Crane Boy is the 7^th picture book by award winning author & educator Diana Cohn (www.dreamcarver.org) and is being illustrated by award winning author/illustrator/educator Youme Landowne. Our book tells the story of a young boy named Kinga who learns that the beautiful black-necked cranes that have migrated to his village from Tibet for thousands of years are now endangered. He wants to find  way to help. Inspired by the centuries old tradition of 'tsechus' (festivals) in Bhutan, where songs and dances tell stories and teach lessons, Kinga and his classmates decide to create a new festival that would celebrate the arrival of the cranes to their Valley. But first they must observe the cranes and then create a dance! A spread from our book is featured above.

With help from the monks at the village monastery, a brand new festival is born and Kinga and his classmates create the 'crane dances' to show their knowledge and love of the cranes. The festival is now an annual event in Bhutan and takes place every November to coincide with the arrival of the cranes. The book, inspired by the real story of the Crane Festival also contains an afterward with information on the black-necked cranes and Bhutan. 

The author and illustrator spent time together in Bhutan over a year ago. When they were there, Diana did focus groups on the manuscript in order to make fine edits & tweak the story based on meeting with the Royal Society for the Protection of Nature in Bhutan as well as with the educators at the Gangtey Monastery in the Phobjikha Valley (where the story takes place) and with teachers and school children at the local schools. Youme did extensive visual research and did the layout for the book. PLEASE LINK to our GALLERY section for a snapshot of our time in Bhutan working on Crane Boy. 

OUR GOAL: Our goal for this campaign is to raise $12,500 of the total $25,000 which will make it possible to get 4000 + paperback copies of Crane Boy to every school in Bhutan.  (We have already received a grant for $12,500 for this project from a Bay Area Foundation so we are half way there!) Our book is longer than the average 32 page children's book: it will be 40 pages, including an afterward and each book will cost approx. $5.00 to produce which includes the cost of printing, shipping and distribution. ANY FUNDS RAISED ABOVE OUR GOAL WILL GO TOWARDS PUBLICATION OF MORE BOOKS TO SEND TO BHUTAN.  

To reach this goal we are partnered in Bhutan with the Royal Society for Protection of Nature in Bhutan (RSPN). The funds raised for this project will go for the printing and shipping of the book to Bhutan and to the RSPN who will be in charge of the distribution of the book to accompany their environmental education curricula used in schools, libraries and environmental clubs throughout the country. This is no small feat because the books will first be shipped through Thai Air from Los Angeles to Calcutta and then trucked to Thimpu, the capital of Bhutan. Once they arrive in Bhutan they will be distributed to schools throughout the country. This is particularly time intensive because the infrastructure of the country is challenging and getting books to schools means travelling over the one paved road in the country and over its numerous dirt roads and paths. 

For many children in Bhutan, this will be their first children's book that reflects their culture, brilliance, and talent.  Crane Boy, published by Cinco Puntos Press (www.cincopuntos.com) has a publication date of April, 2015.  

Both Diana and Youme have taught writing  (and art) to students as elementary school teachers and as teaching artists. Our bigger intention for this project goes beyond the book Crane Boy: that is to inspire and build collaboration with, and support the literary community in Bhutan, and be part of a new movement for children's books there. 

Our fiscal sponsor here in the US is the Bhutan Friendship Foundation which is mission aligned with our project’s goals and will enable any donation to this project to be tax deductible. Whatever funds raised above our base goal will be designated for more printing and for distribution of the book. 

If you cannot help right now, please spread the word about this campaign with your friends through social media. Thank-you and Tashi Delek!