Patches the Beaver™ - About the Book


	Soft Cover Buy Now
	Soft Cover Buy Now

Recent News

December 2009:

• The animated cartoon trailer for Patches the Beaver™ will be completed and posted soon!

• Author Shane Gauthier interviewed on 104.9 FM, and Patches the Beaver™ receives a review from 5-year-old Nora Campbell! Listen to it here.

• HARMONY WOODS PRESS INC. ANNOUNCES THE PUBLICATION OF "WAR CHILD: Marta's Story."

• Shane is currently finishing his second children's book entitled, "Grandma's Love."

• Details on all this and more here!

April 2009: Patches the Beaver™ promoted in the Business of Film Daily! Article here.

Feb 2009: It's been a super busy past few months: Patches meets Dolly Parton! Patches the Beaver, Welcome to Harmony Woods has been chosen as one of the "Best of Best" books by the Edmonton Public School Board! Patches attended the National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE)! Details here.

March 2008: Patches the Beaver™ is now available at Chapters.ca and Amazon.com. Patches also continues to tour the province -- details here!

Price: $9.99 CDN • 32pages • 8" x 9.5" • glossy embossed cover

For Schools

Many schools have asked me how Patches the Beaver™ can help them teach children about the communities of the world. In response to this inquiry I have decided to establish a separate link just for school teachers, administrators and staff. Please read below to find out how Patches the Beaver™, Welcome to Harmony Woods™ is a tool to teach children about other cultures (Peru, India, Ukraine, and Tunisia) and about diversity in our communities. The passage below is taken from Alberta’s Curriculum Handbook for Parents and clearly states what grade 3 students are expected to be taught.

“Grade 3 students will investigate life in four diverse communities around the world. The contemporary communities examined will be drawn from India, Tunisia, the Ukraine and Peru. Students will inquire into how geographic, social, cultural and linguistic factors affect quality of life in communities in the world. Students will enrich their awareness and appreciation of how people live in other places. Their understanding of global citizenship will be further developed and they will recognize Canada’s involvement in other parts of the world.”

(Curriculum Handbook for Parents, Grade 3, Page 23)

Patches the Beaver™, Welcome to Harmony Woods™ teaches children that we are “patched together by friendship no matter where we are from, no matter who we are, and no matter what we look like”. The book may be used as a spring board by which to further teach students about how people live in other parts of the world and thereby further developing their appreciation of global citizenship.

We have also been asked if schools can order books via invoicing. The answer is YES! All you have to do is fill out the contact us page or email us directly at author@harmonywoodspress.com with your contact information and we will back to you to initiate the order.

Thank you and have a great day!

"Hi Shane,

"We met you in the Starbucks coffee shop in Banff, whilst on holdiay last week. You were extremely generous and gave William a copy of your wonderful book. Since then we have read it a number of times, and it is such a good book, we love the story, that fact that is about friends, and the bright colours of the pictures. Well done, it is just perfect for him and children of his age. William likes to tell me how the beaver gets his patches. We wanted to wish you every success with your book, and to let you know that William has signed up to your news letter. It was lovely to meet you, and doing so made our holiday even more interesting, and enjoyable. We said afterwards that we should have got you to sign the book, as an autograph!"

Best Regards,
Helen, Mark and William Coates
Leicester, England

Focus on what human beings have in common and not on their differences

A recent study by Wham et al. (1996) attempted to answer this question: "Are children’s attitudes toward multicultural diversity enhanced by exposure to multicultural literature?"

Their analysis of 128 students (K through Grade 4) indicated that during the course of the school year, their attitudes towards cultural diversity improved or remained constant in a storybook reading group, but became more negative in the control group. The most significant changes in attitude took place among Grade 2 students, suggesting to the researchers that this stage of development might be the ideal time to try to modify students’ attitudes toward multiculturalism.

“Without diversity programs children’s appreciation of diversity may actually decrease across the school year. If so, we believe that it is critical for intervention programs to be implemented in order to enhance appreciation of individuals representing other cultures, circumstances or lifestyles.”

In this amazing teaching tool, Patches the Beaver™ interacts with many animals, all with distinctive personalities. Through thoughtful story lines, the animals learn to solve problems and promote friendship, respect, and consideration.

Patches the Beaver™ improves literacy and socialization through its developmentally appropriate language and sound pedagogy. The book ends with Patches the Beaver™ and friends having a picnic. Readers are inspired to think of school and play activities they could do to learn about other cultures. Students, at primary levels especially, need to be engaged in activities and play; in such a setting, they can truly learn.

“I have consciously ignored the message of tolerance, which implies superiority and dominance. For one culture to be merely tolerated requires their subservience to another culture. I firmly believe that all people, regardless of their cultural background, deserve to be recognized and treated with the same level of respect. Once students feel at ease with what distinctive cultural groups have to offer, they will be more equipped to examine differences in an unprejudiced way.”

-- Shane Gauthier, Author and Creator of Patches the Beaver™