GOAL: $1200 by April 30, 2015

About this Project
This is a simple yet ambitious project. Simple: make a colourful kids’ book about animals and stick it into our quarterly magazine. Yet ambitious: make the world a more compassionate place by transforming the stories we tell ourselves.

To help us do this, we picked two kids and some coyotes. One is an artist; she wants to paint with coyotes. The other is a questioner; she questions her friend at each step. In the end, they discover a surprise: coyotes don’t conform to their expectations! The idea is subtle yet far-reaching – perhaps animal worlds are just as valid as human worlds.

Could this be a metaphor for relating to all animals? Maybe this full-colour kids’ story can move us toward greater compassion for all creatures. Too idealistic? Never gonna happen? We believe it’s worth a try, but we need your help to make it happen.

Story Behind the Story
Here at Geez magazine, we believe stories open new worlds, shape behaviour, provide hope, and even bring liberation for self and others. Stories expose oppression, give avenues for change, foster community, and inspire us to act. See? We can change the world simply with stories!

Why do a children’s story in this issue of Geez on animals? Two reasons: First, let’s give parents and caregivers a story for kids that doesn’t treat animals as objects, that dignifies animals as significant creatures on their own terms.

And second, let’s have fun with colour! After 37 issues of black and white pages, we want to splurge and splash some colour in readers’ faces. And make a fresh impact, of course.

Rewards
To thank sponsors of this project, we offer the following rewards. Note: If you wish to decline or pass the reward to a friend, simply let us know in a comment at the end of the order process.

Give $10 or more
Thanks so much for your support. We’ll say a quick generic prayer for animals on your behalf. Or, add specifics in the Comments box and we’ll give it our best intercession. (Psst! God knows this is not an indulgence.)

Give $25 or more

Receive one limited-edition, full-colour, stand-alone picture book (300 available), plus a hand-written thank-you note.

Give $50 or more
Receive three cards with art from the book, PLUS one picture book, and hand-written note, as mentioned above.

Give $75 or more

Receive a one-year subscription to Geez magazine for you or a friend, PLUS three art cards, one picture book, and hand-written note, as mentioned above.

Give $100 or more
Receive constructive editorial feedback on any piece of writing 2,500 words or less, PLUS a one-year subscription to Geez, three art cards, one picture book, and hand-written note, as mentioned above.

Give $500 or more
Receive a one-hour presentation for your small group on the topic of animals and Christian theology or anything else in Geez magazine (in-person, or video conference outside southern Manitoba), PLUS editorial feedback, one-year subscription, art cards, picture book, and hand-written note, as mentioned above.

Author
Aiden Enns is the editor of Geez magazine. He helped create Geez ten years ago to bring together his experience at Adbusters (former managing editor) and Canadian Mennonite magazine (former national editor). He’s delighted to work on a book for children. Away from his desk he has learned survival skills (one time he made fire with sticks and collected water from dew with rags tied to his ankles), canned jam from backyard plums, and ridden a bike in the city throughout the winter months.

Illustrator
Darryl Brown is an art school graduate, commercial design veteran, and now the art director at George Fox University. He’s done illlustrations for big brand owners, niche chocolatiers, idealistic authors, and banjo players. This is his first children’s picture book. He brings his quiet sense of humour to all his illustrations. Oh, he’s also Geez magazine’s designer, since day one.

Financial breakdown
Our goal is_ $1200 by April 30, 2015. We are an extremely tight financial organization. To do this extra, colour, 16-page booklet, which also appears in each copy of Geez 38, the animals issue, we’ll need an extra amount equal to costs. Here are approximate, but defensible numbers:
$850 printing colour and extra books
$250 postage for shipping rewards
$100 promotion and printing cards
$1200 total

Geez magazine
This is a non-profit venture, driven by part-time, low-wage workers and supported by a small board of directors. We are still free of advertising (hence always looking for donations!), and try to embody as many ideals as possible. For example, we have a flat payscale, use 100% post-consumer-waste recycled paper, and are located in the downtown core of our city. We’ve also been known to sip a beer with at least one hipster – it’s our form of outreach.

Inspirations
A few publications and people that continue to influence and inspire us: Catholic Worker, a bi-monthly newspaper from New York co-founded by journalist Dorothy Day; Adbusters magazine in Vancouver, it dares to criticize consumer capitalism, surveillance culture, the military industrial complex, and does so with visuals as provocative as any in our image-saturated culture; and so many people who wield the power of principled non-violence to destabilize oppressive regimes, e.g.s: Oscar Romero, John Dear, Pussy Riot, Christian Peacemaker Teams, Reverend Billy and The Church of Stop Shopping Gospel Choir, Kathy Kelly at the Catholic Worker, and supporters of Geez magazine!