New Mainers Book Project
The New Mainers Book Project was developed to preserve and
celebrate the rich cultural heritage of Maine's most recent refugees
and immigrants, while encouraging English language literacy within
the family. The project collects stories and cultural information
from Maine's refugee communities in their own language, translates
them into English, and turns them into high-quality, bilingual books.
These books will be available to the public as well as to refugee
and immigrant communities and early childhood educators.
The New Mainers Book Project is derived from The Somali
Book Project, previously funded by the Maine Humanities Council.
The resulting book, A Somali Alphabet, is used by Somali
children and families learning English as a Second Language, as
well as basic literacy skills. This project was undertaken in the
Riverton Housing Project by instructors in Portland Adult Education
and in conjunction with ongoing family literacy work.
Current book projects are being developed with Portland's Sudanese
and Cambodian communities. Cynthia Jabar and Anne Sibley O'Brien,
children's book writers and illustrators from Maine, are creating
the books for publication. Long-term plans include bringing the
New Mainers Book Project to other refugee and immigrant communities
throughout Maine.
For more information, contact:
Born to Read
Maine Humanities Council
674 Brighton Avenue, Portland, ME 04102
Phone: (207) 773-5051
Fax: (207) 773-2416
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