘good memories’ of a period in limbo while waiting on the assessment of asylum claims.
KO also published All The Way Home – the third book in a series written and illustrated by members of the South Sudanese community in Gippsland. A sequel to the best-selling Donkeys Can’t Fly On Planes (published in 2013) and In My Kingdom(published in 2014), the publication punctuates the parents’ experiences in South Sudan and their arrival in a new country with the vibrant illustrations and responses of their children – and continues a four-year partnership in social cohesion that is raising funds for the community and stimulating other migrant groups to share their stories too.
The Gippsland project featured on ABC national television in June 2015 - culminating a year in which KO increased its profile and its reach: working among greater cultural and linguistic diversity, expanding into the education sector, employing two new staff members (a part-time community projects coordinator and community liaison and cultural advisor) and developing the WePublish app for iPad and the digital library wepublish.net.au. These past 12 months have also seen KO unearth greater efficacy in its connections with donors and stakeholders: in addition to the financial support achieved in Melbourne, the organisation received pro bono advice on working with government and has capitalised on the pitch training and mentoring preparation for the Victorian event to secure a further $329,000 in funding.
Read their Impact Report
Learn more about Kids Own Publishing.
Supporting Sustainable Development Goals:
