Paseka: A Little Elephant, Brave Tapa dura -

Ruth James is a former school teacher who loves children's literature. She is a director on the board of the African Children's Book Box Society (www.africanbookbox.org). The society, which began as a literacy project in Kenya, now works mainly in Tanzania, providing portable libraries of books by African authors to schools that have few storybooks and even fewer featuring African children. It was during a visit to Africa that Ruth met Paseka, the little orphan elephant, and was inspired to share Paseka's story with children.

Kent Laforme is a stone carver who loves to draw. In fact, he's loved drawing and stones all his life. While working on this book, Kent stumbled upon a 15,000 lb (almost 7,000 kg) boulder that looked just like an elephant! Inspired by this story, Kent is now carving Paseka in stone. He lives in Victoria, BC, with his wife, Tamara, and their two children, Aya and Koen. You can view his work at www.kentlaforme.com.