Mimi's Village: And How Basic Health Care Transformed It (CitizenKid) - Hardcover

Milway, Katie Smith

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1554537223 ISBN 13: 9781554537228

Publisher: Kids Can Press, 2012

Synopsis

In this fictionalized story about a real humanitarian problem facing many countries in the developing world today, readers meet Mimi, an ordinary girl from an ordinary family in Africa. When her younger sister, Nakkissi, gets very sick after drinking unsterilized water from the stream, Mimi learns firsthand how quickly things can go terribly wrong. With no health care provider close by, her whole family must travel on foot to a nearby village to see the one nurse who can provide the medical care her sister desperately needs. Though Mimi is relieved when her sister recovers, she wishes they could get a health clinic in her own village. Several months later, it is Mimi herself who becomes the catalyst to make her wish come true.

Author Katie Smith Milway, a former aid worker in Africa, has written the best kind of global education book for children, filled with information that engenders empathy and understanding. The picture-book format with captivating artwork by award-winning illustrator Eugenie Fernandes brings Mimi's story to life. Along with further information, a glossary and a map, an addendum includes suggestions for how young children can get involved, highlighting how inexpensive, easy-to-make improvements can transform people's lives. This terrific book would find many uses in elementary classrooms, including lessons on African culture, African family life and the basic health care needs of people everywhere. Most important, it offers opportunities for inspiring discussions about compassion, volunteerism and making a difference in one's own community and the larger world community.

About this title

About the Author

Katie Smith Milway, a native of Vancouver, B.C., has coordinated community development programs in Africa and Latin America for Food for the Hungry; consulted on village banking in Senegal with World Vision and was a delegate to the 1992 Earth Summit. She has written books and articles on sustainable development and is currently a partner at nonprofit consultancy The Bridgespan Group, based in Boston, Massachusetts.

Eugenie Fernandes is an award-winning picture book author and illustrator. Her many works include the Little Mouse series, Earth Magic, One Hen and Kitten's Spring. She lives in southern Ontario.

Reviews

Gr 1-4-This book is part of a series that intends to educate and inspire youngsters to help other children around the world. Milway explains in simple language the dangers that millions of children face without access to fundamental health care such as vaccinations, basic medicine, proper pre- and postnatal care, and clean drinking water. While telling an engaging story of how Mimi's village in western Kenya comes to have its own clinic and nurse, the text relates the dangers the people face. The nurse brings not only medical supplies, but also the knowledge and education the village needs to be proactive against diseases and malnutrition. The story builds hope that these deadly forces are not insurmountable. The text and tone are not condescending-the villagers work together to build the clinic, petition the governmental health department, and eventually educate others about basic health care and sanitation. The illustrations are colorful, showing the vibrancy of the people, their dress, and the landscape. East African cultural references are woven into the text, allowing readers to gain knowledge of the languages, animals, and even foods of the region. This topic is a heavy one, but the book ends with several pages of practical, child-friendly suggestions about how readers can help others who lack these fundamental resources. It's a great tool to use to expand children's worldviews about the basic needs of other kids around the world.-Lisa Crandall, Capital Area District Library, Holt, MIα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Through the fictionalized viewpoint of a small child in rural Kenya today, this picture book in the CitizenKid series tells young readers about the urgent need to improve lives in developing countries through access to clean water, protection from mosquitoes, and more basic essentials that most U.S. kids take for granted. While carrying a can filled from a stream, Mini Malaho knows that her family has to boil water before they can drink it. But her little sister, Nakkissi, is so thirsty that Mimi gives her two handfuls of the brownish water. Nakkissi becomes critically ill, but she is saved just in time when the family gets her to the health clinic in the next village. Then Mimi helps her village build its own clinic. The nurse helps Mama give birth, the children get vaccinations, and nets sprayed with insecticides keep off the deadly mosquitoes. With bright, lively acrylic illustrations, the story is followed with several informative spreads, including ways that young readers can help create change. Grades 2-5. --Hazel Rochman

Edition details

• Publisher: Kids Can Press
• Publication date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1554537223
• ISBN 13: 9781554537228
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Fernandes Eugenie
• Number of pages: 32