{"id":5156,"date":"2020-08-02T00:01:48","date_gmt":"2020-08-02T06:01:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=5156"},"modified":"2020-08-01T14:01:47","modified_gmt":"2020-08-01T20:01:47","slug":"7-imps-7-kicks-702-featuring-gaku-nakagawa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=5156","title":{"rendered":"7-Imp\u2019s 7 Kicks #702: Featuring Gaku Nakagawa"},"content":{"rendered":"

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“My message is very simple: Economic growth and progress must add to
human happiness, not take away from it.”<\/em>
(Click spread to enlarge and read text in its entirety)<\/center>
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\nToday, dear Imps, I have an unusual picture book import for you. The World’s Poorest President Speaks Out<\/a><\/strong><\/em> was originally published in Japan in 2014 and will be on American shelves in mid-August, thanks to Enchanted Lion Books. Translated by Andrew Wong, edited (in the original Japanese edition) by Yoshimi Kusaba, and illustrated by Gaku Nakagawa<\/a><\/strong>, it is a picture book adaptation of Uruguay President Jos\u00e9 Mujica’s<\/a><\/strong> 2012 speech<\/a><\/strong> to the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, during which he asked: “Can we really talk about the solidarity of humankind and kindness to each other, or even togetherness, when we are constantly competing to outdo each other?”<\/p>\n

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“We came into the world to live in such a way as to find happiness on this planet,” Mujica says later in his impassioned speech. Questioning the world’s dangerous patterns of overconsumption, Mujica questioned humanity’s “monstrous desire” to “make things that do not last.” Humanity is in danger, he said at this infamous speech, and we must find a way to live differently. <\/p>\n

The book includes a well-summarized introduction, explaining to readers what the Rio +20 summit in Brazil was and why everyone had gathered. “One after another,” the intro states, “they give speeches, but no one says anything new.” That is, until Mujica spoke. Wearing simple clothes, the man known as “the world’s poorest president”\u2014known as such, because he had donated a great deal of his salary to poor citizens, he lived with his wife on a farm, and he drove a “trusty old car” (much of this depicted in two pages of comics-like panels beore the speech kicks off)\u2014spoke so humbly and fervently about living simply and caring for one’s neighbors that the result was enthusiastic applause from those at the conference. <\/p>\n

It’s a thought-provoking, powerful adaptation (and one well-suited to share with picture book readers of all ages) and will prompt children and teens to think about social justice, poverty, our consumer culture, power, and what it means to live a happy life. “Are we using our system well?” Mujica asks. “Or are we being run by it?” There is so much in his speech \u2014 and so much in this striking adapation; I highly recommend you find a copy of your own on library or bookstore shelves in mid-August. The sleek, vividly colored illustrations bring a great deal to the text. Fortunately, I have some spreads here today so that the art can do the talking.
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“I am going to speak forcefully this evening and ask some hard questions.
This entire afternoon, we have talked about how to live in harmony with nature,
how to rid the world of poverty. But what has really been
going on inside our heads all this time?”<\/em>
(Click spread to enlarge and read text in its entirety)<\/center>
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“We humans created civilization, and its progress has been simply amazing. …”<\/em>
(Click spread to enlarge and read text in its entirety)<\/center>
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“How do we live our lives? Let’s take it simply. …”<\/em>
(Click spread to enlarge and read text in its entirety)<\/center>
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(Click cover to enlarge)<\/em><\/center>
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THE WORLD’S POOREST PRESIDENT SPEAKS OUT. First published in Japan in 2014 by Choubunsha Publishing Co., Ltd. Tokyo. Japanese-language edition copyright \u00a9 2014 by Yoshimi Kusaba, Gaku Nakagawa. First English language edition published in 2020 by Enchanted Lion Books. English-language translation copyright \u00a9 2020 by Enchanted Lion Books. English-language edition copyright \u00a9 2020 by Enchanted Lion Books. Illustrations reproduced by permission of Enhanted Lion Books, Brooklyn.<\/em><\/p>\n

Note for any new readers: 7-Imp\u2019s 7 Kicks is a weekly meeting ground for taking some time to reflect on Seven(ish) Exceptionally Fabulous, Beautiful, Interesting, Hilarious, or Otherwise Positive Noteworthy Things from the past week, whether book-related or not, that happened to you. New kickers are always welcome.<\/p>\n

* * * Jules’ Kicks * * *<\/strong><\/font>
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1)<\/strong><\/font> One of my best friends works at the zoo, and she took us to meet some caracal<\/a><\/strong> kittens up close. Pictured here is my youngest daughter, petting one. They were beautiful<\/em>. <\/p>\n

2)<\/strong><\/font> Obama’s words this week at John Lewis’s funeral. (Admittedly, I only heard some<\/em> of it. The whole thing was too sad to watch.) <\/p>\n

3)<\/strong><\/font> Speaking of the Obamas, I hear Michelle has a new podcast. I haven’t listened yet, but I will \u2014 and I’m just happy it’s out in the world. <\/p>\n

4)<\/strong><\/font> Lewis’s words from beyond the grave<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n

5)<\/strong><\/font> Outdoor visits with friends, though I miss hugs. <\/p>\n

6)<\/strong><\/font> I got the Spelling Bee<\/a><\/strong> pangram two days in a row this week! (It’s the little things.) <\/p>\n

7)<\/strong><\/font> Finally having a plan for how school will look this Fall for my daughters. Fortunately, they will be able to learn from home. <\/p>\n

What are YOUR<\/font><\/strong> kicks this week?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“My message is very simple: Economic growth and progress must add tohuman happiness, not take away from it.”(Click spread to enlarge and read text in its entirety)   Today, dear Imps, I have an unusual picture book import for you. The World’s Poorest President Speaks Out was originally published in Japan in 2014 and will […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,26,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5156","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-seven-good-things-before-monday","category-nonfiction","category-picture-books"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5156","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5156"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5156\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}