Book Release: Ollie's Field Journal

Book Launch

"Ollie’s Field Journal: A 9/10ths Happy Story From Africa" is a children’s book in the form of a travel scrapbook by a 10-year-old Canadian girl. Ollie goes to Niger to learn about malnutrition and to visit her doctor mother, who is working at an MSF nutritional project in Gouchi.

The book’s Edmonton-based author, Patti McIntosh, visited MSF projects in Zinder and Gouchi in 2007, and the book is filled with colourful reproductions of vaccination certificates, Plumpy’nut wrappers and the arm-circumference bracelets that MSF uses to measure malnutrition in children. These are interspersed with beautiful photos, many of them taken by children at the centres that McIntosh visited. Spiral-bound on rough paper, the whole thing has the feel of an actual field journal.

Not only is the book visually fascinating, it weaves in an interesting narrative about Ollie’s discoveries in Niger, and delves into the details of MSF’s work in a way that is interesting to kids. One of the book’s central themes is Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food, which Ollie calls the Peanut Paste Prescription. She does an excellent job of explaining exactly how this food is used and how it saves children’s lives in nutritional crises.

Ollie sensitively confronts the story’s unhappy 1/10th ’ the reality that, despite everyone’s best efforts, children sometimes die from malnutrition. But the story is by no means depressing ’ rather it has an optimistic, energetic momentum that should inspire and motivate kids to get involved in the world. Ollie connects to McIntosh’s online Junior Global Citizen Club, which provides ways for kids to interact with the ideas in the book.

Visit www.juniorglobalcitizen.org to learn more, or to buy Ollie’s Field Journal.