june 6, 2011 Five Great Shelving Ideas for Your Books Kellie Magnus Writing Her Own Destiny Teaching Your Children About Money
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-Francis Bacon
Editor’s Note
Have you ever felt a call to do more with your life, to find your true purpose? Kellie Magnus did, and she bravely answered the call, creating colourful, fun and educational books for Jamaican children. Since we’re talking about books, we also show you how to display your collection in decorative, space-saving ways, plus more in this week’s issue.
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Five Great Shelving Ideas for your books
e know you already put your books on shelves of some kind, probably a boring old bookcase in the living room or your bedroom. Some of you even have books languishing in boxes under the bed. But did you know that there are functional, creative ways you stack your books that can make a huge statement in your décor? See how to display your books to their best advantage with our five shelving ideas:
1
BUILD SHELVING UNDER THE STAIRS Utilise wasted space - and make a feature of your stairs - with a custom-built bookcase. This hallway makes the most of the extra space with built-in shelving underneath the stairs for books, CDs and even a music system. It’s a great way to keep your scheme clutter-free.
2
USE A BOOKCASE AS A ROOM DIVIDER Build a freestanding bookcase that can be used to zone off a space and offer extra storage. This storage solution cleverly divides an open-plan area without enclosing the space entirely. Open shelves are ideal for pulling light into the room. Place accessories between your books to create a stylish display.
3
INSTALL TAILOR-MADE SHELVES If you’re planning on putting up shelves, don’t just span the wall with standard ones.
of your books and plan accordingly. Not only do individual nooks create a pleasing display, but shelves tailored to suit particular tomes help make the most of every inch.’
4
CREATE COMPACT SHELVING Make a feature of otherwise ordinary niches by lining up elegant volumes. A windowsill can make a good shelf, but don’t leave precious books in the sun as they’re likely to fade. This hallway makes great use of space, by installing shelving within the walls.
5
COLOUR BLOCK YOUR BOOKS Forget alphabetical order - the most stylish way to stack your shelves is according to colour. ‘Colour coordinating your books can make such a big difference,’ says Furniture Designer Bethan Gray. ‘I have my collection on shelves painted an understated dove grey, but any uniform colour would look good.’ The great thing is this works with everything from a small stack of paperbacks to a whole library.
‘Building bespoke shelves offers a great opportunity to create something much more individual,’ says Mark Dyson of Enclosure Architects. ‘Think about the height
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Kellie Magnus Writing Her Own Destiny
I
t’s not often that a conversation with an eight-yearold leads one down the path to self-fulfillment, but Kellie Magnus credits that exchange with her niece as the catalyst that launched her career as a children’s book writer. She was concerned that the child was too immersed in American stories and cartoons and wanted her to ‘read Jamaican’. Her niece pointed out that the Jamaican books were boring and smartly retorted, “Why don’t you write the books?” From there, the seed that eventually blossomed into the acclaimed Little Lion series was planted. “I actually prefer to write for children under eight. It’s more fun. The content and even the sound of the story when it’s read to them must be interesting,” Kellie said, explaining that she
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“I actually prefer to write for children under eight. It’s more fun. The content and even the sound of the story when it’s read to them must be interesting.”
uses a combination of rhyme, repetition and sensory words to make her books come alive. She also enjoys the interactive nature of reading to her audience, and with her animated mannerisms, it is easy to see why her work is so well-loved. The Little Lion series includes Little Lion Goes to School, Little Lion at Bat, and Little Lion Goes for Gold. Kellie wrote the first book while living in New York City, working as a Public Relations Strategy Consultant in the media department of PricewaterhouseCoopers. She was excited about the book, but her enthusiasm wasn’t matched by the publishers she contacted. “I received a lot of ‘helpful suggestions’ on how to make him different,” she recalled. One major obstacle was their discomfort with the character being Rastafarian. your style eZine
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Determined to write Little Lion exactly as he had “come to live in her head”, Kellie published the book on her own. In 2001, harbouring questions about the direction of her life and distressed by the September 11 tragedy, she had quit her highprofile, lucrative job, much to her colleagues’ chagrin, and began writing, a path she had always been drawn to. She freelanced for several magazines and newspapers in New York before eventually returning to Jamaica, where she helped establish the Business Development Unit at the Caribbean Institute of Media and Communication (CARIMAC). Kellie eventually turned her full attention to the gap in local children’s publishing. In addition to Little Lion, she has written four books for the Ministry of Education’s Literacy 1-2-3 series. Another of her books will also be used in the Ministry of Education’s Book Start Jamaica pilot programme, which will provide mothers with books and resources on how to read to their children from birth.
