FFWD Weekly
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Poetry for kids teaches them about their rightsIf You Could Wear My Sneakers! is a book about children's rights from award-winning Canadian children's writer Sheree Fitch with illustrations by Darcia Labrosse.
The collection of 15 poems is based on Articles from the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The title poem, "If You Could Wear My Sneakers," was inspired by Article 2, which states that all rights apply to all children without exception. The poem begins:
If you were me
And I were you
For just a day
Or maybe two
Then maybe you
And maybe me
Would see the me
That you were too
Other titles, such as "Eloquent Elephant," "The Gnu-Ewe-Cockatoo-Emu All Are Welcome Crew" and "The Stinky Truth," are based on the right to protection during times of war, to meet with others and form associations, to obtain and share information and to express opinions, etc.
A performance poet, educator, journalist, author and activist, Fitch is well-known for her nonsense poetry for children from such best-selling books as Sleeping Dragons All Around, Toes in my Nose, There Were Monkeys in My Kitchen! and Mable Murple.
Fitch became Unicef Canada's Special Representative for the Atlantic Provinces in 1994. In honor of Unicef Canada's 50th anniversary, she was approached to write If You Could Wear My Sneakers! to broaden awareness of the plight of children around the world.
Fitch will be reading and signing books at Sandpiper Books, 270-11th Ave. S.W. on March 17 from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. She will also be reading at a presentation by local school children on children's rights at the Devonian Gardens on March 18 from noon to 2 p.m.
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