Project Overview

Students from the Greece Central School District in New York created this bilingual Pourquoi storybook. This collaborative project was written by students in third grade, then translated into Spanish, illustrated and marketed by high school students. 

Pourquoi (French for “why”) tales are stories that explain why or how something came to be.  Examples from this book include “How the Anaconda Got His Long Tongue,” and “How the Howler Monkey Got It’s Howl.” 

This project started when students wanted to raise money for the Puericultorio Perez Aranibar, an orphanage in Lima, Peru. They decided to create a children’s book, sell it and donate the proceeds.  They put out a call for other students to contribute. 

Third grade students from West Ridge Elementary School volunteered to write stories featuring animals of the rainforest.  They studied the concept of Pourquoi stories in class by learning about, reading and discussing several examples. They experienced the writing process as they brainstormed ideas, drafted, proofread, revised, and shared their stories with others.  They meet with students in a high school Spanish class who completed the translation of the final stories.  Finally, after receiving sample illustrations from a high school art class, each student selected an illustrator for their story.   Marketing students then researched printing costs and met with potential printers.  Once they reached a fair price, and the book was printed, they marketed their book by contacting local news organizations and placing advertisements.

This project is the result of many hours of collaboration and commitment by both teachers and students.  Students not only learned about Pourquoi stories, and the process of publishing a professional book, but about collaboration.