Fuji Xerox Australia has printed 10,000 copies of a book by an 11 year Aboriginal girl to support National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Day (NATSICD).
Fuji Xerox Australia has printed 10,000 copies of a book by an 11 year Aboriginal girl to support National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Day (NATSICD).
The book, titled Little People, Big Futures was written by Saoirse and developed through Kids’ Own Publishing’s WePublish app for iPad.
Fuji Xerox Australia along with Marvel Book Binding and Print Finishing produced 10,000 copies of the book to show their support for literacy development in Aboriginal and Torres Strait communities.
“We are delighted that Fuji Xerox Australia has decided to partner with us on this extremely important initiative,” said Victoria Ryle from Kids’ Own Publishing. “Our vision is aligned with Fuji Xerox Australia whereby both organisations are focused on supporting education for future generations and preservation of diminishing cultures and information.”
Little People, Big Futures has been distributed to 10,000 children across Australia. The WePublish app can be downloaded via the iTunes store for AU$6.49, with proceeds supporting Kids’ Own Publishing in continuing their great work.
“In Australia today, almost 1 in 4 children start school without the skills they need to learn,” said Clayton Noble, chief operations officer and executive sponsor for Fuji Xerox Australia’s community engagement. “Sadly, most of these kids will never catch up. Fuji Xerox Australia is committed to supporting education initiatives for minority communities and future generations and we are delighted to be a part of this initiative. It’s an issue we take very seriously. We have made a pledge to help educate 20,000 children across 20 high-need communities by 2020.”
Kids’ Own Publishing is a not-for-profit, Melbourne-based organisation that aims to give all children a voice, support community storytelling and open the world of books and literacy to all children. The organisation’s WePublish app helps children across Australia create their own books, which can be printed on A3 paper and folded into 8 page origami books.
“Tools like WePublish are extremely powerful when it comes to literacy development”, said Ryle. “WePublish empowers young Aboriginal children to be the drivers of their own literacy learning through book creation.”
Through the 1000 Deadly Kids, 1000 Deadly Books initiative designed to coincide with NATSICD, Kids’ Own Publishing - in partnership with the Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care (SNAICC) and supported by the Australia Council for the Arts - aims to engage with Aboriginal children’s centres, kindergartens and playgroups to support them in running their own publishing workshops.