Supporting Arnina in publishing her children book

Please click Read More in order to see my story in Hebrew and in English (at the bottom)
אנא לחצו על "קראו עוד" כדי להיחשף לסיפור מאחורי הבקשה

בסוף הסיפור כתבנו גם פרטי חשבון ישראלי, אם ברצונכם/ן לתרום ישירות לחשבון

!תודה



:לתרומות בשקלים ישירות לחשבון הבנק של ארנינה

ארנינה קשתן

בנק מזרחי טפחות 20
סניף גן העיר 421
חשבון 671745

!תודה
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"In the Land of Subtleties" - Why This Book Matters to the World

It all started when I was in the shower. 

I had a thought that I enjoyed, and then I thought, "Who would understand such subtleties?" and the book was born. 

I sped through the shower, flew towards the computer instead of going to rest, and the first three chapters emerged on the spot.

And this child was born in front of my eyes – a child I never had (because if I had one child, he would be a girl), and he speaks of himself in first person, through me. Darry. 11 years old. 

And then I found out that he has a brother, younger than him (whom Darry is so annoyed with, that it takes him a while to even tell us, the readers, his name, and I want to respect him, so I won’t tell you), and a baby sister, who often takes away his mom’s attention, and a father, and a grandma, and on and on... An entire family has been woven into a story, which every time I read it again, I am astonished by the richness of the subtleties that this Darry notices and shares with us. 

All this happened in 2014. And then I even gathered my strength and approached a publisher. However, when the illustrator they referred me to did not pan out, I lost my spirit, and this project joined many others in the deep archive of my computer drawers.

Still... All this time I nursed a tremendous love for this child, for his heart wisdom, for his mature and caring alertness, for his relationship with his mother, with his father, with other characters in his life, with the Hebrew language... (after all, he came into the world through me...). 

And when, once in a while, I read aloud chapters from the book to boys and girls, of almost any age, or to adults, of almost any age, I was always moved by the excitement that gripped them. There was even one time when, as soon as I finished reading a chapter to a group of children ranging in age from about 5 to 13 years old, one of them jumped up and said, "I want to make this into a show!" And in about twenty minutes all 10 of them returned exuberantly to the living room full of the parents of all these cuties, and indeed presented us with the whole chapter!

This is the magic that this book offers: of touching, with such immediacy, so many familiar layers of the lives of children and families. 

Now, at long last, I want to publish it.  

So that many more girls and children, mothers and fathers, grandparents, teachers, and especially parents (and especially children, lol), can draw inspiration from the unfolding of events, from dialogues, from his relationship with his mother and also his father. So that they can see, especially, what can be learned from these relationships about the relationships in so many homes, and what can be learned from Darry's inner world – which I believe has much in common with the worlds of many children, and which is rarely talked about explicitly. (Also attached to this page is a recording of one of the chapters, as a sample.) 

Because I think that I was able, in this book, to convey, through Darry's point of view, one of the greatest gifts I've been given, and that is the ability to feel children from the inside. I myself am surprised by that. 

And I long to make available to many more the possibility of living from caring, listening, truth, and love. 

This is why I am reaching out to those of you who are curious to hear about this initiative and consider contributing to its realization. 

I see in my imagination multitudes of parents and children who revel in the abundance of subjects in that Darry touches (which are present in every household), in his rich language (which is also rare), in the moving communication between his mother and him ("Nonviolent Communication" at its best, without a shred of preaching or beautifying), in the moments of sadness and joy, in the day-to-day (and night) events that he goes through, in all his happenings. And in this way to inspire them, in a practical way, to infuse a new energy into the familiar everyday events, and to bring about, together, small and big changes, especially in the less fun moments. 

I imagine thousands of homes where people have conversations about chapters in the book, with questions such as: what exactly happened at that moment? What did that character feel when this or that happened? What happens in our home in similar situations? What can we learn from Darry (or his mother... and dad, too...)? 

And you, each of you, all of you, can help all this happen and come to fruition, whatever may be born of it. And perhaps it can even grow beyond what our imagination sees right now. 

As for the expected costs – I assume the amount will reach about NIS 30,000, including illustration, scoring, editing, recording (yes! there will also be a recorded version of the book, for all the children to listen to when they wish! and you’ll find a recorded chapter on this page, as a draft sample), printing, marketing, distribution. Amen.

My request is that you contribute any amount that will give you pleasure without overstretching your capacity. No amount is too small. 

I so, so want the book to be out in the world, that once there are illustrations, I will be more than happy to send each and every one of you a digital copy of the book! 

Thank you.


Excited 

Arnina