Our Rights from East to West

OUR RIGHTS FROM EAST TO WEST

Mali and Jan, a girl and a boy, wake up and they don’t remember their names or where they come from. That previous night Silence, a black silhouette man, stole their rights.

In order to get them back, they will have to go over mountains, rivers and jungles. But they won’t be alone in this adventure. Janusz, a caterpillar with glasses, which carries a compass, will guide them along their journey.

Throughout the pages, they will bump into a mountain, a snowflake, a boy worker, a circus performer with functional diversity and other characters who will help them remember their rights. This is their story.

¡HELLO EVERYONE!

It´s Borja Antolín Tomás and Jana Pausch. This year commemorates the 30th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (Approved the 20th of November 1989) and we believe these rights should be celebrated and remembered. Therefore, we have written a story for curious book lovers, children, teens and adults alike, recalling 11 of 41 articles on the rights of the child. The story includes funny moments, suspense and an unexpected ending.

Jana is from Nürnberg in Germany and Borja is from Zaragoza in Spain, that’s why the book is written in German on one side and in Spanish on the other.

What’s more, we have been working lately in Canada, Germany and Spain, so we have friends in lots of countries. This means you can also find the book in a bilingual version French-English.

We really enjoy nature, hiking in the mountains, cycling, discovering new cultures, playing and travelling with our three children. Therefore, it is a road trip story.

Borja has already written the story and Jana’s illustrations are detailed and colourful drawings. Sometimes the drawings are combined with photographs taken by Borja and Dörte Drangmeister.

Illustrating, formatting, translating and printing all take a lot of hard work. So, we need your help to meet the realization costs and to carry out the project.

Here you have a preview of the book: the first double page and the third double page so you can check out the style of story:

OUR TEAM

Borja is the dreamer and has talked Jana and some friends into carrying out this project. He is a geologist researcher, secondary school teacher and science audiovisual communicator. He loves hiking in the mountains, juggling, travelling by bicycle and play and nature areas.
VIMEO
INSTAGRAM

Jana is cabinet maker and architect. She likes painting and trekking in nature since she was little. She has built furniture, wooden toys and harps and after her architectural studies she worked measuring and inspecting historical timbered buildings. Nowadays she tries to dedicate some time to cabinet making, whenever it´s possible. Further information about her work in: www.treeo.work

Inma Grau does the graphic design of the story and makes sure the text, photographs and illustrations come together. More information about her work in her website estudio LUS3: http://lus3.es

The three of us are committed to attain a sustainable world that pays more attention to children’s rights. Your support is key in this team!

REWARDS

If you decide to join us in this project, you´ll get as a reward for example a copy of the book. Furthermore you can choose also other rewards like kids t-shirts, drawstring bags or solidary shippings.

+ INFORMATION ABOUT THE REWARDS

We are very excited to bring you a beautiful and unique book.

You can get your copy of Our Rights from East to West for 18€. It’s the perfect gift to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Christmas or the end of the year.

SHIPPING EXPENSES in Spain are included; except Canary Islands, Ceuta, Melilla!

Shipping to the rest of Europe see reward "Shipping in the EU.

For shipping to the Canary Islands, Ceuta, Melilla, Switzerland and overseas, see reward "International Shipping".

REMEMBER:

• The book comes in two languages: German/Spanish or English/French. You have to tell us the version of your choice.

• Don´t forget to state your t-shirt sizes and colours, choosing rewards including kids t-shirts.

• All prices are inclusive of value added tax

• Shipping expenses in Spain are included (see above).

• For other shipping expenses, add the equivalent Pack "Shipping in the EU" or "International Shipping" to your other rewards.

• Your contribution will not be charged until the campaign finishes at the beginning of October, and ONLY if it is successful.

Have a look at ALL THE REWARDS WE OFFER YOU:

WHO IS THE BOOK INTENDED FOR?

Girls and boys aged 6-13 are the main audience although younger kids can also enjoy it. We think it’s best to read it together so you can discuss the topic, its significance and relevance nowadays.

The illustrations together with the photographs include small details to discover something new every time you read it. Just as we enjoy reading and watching illustrated books, we hope you adults also enjoy Our Rights From East to West.

Besides, it’s a wonderful story for nature enthusiasts and travel lovers.

