TRENTON, N.J. – When Adekemi Bankole, Ph.D., set out to write a children’s book in 2010, she was just thinking about having fun with it.
Bankole completed her 31-page children’s book, entitled, “The Rain Beat Dance,” and published and copyrighted it by February 2011.
“The book was written based on my own childhood experiences, dancing in the rain, enjoying the rain and all the fun that comes with playing outside. Just like over here children play in the snow. Back in Africa, in Nigeria, children enjoy playing in the rain,” said Bankole.
Since the book is written from Bankole’s childhood experiences, she considers it a unique book. However, her book is not just unique because it is about children playing in the rain. It has a deeper message. It is the message of unity in diversity, said Bankole.
She believes in the idea that children from diverse backgrounds and different ethnic groups can enjoy nature by playing in the rain, just like she did as a child in Nigeria.
“So when I thought about writing the book, I thought it would bring a different perspective to children enjoying nature, “ said Bankole.
Bankole said she has seen books about the rain but they are not about children dancing in the rain, nor are they about unity and diversity of children from different parts of the world coming together to enjoy dancing in the rain.
During the interview, Bankole suggested that although her book has copyrights, she still wants people to get the main message of unity and diversity out however they choose to do so. In fact, she suggested fair use.
The copyright page from “The Rain Beat Dance.”
Bankole said, “to be honest, I wrote the book out of fun and also to get the message out. And as much as I don’t want anyone to write the exact book that I wrote, at the same time, I want that message of unity and diversity to be out. So, however people want to get that message out, the better for me.”
Therefore, fair use basically allows others to use limited parts of copyrighted materials by giving attribution. However, there can be legal and ethical issues about how much do you use even if you give attribution.
Front cover of “The Rain Beat Dance,” children’s book by Adekemi Bankole.
“It addresses the issues that haunt educators about what is legal, ethical and reasonable when it comes to students using someone else’s materials in their projects,” writes Jason Ohler in Digital Storytelling in the Classroom.
Bankole said her book is very popular in the Trenton public school system. It is geared toward preschoolers, but even the middle school students are reading it, she said. It has been “Book of the Month,” in one elementary school. And, teachers find that it is good for students with disabilities, because of the repetitive words and rhyming, she said. She also said there is a music CD that goes along with the book. “The Rain Beat Dance” is also available as an e-book at Amazon.com and other sites.