Our thanks go out once again to Jenny Desmond-Walters, Regional Advisor for SCBWI – Korea, for letting us know about another fabulous literature project taking place in Korea: Ollybolly.
Ollybolly is a cultural diversity program carried out by the Daum Foundation which “focuses on building a cultural foundation of mutual respect and understanding among people from all walks of life” and “seeks to provide resources for the next generation in order to promote creative and diverse ways of life through the use of media and communications.”
One of the Ollybolly projects is the recently created Online Picture Book project. This project allows anyone with internet access to watch animated picture book stories from several countries including Mongolia, Vietnam and the Philippines. The stories are all folktales and can be heard in English, Korean or their original language. Korean and English subtitles are also provided. Plans are in place to have over 170 books online by December and to include stories from Africa, South America and West Asia. Click here to see the list and start watching. I guarantee you will be enthralled not only by the wonderful stories themselves but also by their amazing illustrations!
The Ollybolly website says:
The Ollybolly Online Picture Book allows the next generation to experience stories from countries whose children’s books are not very well known by physical publication, especially in Korea. The project is designed to increase young people’s sensitivity towards cultural diversity. At the same time it will encourage them to communicate and live harmoniously with people from other parts of the world.
The Daum Foundation believes that differences are not the cause of discrimination and exclusion; rather, they are a source of creativity. We hope that the key holders of tomorrow will be imbued with wonderment and the positive values of diversity through their enjoyment of the Ollybolly Online Picture Book.