New Borneo focused picture book to be launched during International Literacy Week

Sept. 17, 2012 - PRLog -- In the week that will celebrate International Literacy Week and also see the British royal couple, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, visit the largest remaining rainforest in Borneo, children’s author, Sandra Arthur will release her latest early learner picture book, Crocodile Attack, from her series: Radio Ron’s Postcards from Borneo.
Crocodile Attack features Borneo’s rainforest as its backdrop for the curious story of "Radio Ron" (a Royal Air Force Radio Technician) who takes a journey with Dayak tribes-people.  This is a vivid, fun and thought-provoking adventure book for children under nine years that is also proving popular with children who are learning English as a second language.  The story is a work of fiction, but was written as a tribute to the author's father, who was with the British Royal Air Force in Borneo during the mid 1960’s.
This humorous picture book, illustrated by British artist Lisa Williams, will appeal to all children, young and old.  At the same time, readers will learn interesting facts about the endangered orang utans (orang-utans) of Borneo.  The book is completed with environmental information and parent and educator notes, for a lively reading and educational experience.   Whilst the story is fiction, the background to the light-hearted story is based on historical events.  
As children develop their own reading skills they can catch up on the adventures of “Radio Ron” in a junior fiction book, Cpl Ron’s Borneo Warrior Rescue, that has received accolades worldwide.
Sandra commented, “As book lovers around the world celebrate International Literacy Day I hope that my book will be picked up by parents and educators in their quest to help children develop a passion for books.  Learning to read is one of the biggest milestones young children face.  By offering a fun approach to early reading practice, I hope my work may encourage a life long love affair with reading and books (whether on an electronic screen or paper).   I’m delighted to say that my Radio Ron stories are already known around the globe via a great project called Educate Earth (see note below).
My book may be a young child’s first introduction to environmental issues.  I believe that children who learn about environmental issues will become more conservation-conscious, develop empathy for such issues, and grow up to become informed adults.”
This book also includes games, puzzles and suggested classroom activities. The story offers many of the high frequency words children learn between ages five to nine. There are also a number of “word builders” to help children increase their vocabulary.
Lisa Williams remarked, “I think this book offers young children a great way to discover a little about the oldest rainforest in the world.  I had great fun drawing the images and developing the games.  I have learnt so much about orang-utans and hope teachers and parents will use this material to engage and inform their children whilst having fun learning to read.”

This new book is now available on lulu.com as a paperback, hardcover, ebook (pdf) and also as a special ebook with voice-over and music for an upbeat reading experience.

Sales of this book will benefit orangutan charities.
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Why help the orang-utans?
Due entirely to human activity, the population of orang-utans in  Borneo is now only 12% of what it was less than a century ago.  Due to logging and palm oil production these great apes are losing their natural habitat and could face extinction in the wild by 2022.  
Orang-utans are known as keystone species and extremely important in retaining the biodiversity within the Borneo rainforest.
When a keystone species decline or they completely disappear, the survival and abundance of many other species in that ecosystem are negatively impacted.  Their protection is vital to the overall health of the lowland forest ecosystem in which they thrive. In contrast, the vitality of the orang-utan population will only flourish if their forest home is kept undisturbed and intact.

How is Sandra Arthur’s Radio Ron Postcards from Borneo helping to educate people who can’t normally afford to buy their own books?

An Australian entrepreneur selected Radio Ron’s Postcard from Borneo to be part of a new educational DVD for distribution to families around the globe.

Called “Educate Earth” a group of education clips from YouTube (with author permission) and other sources was compiled onto a DVD that was supplied to impoverished communities in Kisii in Kenya, Adum-Kumasi in Ghana and Vanuatu, an island is the South Pacific. Other locations will be added over time.

The hope of this project is that wherever there is access to a portable dvd player, laptop or TV (such as in a school, hospital, health centre, doctors waiting rooms etc) individuals can watch and secure an education without even attending school. Many poor people in these regions cannot afford an education.

Educate Earth DVDs were shared with parents to help them educate their children, if they cannot afford to send them to school.  At the same time, the range of stories included on the DVD are equally entertaining for adults who may have missed out on schooling and thus can learn by watching them with their children.

About Author and Illustrator
Sandra SC Arthur spent her childhood travelling around the world with her Italian mother and English father.  Her love of adventure is reflected in the stories she writes.  Her goal in writing is to Make Reading Fun.  She achieves this by creating unusual story lines and offering additional content via her multi-media website.   To-date, she has written five books.  She is passionate about Borneo and has devoted much of her free time to promoting and raising funds to assist the endangered orang-utans.  

Lisa Williams is a talented illustrator who runs Illustration Machine.  This is an independent publishing company for aspiring authors and illustrators in the UK.  She has illustrated four books to-date.  This is her second book for Sandra Arthur’s Radio Ron’s Postcards from Borneo series.