Press Release for Children's Book

Bayani's Bridge

Dee Kramer

204 Kentucky Avenue NW

Orange City, Iowa 51041

712-737-8281

kramerdee@gmail.com

www.deekramerplace.com

Dee Kramer, a resident of Orange City, Iowa, has written a children’s book about a family living in the slums of Manila, the Philippines. The book is titled, Bayani’s Bridge.

 

Living under a bridge? Working in a dump?  Little six-year-old Bayani does just that in Manila, the Philippines. The family lives in a tin shack under a bridge and works in the city dump collecting recyclables. On a good day they earn two or three dollars. Bayani’s sister Dancia is the only one of the family able to attend school; she is their hope for the future. The story, based on a real family living in Manila, shows the love and dreams they have for each other; yet, the message of their precarious lifestyle is evident.

 

With the recent release of the movie Slumdog Millionaire and the current interest in the millions of people living in slums, the message of this book Bayani’s Bridge dovetails into that interest.

 

The 32-page book came about after Dee saw a documentary that photojournalist friend Mark Volkers is creating about the world’s slums (www.slumdoc.com). She says, “The message of the video gripped me and I asked myself questions such as: “What can I do? How can I help?” This book was written to focus attention on children living in the world’s slums. One billion people live in slums today, that's one in six. Twenty million people live in the Philippine slums.

 

Brenda Schaap, an artist from Hull, Iowa, illustrated the book with pen and watercolor.  “Brenda did a wonderful job of bringing the book to life,” says Dee Kramer.

 

The Write Place located in Pella, Iowa published the book.

 

Dee attended Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan and earned a B. A. degree from the University of Sioux Falls in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. She and her husband Henry are the parents of three adult children and six grandchildren.

 

One of Dee’s favorite quotes is by Katherine Paterson: "The wonderful thing about books is that they allow us to enter imaginatively into someone else's life. And when we do that, we learn to sympathize with other people. But the real surprise is that we also learn truths about ourselves, about our own lives, that somehow we hadn't been able to see before.

The book will be available for purchase from:

www.deekramerplace.com

www.amazon.com

www.thewriteplace.biz

 

the 32-page book retails for: $13.00

Add $ !.00 for shipping

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The two articles below are from the Sioux County Capital Democrat

and the Northwest Iowa Review

 

Hull Index