Heifer Announces New Book, Resources and Campaign

By Jen Girten, Manager of Education Program Development

Heifer is excited to share the launch of new Read to Feed resources! A new book, entitled Flora and the Runaway Rooster, was written by author John Claude Bemis and illustrated by Robert Crawford.

In the story, a Rwandan family is able to send their older children to school because of gifts from Heifer International. Flora, the youngest child, must help care for the family’s chickens, a source of their food and well-being. When Kubika, the rowdy rooster, escapes while Flora is playing, a wild chase sets off. Flora’s friend Gideon, whose family is unable to send him to school, joins in. Along the way, Mother Yasenta helps the children in an unexpected way, prompting Flora to help Gideon to achieve his dream of going to school. Elementary-aged students (and their teachers and parents) will find themselves entertained by the adventures in the book and inspired by the idea of Passing on the Gift!

In addition to the launch of the new Rwanda-focused teaching materials, we are inviting teachers and students to join us and “Read for Rwanda.”

There are also new lessons that correspond with this book and share some information about Rwanda and Heifer’s work there. The new lessons are geared toward first and second grades and aligned with Common Core Standards for English Language Arts and Math, Next Generation Science Standards and C3 Social Studies Standards. An advisory group of experienced elementary educators from across the United States helped with the development of the book and lesson to ensure the resources are educational and engaging for teachers and students. The lessons and the book can be downloaded for free from Heifer’s Read to Feed website at www.readtofeed.org.  Hard cover copies of the book will begin shipping in a few weeks.

In addition to the launch of the new Rwanda-focused teaching materials, we are inviting teachers and students to join us and “Read for Rwanda.”  This campaign began October 15 with a goal of raising $25,000 for projects in Rwanda. The planned end of the campaign is December 31, 2014.

More information about the “Read for Rwanda” campaign and the new resources can be found at www.readtofeed.org.