Mary M William

A family honors their ancestors and their heritage by cooking together.It is New Year's Day and Alix and Annabelle are excited to help their Grandma Cleo make a traditional soup to celebrate the occasion. As they gather up vegetables, Grandma Cleo explains why Soup Joumou is so important to the Haitians' celebration.Grandma tells the children, that long ago, before Haiti gained its independence from France, there were many slaves in Haiti. While the free were permitted to enjoy eating Soup Joumou, they forbid the slaves from eating it. Now, those of Haitian heritage honor their ancestors who fought for freedom and the slaves who hadn't been able to eat the traditional dish which has become a symbol of their independence.Alix and Annabelle, while saddened by this story, are thrilled to invite their neighbors in their celebration. They have a great idea to share the seeds of their grandmother's joumou so that all can plant and grow their very own joumou for their traditional New Year's Day celebrations.Complete with back of the book activities, this dual language, told in English and French Creole, story provides a wonderful opportunity for all families to learn about history and other cultures and also to promote gardening to encourage nutritious cooking, healthy eating, and food sustenance.All proceeds from book and coloring book sales will benefit CEEDS4Change, a non-profit organization whose mission is to raise awareness and educate to reduce food insecurities in underserved communities.

A dual-language picture book addresses food insecurity and hands-on solutions for children.Magda and Anna teach young children about gardening and eating healthy, and they all work together to plant healthy foods and read books about healthy eating. The children feel proud eating the food that they've grown themselves.But when the pandemic, COVID-19, set in, Magda and Anna noticed that with families staying at home and children not in school, many were without healthy food. They delivered care boxes with food and books but soon realized that this would not be enough to sustain them. Instead of providing family's food, the women had an idea to provide plants sown from cuttings that the families could grow on their own. With Magda and Anna creating gardening videos, the children learned more about planting their own gardens using scraps and making healthy and delicious recipes from what they've grown.For twenty-three years, author Mary M. Williams was the primary coordinator for thousands of children each year within the Boston Public School system who experienced homelessness. She now leads CEEDS4Change, a program supporting homeless children and their families in the Boston area. The creation of Oh We're Little Gardeners, a dual language book in both English and French Creole, arose from a gardening project addressing food insecurity, exacerbated by the pandemic, to help Haitian students in the Boston area.All proceeds go to CEEDS4Change.org, a nonprofit whose mission is to create self-sustaining collaborations with schools and businesses that encourage organic and non-GMO gardening, nutritious cooking and healthy eating to reduce food insecurities in underserved communities.