A family club which was formed to honour the memory of two deceased residents of the village of Grand Fond, will launch their first book late October 2021 titled “Stories by Children” (Vol.1) which includes compilations of stories under the theme ‘Family’.
The Fernance and Cyrilla Family Club (FCFC) was formed in January 2018 in memory of deceased Fernance and Cyrille Prince of Grand-Fond. At present, the club has 60 registered members aged 21 and over and their dependents which include babies to 20 year-olds.
According to a release from the FCFC, this book initiative was undertaken to celebrate the academic abilities of the children in the club, give them exposure and “promote an excitement for writing” among them. In January 2021, the Board of Governors invited seventeen (17) authors of the Prince family from ages 4 to 15 years, living in Dominica and abroad to express their thoughts and feelings on the theme through poems, compositions and short stories.
Every week leading up to the book’s launch, an author will be featured on the FCFC Stories by Children Facebook page with the objective of introducing and exposing them to the general public.
The authors are: Abigail Saho, 8; Imani Henry, 10; Giana Oscar, 13; Gabrielle Oscar, 8; Joshua Saho, 7; Christopher Atilade, 10; Sade Atilade, 8; Hadassah Constant, 14; Hilkia Constant, 13; Kelano Pascal, 4; Zendaya Robinson, 8; Glendora Ettiene, 7, Dontae Carrington, 7; Sajjad Ahmed, 15; Shoaib Ahmed, 9; Keyondre Prevost, 6 and Humaira Ahmed, 5.
Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the FCFC, Nicole Toussaint Jno-Baptiste said this is the first time the club has ventured into doing an activity of this nature.
She said this activity is very important for the children as it will expose their talent, get them excited about learning, provide an avenue to express their feelings, and boost their self-esteem.
“This book publication is the first major project undertaken by the club and there is much more expected from the club in the future. Club members are looking forward to this book launch which we believe will open doors for the young generation, especially academically,” she said in an interview with DNO.
The FCFC Board of Governors believes that the publication of this book is timely because they want to encourage children to have a passion to read and be free to express their thoughts and feelings, Toussaint Jno Baptiste stated.
“Moreover, we want reading and writing to be one of most important activities for the children, especially during this COVID-19 pandemic as they are home,” she added.
From the proceeds of the book, the FCFC will be creating an education fund which will be used to assist young Dominicans with their college education.
“Our family club intends to publish a book every year under a new theme and we hope to open up submissions to the youths of Dominica through writing competitions. These writing competitions will help Stories by Children engage and support young kids outside of just our family club, while also encouraging our youths to write and celebrate their works through publication. Thereafter, the winning entries will also be placed into that year’s publication,” Toussant-Jno Baptiste revealed.
The FCFC PRO said the book initiative is an important milestone for future generations and anticipates a successful launch. She encouraged everyone to support the children and purchase a book.
The venue for the book launch and the scheduled date will be provided at a later date.
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