Shirley Camper Soman, ACSW

These comic books (and others, such as smoking and drugs in the planning stage) are reality fantasies. The principal character (the fetus, the virus, etc.) is the main speaker throughout the book.

Babygrow is a happy account of the beginning of all of us. The book was brought by one of the country’s leading educators to grades five through ten in five New York City schools. All of the children and the teachers loved the book. The books have also received stellar comments from a wide variety of people. Some of these are as follows:

James D. Wolfensohn, President of The World Bank:
“I enjoyed reading (your preventive health comic book) and found it both entertaining and informative. Artistic visual campaign contributions, such as your book, can sustain interest in the epidemic and help keep it at the center of international discourse... You may contact our colleagues (in Africa) directly...who can guide you in this important endeavor.”

Andrew Young, Former President, National Council of Churches:
“These are good. Very good. I wish you luck with this. There’s a real shortage of relevant information. By relevant, I mean information that is attractive to kids--and this is the kind of thing that kids would pick up and want to read. If these were published, we would be interested in...getting funding to buy them.”

Carolyn Maloney, Representative, United States Congress:
“The Beat AIDS book is very much needed and speaks to a critical social problem which needs education. The book is a creative way of addressing our young people.”

Reverend Calvin Butts, Abyssinian Baptist Church:
“These books are very compelling, shocking and educational. We would like to buy some, and will talk to other churches in the area about them.”

Present planning includes interactive multiple-choice questionnaires for each comic book and possible date of March, 2004.