Isossy Children "Little Sapeurs" featured on Okay Africa

Thanks to OkayAfrica for featuring our Little Sapeurs Boys collection - read the full feature here: http://www.okayafrica.com/2014/05/02/little-sapeurs-isossy-children-amanda-rabor-pret-a-poundo/#slide1

Isossy Children profiled on NativeLand E-Magazine

Nativeland's objective is to get the world to see Africa in a new light because the team believes in Africa, they believe in Africans and now they'll make the world believe.

Thanks to them for featuring us on their fantastic online magazine. Read more here: http://www.nativelandmagazine.com/index.php/fashion/107-press-release-isossy-children-autumn-winter-2013-

Isossy Children meets Kemi Ogunniyi, Author of "The Tales of Mr Tortoise"

In this Isossy Children spotlight we meet Kemi Ogunniyi the Writer of "The Tales of Mr Tortoise"

Kemi Ogunniyi is a communications and business consultant, writer, and magazine editor. She is also a trained broadcast journalist who has done a few stints at the BBC and other reputable media organisations. Tales of Mr Tortoise was published after she organised a fundraiser in the UK where money was raised to be able to design, illustrate and print copies of the book for The 1Child1Book initiative.

 

What inspired you to start your business?

I wrote the book, Tales of Mr Tortoise, for the benefit of the 1Child1Book initiative.  I was inspired to write it because the programme leader of 1Child1Book (Tosin Jegede) was looking at the idea of working with writers and publishers to produce books for the kids.  We wanted a story that celebrated African heritage, and that was why I chose to write about the legendary Mr Tortoise, who is very famous in African folklore. 

I organised a small charity concert in Bristol to raise the funds that were used to produce and print copies of the book.

What have been your favourite client experiences? My best experience so far in the whole process has been organising the concert to raise funds and then going to Nigeria to present the book to the kids.  The smile on their faces is magic. 

What advice would you give to someone starting up in your industry? The best advice I can give to any true writer is this: write often as if your life depends on it, because it does.  Apart from writing stories for my friends when I was a child,  this is the first time I've written a book for children. It's very different from writing for adults. I had more fun writing for children.  It's not easier, but creatively,  it's more liberating. 

What are your long term goals? I hope to work with 1Child1Book to print more copies of the book locally in Nigeria and to produce more titles from the Tales of Mr Tortoise. Also,  some well-off parents in Nigeria have been asking us to sell the book to their children.  For that reason, we plan to make the book available for sale in the coming months (for those that can afford it),  so that we can use proceeds from the sales to produce more copies to give to the children the charity work with.

 

Isossy Children celebrates diversity through global clothing for children. Why do you think diversity matters for every generation?

 The world is a global village, and it is important that we learn about our cultures and others'. This helps in educating our minds and fostering good relations.

What words of wisdom do you think every child should grow up knowing?

When I was a child,  I wish I knew that wanting to be an adult was overrated.  My little words of wisdom are from a nursery rhyme my grandma taught me: 

Work while you work

Play while you Play

To be useful and happy

This is the way...

 

Twitter - @kemiogunniyi 

For 1Child 1Book Press Inquiries and Updates:
Telephone:        08082993595 or 08061151960
Email:                  info@1child1book.org
Website:             www.1child1book.org

Isossy Children profiled on Afriversal

Isossy Children is so proud to be profiled on Afriversal! Check out the profile piece here - http://www.afriversal.com/2013/05/isossy-children-launches-global-spirit-collection-for-springsummer-2013/

Isossy Children featured on Afrocosmopolitan

We're proud to have been featured on the Afrocosmopolitan E-Magazine recently about our participation in The Women4Africa Awards

Read the full feature here: http://afrocosmopolitan.com/rhoda-wilson-show-and-isossy-children-lightens-up-women-for-africa-awards

Isossy Children featured on Tamaji E-Magazine

The label has been featured on the Tamaji E-Magazine in English http://ow.ly/kqaVC and FRENCH http://ow.ly/kqaVD. We really are going GLOBAL!

Isossy Children meets Toys for Africa

In this blog interview we learn more about an amazing charity called “Toys for Africa” which has a mission to hand a new toy to every underprivileged child in South Africa and later the whole continent of Africa. They recently passed 76 000 children that have benefited from their work.

What inspired you to start your business?

Poverty in South Africa is very high and we know that children suffer silently when their parents struggle. Children need toys for so many reasons and their development on social, physical, emotional and mental levels depend on toys. 

What have been your favourite client experiences?

Seeing each and every smile that we get for delivering new toys to underprivileged children. We recently passed 76 000 children met through our work and every smile is a favourite.

What advice would you give to someone starting up in your industry?

Make sure it is your passion. As working for long hours does become tiring if you do not love every second of what you do.

What are your long term goals?

We would like to reach 17 million children with new toys. And we would like to build a manufacturing plant and start building and creating our own toys.

Isossy Children celebrates diversity through global clothing for children. Why do you think diversity matters for every generation?

Every single person differs from the next. Diversity I believe is something that makes you belong, as strange as that may sound. In South Africa we have diversity like nowhere else in the world and that is what makes us all work and stick together. Different parts of 1 team.

What words of wisdom do you think every child should grow up knowing?

As a child you have the potential to dream big without the realisation of limitations. Keep dreaming and believing.

Contact Details and to make a donation

Danie van Loggerenberg

+27823037088

toysforafrica@twincitiessa.org

@toysforafrica

Isossy Children meets Onyinye Draws

This week Isossy Children meets Onyinye the talented illustrator and artist behind Onyinye Draws.

What inspired you to start your business?

The idea for the “Why I love my hair”  poster came to me from my 10 year old sister, her hair is natural but she often complains: “Why can’t I have it relaxed like all my friends? I want it straight”. I don’t blame her, children of African descent don’t have many natural hair role models to look up to, especially in books and cartoons, it is so hard to find a young black girl just being her natural self.

The poster was very well received worldwide through the use of social media and from there I made it my goal to celebrate young black children through my art by showing positive and inspiring images and tackling some of the serious issues that affect the black community.

What have been your favourite client experiences?

I think just knowing that children all over the world are identifying with my characters and learning to love themselves really makes my work worthwhile. One girl said she loved the drawing where the hair “stretches out to the moon” because she never thought her hair could grow long!

What advice would you give to someone starting up in your industry?

Be bold and brave, market yourself and just have fun with it!

What are your long term goals?

Well I’m working on a series children books at the moment to celebrate and educate black youth,  trying to get the message out to schools, libraries and most especially homes.

Isossy Children celebrates diversity through global clothing for children. Why do you think diversity matters for every generation?

As we are all different we should learn to celebrate our diversity! This is especially true in our time, where different cultures are sharing communities, so understanding and tolerance is key to keep relationships healthy. I believe we should educate children to appreciate diversity and learn to work together.

What words of wisdom do you think every child should grow up knowing?

You are awesome, just be yourself in everything you do and you can change the world!!

Contact Details

Email: onyinyedraws@gmail.com

Twitter: @onyinyedraws

Facebook: www.facebook.com/Onyinyedraws

Tumblr: http://onyinyedraws.tumblr.com/
http://www.etsy.com/shop/Onyinyedraws

Instagram: Onyinyedraws