This time last year I was working from a huge warehouse in Poundbury Dorset, organising the enormous project called Packed with Hope that saw us pack and deliver 10,000 backpacks for children who had been displaced because of the War in Ukraine. It was such an extraordinary campaign life changing even. In every backpack we included a dual language edition of what is now perhaps the seminal children’s book on the war.The picture book How war changed Rondo serves as a tribute to peace, resistance, and hope, and was written and illustrated by Romana Romanyshyn and Andriy Lesiv, a husband-and-wife duo from Ukraine whom we continue to work with, in fact they designed our Pineapple Lane logo. Their book Rondo is one of the reasons I have launched our new publishing Imprint Pineapple Lane. Including their book in our backpacks made me recognise not just the importance of mother tongue books but also the importance of offering books to children who have been through considerable trauma, books offer hope and comfort at a difficult time and allow a child to continue their education whilst connecting them back to the place they are from. They are essential.
Today we launch this new imprint with support from Arts Council England, a crowdfunding campaign and a host of amazing partners such as HP inc in the US. We’re delighted to be working with many amazing organisations that also recognise the importance of these books, charities such as The National Literacy Trust and the British Library’s Living Knowledge Network..
I am so proud of this project and hope that you will find ways to support us, either via donating, buying our books, or getting in touch with ways you could support Pineapple Lane by handing free books to children. We are also launching a really innovative portal for businesses to directly invest in the making of the books allowing us to continue to give free resources to children who need them the most.
Pineapple Lane begins with Ukraine but I am already working on more books from different countries so in a few months time we will be offering up Syrian books in Arabic and English.
So off we go on a new and ambitious publishing project, It’s very exciting and has taken months of hard work to get here.
I’ll keep this page updated with all the Pineapple Lane news. But for now enjoy browsing through our website and thank you for all the amazing support.