This didactic story:

• will help us **remember and celebrate children’s rights;

• will encourage human rights. The names of the characters the children meet in the story correspond to some real people who have collaborated or collaborate with both children’s and human rights. For instance, the caterpillar’s name is Janusz, pedagogue pioneer in the fight for the rights of boys and girls; Pia, the potter’s name, comes from Pia Klemp, the captain of the Sea-Watch ship that rescued migrants in the Mediterranean; Wangari the mountain takes her name from Wangari Maathai, first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize. You will find this information in the book and in the project’s social networks.

• will call for action. When the story finishes both languages come together in a central double page. Here the main characters of the story hold up a banner so the readers can draw the right they believe is the most important. Once it is written or drawn, they can copy and glue it in the streets, parks, anywhere. They can also take a photo of it and then share it with all the girls and boys in the world through a hashtag we will create. Here you have the central page:
  

  

• will showcase nature. thanks to the characters of the mountain, the fish or the snowflake, which appear in the book. The story aims at encouraging the younger ones to see environment protection, children’s and human rights, equal development and peace as interdependent parts of our world.

• will make us reflect and will inspire critical thinking towards current situations related to the articles in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

• may be read in the library, school, secondary school, ...

SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL COMMITMENT

You will have the chance to participate in the shipping of several 3-book sets to school libraries with low or no budget at all. At the moment, we have chosen the Primary School of Tatemoë (Kyabe, Tchad) as one of the recipient schools. Depending on the number of rewards selected for this category, the shipping will be extended to schools in other countries.

The book is created and printed in Zaragoza and Spain in order to get zero CO2 emissions related to the book transportation throughout the publication process.

Both the t-shirts and the bags are made of organic farming cotton and following fair trade.

WHERE IS THE MONEY GOING TO?

PUBLISHING AND REWARD CALENDAR

The original Spanish text of the first edition is already translated to the three languages: English, French and German. Illustrations and formatting will be finished along October and November. At December, the book will go to print so the first shippings can be done at January and you can get them along February.

There will be a book presentation in Zaragoza and you are all invited. If you wish, you can pick up your rewards there. We will let you know the time and place in an email.

From that moment, we will also send the copies and rewards to the rest of the patrons.

RISKS AND CHALLENGES

Let’s be honest. This is our first book but it is not our first educational interdisciplinary project.

Together we created a permanent exhibition about mountains in a Canadien university. And Borja wrote a short playwright for a German infant library, inspired by the Earth Charter.

Up until now, work has been challenging and a risk from the get go but we needed to do it, we were unemployed though full of ideas and hope.

Luckily, we are surrounded by good friends; some of them are artists, educators, human rights activists or translators. All of them have helped us review the texts, translate them or deal with publishing matters.

(Risks) If we are not funded, we will put the book in a drawer, maybe a publisher will pop up somewhere, we don’t know. Your support will allow us to publish the book the best way we know, that is, with an original and detailed edition. That’s why we also need Inma Grau’s help, so she puts the finishing touches on image editing, typography and formatting.

(Challenges) The book ventures to deal with a serious topic such as the articles of children’s rights combining drawing and photography with an adventure story. It is published in four languages because we would like to share this story and its values with young and old alike.

TECNICAL DETAILS

Original Title in Spanish: Nuestros Derechos de Este a Oeste

Title in German: Von Ost nach West, ein Kinderrecht

Title in French: Nos Droits d´Est en Ouest

Author: Borja Antolín Tomás

Illustrator: Jana Pausch

Graphic Design: Inma Grau

Photographs: Borja Antolín Tomás, Dörte Drangmeister

Spanish Revision: Cuca Tomás, Juan Antolín, Ruth Estepa and Ana Villellas

German Translation: Jana Paush, Thomas Michl and María Asuar

French Translation: Régine Illion

English Translation: Aranzazu García Tomás

First Edition: November 2019

Format: hard cover; 26 x 20 cm; 68 pages (half per language);

Languages edited: Spanish/German, French/English

+ INFORMATION

Comments and questions regarding the project are always welcome. We would love to hear from you.

You can also follow us here:

Facebook: Our Rights from East to West

Instagram: childrensrightsbook

THANKS A LOT FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

BORJA Y JANA