About Earth Nurse Press
Award winning poet, Afra Kingdon, brings you Earth Nurse Press – a conservation events organization and children’s book publishing company with a difference.
In summary, there is always talk of needing your daily dose of five fruit and veg, plus the educational target of the ‘three Rs’ of reading, writing and arithmetic, but ENP goes further, we welcome you to the world of the three ‘Cs’ – Conservation, Community and Creativity. This is how:
Act Local, Think Global – the joys of Inclusiveness and Internationalism: ENP recognizes diversity and equality, not through tokenism or a sense of conscientiousness, but through being informed by the fact that the ravages of history have taken a toll on some far more than on others and also through seeing our Earth as a planet rather than a set of transient, scrabbling nations. (We cannot see political borders from space but we can see deforestation and desertification). Whilst we are all uniquely different and biodiversity is to be celebrated, we are but simple fellow creatures made of the exact same atoms on an increasingly crowded planet. ENP books will always be everybody’s home.
Ever-aware of the tug between identity/individuality set against the desire for social cohesion and unified purpose, ENP strives to find a healthy and exciting balance between these two driving forces of ours.
From Out the Mouths of Babes – ENP trusts children as sentient beings – proud owners of lively and inquisitive minds. We won’t dumb life down to a soggy or saccharine gruel, nor resort to brash soundbites or opt for sentimentality before deeper feelings. So prepare for surprises, uncomfortable facts and for some frights, then jokes and happy nonsense, lyrical beauty, adventures, love, comfort and joy.
From four-year-olds to a hundred and four – Whilst remaining sensitive to the developmental milestones of childhood and, for sure, certain stories will be designed with younger or older kids in mind, but essentially ENP will not insist on a quarantine of prescriptive age limits. ENP books challenge and tantalize with philosophical questions on nature and the human condition, yet remain succinct. What cannot be resolved in words might be resolved in images. Due to the over-riding theme of bio-diversity in all things, these make for busy books, so a first reading will not be enough, kids will return to each tale to puzzle and wonder, again and again.
What makes young children such fabulous and functional little people is that they comprehend the big essentials of life, already, somewhere, deep in the marrow of their bones and long before we present them with manufactured stimulus, so they are not offended if stories ask them to stretch beyond their age group. The very young are adept at picking out the snippets that appeal from their books and saving the rest of the content for another day if they need to; (like hamsters save extra food in voluminous cheek pouches or like a kangaroo joey venturing forth and then, quick, back into mother’s warm pocket if the terrain gets too tough). The marketing trends and laws of mainstream publishers can become restrictive – creators are not primarily accountants so it is not actually necessary to be so risk-averse, we can relax, trust in children and get on with the job in hand, which is vibrant storytelling, of all shapes and sizes. ENP has the freedom and independence to do just that.
Peace on Earth in our Time – ENP, ever conscious of the urgent and volatile times that we live in, will prioritize and instill the value of empathy, emotional intelligence and global citizenship. We will celebrate small acts of kindness, forgiveness and friendship. We will try to solve problems.
Vital Conservation Education – ENP is proudly and purposefully didactic, but this will never detract from great story-telling for its own sake. Remembering Charles Dickens’s belief in social reform through literature, ENP feels that fiction can be a seductive vehicle for the dissemination of complex facts, solutions and hope. Neither will we be force-feeding concepts – kids will be responsible for their own discoveries. Plant and animal species and their behavior and habitats will be as accurately portrayed as possible. Issues will be well researched and approaches sensitive and relevant to all cultures. Our books are designed to encourage an active and inquiring mind with treasures to find and life’s puzzles to solve.
Ownership of so much more than just a book – ENP wants kids to feel part and parcel of the story, make it be their very own, so each book will come with an extra gift or activity that will be their responsibility to nurture, such as a tree seed to plant, a model or toy to make, an organization or practical project to join.
Partnerships, collaboration and fund-raising – ENP will promote already existing conservation or human rights campaigns of reputable organizations around the world. Further than that, we will donate a percentage of all our profits to these charities. Individual primary schools, societies, zoos or reserves can also host book fairs and story-telling/literacy events of their own and use some of the proceeds for their own causes.
Art, Innovation and Literature – ENP welcomes children to the musicality and the multi-layered nature of language. We let the organic shape of the story dictate how we design the book rather than being inhibited by printing or marketing constraints. We want to offer multi-stimulating and inspiring books – things of beauty to have and to hold.
Practicing what we preach – ENP is a fair trade company using, whenever possible, sustainable and non-toxic materials and minimal packaging. We will share profits responsibly.
