Set in a village in Malawi, When the Rains Come shows how love and hard work can help children to grow and to learn. Life can be difficult in Africa, but this story, beautifully illustrated by malika Favre, shows there is joy as well as hardship in the 'sunshine heart of Africa'.
Tom Pow is an award-winning poet and children's writer. His sister-in-law is Linda Macdonald who since 2005 has spent much time on unpaid leave from her job in Edinburgh as a midwife to help in hospitals in Malawi. When not in Malawi and not working as a midwife she spends time raising money for MUMs (Malawi's Underprivileged Mothers) charity for the women and children of Malawi. So far she has raised approaching £200,000 and already a high-risk maternity unit has opened there. Last year took Linda took Tom to see at first hand the charity's work. It was then that Tom decided to write a book which would tell the story of those struggling in Malawi in a way that was suitable for children and for adults. When the Rains Come is the result.
Malika Favre is a French artist whose illustrations opened the television adaptations of Alexander Mccall Smith's No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. This is her first children's book.
If you would like to find out more abut MUMs projects, go to www.mumsrecipes.org.
If you buy this book you are supporting mums and children in Malawi. Thank you.
When the Rains Come is a lively story for children that highlights some of the challenges facing Malawi and how they are being met, simultaneously drawing on the folk tales of the country. It will be a response from the writer and illustrator to the situation in Malawi with the aim of raising money for MUMs' work and raising awareness among children and adults everywhere.
Tom Pow is an award-winning author of both children's and adults' books. His picture book Who is the World for? began in Africa and Transfusion, his poem sequence about Ali and Mandela, was partly based on a journey from Nairobi to Cape Town, passing through Malawi.
