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RAINBOWS ARE EVERYWHERE
From: Foreword Magazine
One day while rushing home from work and the grocery store, I was stunned by the perfect arc and color spectrum of a rainbow over the chaotic traffic, noise, and strip malls. It was so exquisite I wanted to jump out, stop the frenzied world around me, and take a moment to revel in the beauty. Fortunately, kids in Ottawa, Ontario have found a way to keep this awe alive and are “making the impossible possible.”
Sometimes, a very special adult comes along to help utilize that instinctive appreciation and wonder for a greater good. Elle Reyes, an Ontario English and Music teacher, is also the Director of Rainbows Are Everywhere, a small publisher of books for kids by kids. She discovered, while teaching a diverse class of international children, that they were especially interested in the writing and reading of each other’s cultural backgrounds.
They realized that “rainbows are everywhere, in every country and in every culture.”
Boom. Ms. Reyes and her enthusiastic gang were off and running. They incorporated Rainbows Are Everywhere in September 2002, have since published five books, are planning two to three more each month, established three writing contests in 2003, and have arranged for book translations into French, Chinese, Italian, German, and Greek. Rainbows Are Everywhere also has expanded with numerous activities such as summer day camps, book clubs, music programs, art classes, and a very successful debating program. Ms. Reyes, herself a former Provincial and National Debating Champion, “inspires kids to be verbally empowered.”
What these kids and professionals are doing is incredibly powerful and an exciting step toward their vision to “promote world peace, harmony and love for others in the world by motivating and encouraging children to understand, respect and celebrate differences in their world.” Elle Reyes exudes love and acceptance and this naturally spreads to her students. The kids are “ecstatic” about the whole program, they are bursting with creativity and ideas.
The local community has been so supportive that the best-selling title, “Superheroes Don’t Have Dads” by James Valitchka, sold out its 2,000 print run in three months. Rainbows Are Everywhere promises to pay all publishing costs: printing, translation, marketing, and international distributing. The writers receive 5% of all net-profit royalties. Eight-year-old Quinn Riding (what a perfect name for a writer!) was one of the book writing contest winners for his story, “The Fridge Door.” He enthused, “When I heard I’d won I said, ‘Wow! I’m going to be a published author!’”
The website, http://www.rainbowsareeverywhere.com is a fun place for kids. They can enter the writing contest, chat, play games, and sign up for writing, illustrating, and debate classes. It’s easy to submit a story to Rainbows Are Everywhere: go to the site, glean helpful writing tips, and email a submission with one click! The instructions are clear, simple to understand, and specific to writing good fiction-the how’s and why’s of character, plot, setting, word choice, show-don’t tell, and more upbeat encouragement.
Rainbows Are Everywhere books represent the multicultural spectrum in Canada. This vanguard of kid writers, illustrators, and publishers are celebrating the vital diversity of our world beyond all borders. Check out the faces of these kid authors on the website. The benefits go way over the rainbow-enlightening, educating, and bringing together a whole new generation.