father always encouraged her to do work she loves and her mother, an educator, inspired her to make a difference. She is wholly committed to her work, earning the affectionate title of ‘children’s books advocate’ in her position as Vice Chairman on the Book Industry Association of Jamaica (BIAJ) board. Having initially struggled to find her purpose, Kellie is finally where she wants to be: “I didn’t want to just have an OK life. I think you should spend your life doing something you really care about. Do something that can make a difference, if you can, and contribute to your country in some way. For me, creating great books for Jamaica’s children is that intersection.”
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“Children can read books from anywhere, but there is an added advantage of reading something that comes from your culture. We use media to confirm what’s important to us. It also has a huge impact on shaping identity. The value isn’t just educational, in terms of reading; it also has cultural benefits, strengthening identity and sense of self,” Kellie explained passionately. She also lamented the fact that while the Jamaican media landscape has exploded over the past decade, children’s programming has become practically non-existent. “Children are the forgotten audience.” This is why Jackmandora, Kellie’s line of Caribbean-focused children’s books and media, is so important to her. The selfproclaimed “classic good student” took a year off and eventually resigned from her job at CARIMAC to learn the ins and out of the publishing industry. This has involved attending book fairs and expos as far away as England and Italy, and speaking with industry experts. “I’ve kind of created my own publishing school. I’m now synthesizing everything I’ve learned,” she said. Kellie, the daughter of local media legend Alan Magnus, admitted that her parents have heavily influenced her career. Her
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Teaching Your Children
About Money M
oney management is important at all stages of life and one is never too young to learn. As parents, educating your children about being smart savers and spenders could make all the difference in the transition to adulthood. Take the time to apply some of these childfriendly financial tips to help your child develop early fiscal sense. Put your children to work When I was on Christmas or summer break, my mom would take me to the office on Fridays. I would stack her books and get her lunch, among other things, to earn a stipend. It might sound like little or no work, but I had to earn it. Try to avoid handing over money to your child without making them earn it. Over time, this can create bad money habits. Making your child get a job teaches responsibility and independence. If they have to work to earn their spending money, they’ll think twice before spending it foolishly. Give your children an allowance An allowance is certainly a privilege, but no matter how small, it can be a very beneficial learning tool for children on how to handle money. Use your judgment to give them a reasonable amount. However, make sure you set guidelines and explain what the money should be used for. Open a bank account for your child Whether they are earning money from doing chores or odd jobs or receiving money from relatives on birthdays and holidays, don’t allow them to spend it all. Open a savings account so they can learn the value of saving as early as possible. Explain the benefits of having an account, such as interest which can be earned. It would be good to transfer a bit of starting money to your child’s account. Depending on their ages, you can also enable them to get comfortable with ATMs, writing a cheque, standard banking fees and other money issues they will have to deal with as they get older. Teach your children about budgets They don’t have to think about bills, groceries or rent, but budgeting is still important. This will teach your children the differences between wants and needs and how to allocate money to what’s important. This can help them to avoid liv-
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ing from paycheck to paycheck when they get older. Work with your children to set a minimum budget to cover the basics like lunch money at school. Whatever they save can be put away or spent as they please with your supervision. Encourage your kids to carry cash With today’s banking technology, it’s so easy to stick with plastic. However, you should encourage your children to carry cash. This will help them understand the real cost of an item as they will have to hand over the actual dollars and cents. Using a certain amount of cash each week as a personal allowance, will help your children establish a budget and a spending limit. And in case of emergency, having $1000 on you is a nice safety net in case your debit card doesn’t work. Do money-related role-play with your children Don’t wait for a bad situation with your children and money to occur. Create role-play situations where they can begin to learn the outcome if certain actions happen. For example, your child exhausts his budget before the month ends and asks for more money. Having your children know the outcome before it happens may keep them from blowing through their budget. Set a good financial example for your kids It is important that you be a good example to your children with your own spending and saving habits because every child looks up to his parents first and foremost. If you are not managing your own budget or are constantly spending and never saving, you can’t really expect your children to be money-smart. Teaching your children about money means showing them as well as telling them.
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