The Lemonade Ripple
The Lemonade Ripple by Paul Reichert Seeks to Create a Swell of Philanthropy in Kids Across the Country
Children’s book demonstrates how young people can have fun while engaging in charity and community service
Publication Details
Sky Pony Press has announced they will include The Lemonade Ripple, written and illustrated by Paul Reichert, in the inaugural list of books for the publisher’s new imprint, Better World Kids Books. The Lemonade Ripple was formerly self-published in soft cover by the author, but has been substantially revised for the new publication. The new hard-cover book will retail for $12.95 and will be available for purchase in June 2012 through book retailers across the county, on Amazon.com, and through the lemonaderipple.com website. An e-book version of The Lemonade Ripple will be released at the same time.
Library Donations and Charity Proceeds
As part of the release of this new book, the Foundation for Community Betterment and the author will donate 2500 books to libraries across the country. Proceeds from the sale of The Lemonade Ripple benefit the Foundation for Community Betterment.
Book Summary: The Lemonade Ripple: A Sweet Story of Charity and Kindness
On a hot summer day in Rivertown, a little girl named Caroline is inspired to start a lemonade stand to help raise money for a friend in need. This simple act of generosity sets off a ripple of kindness that spreads throughout the town as growing numbers of kids engage in increasingly larger acts of charity for the same good cause. Readers will enjoy watching the young people of Rivertown tackle a car wash, a doggy day-care, a coin drive, and even a town-wide paddle race down the river. Along the way, the kids discover that even a little bit of generosity can make a big difference and that there are countless ways to have fun while helping others. The Lemonade Ripple introduces kids to the concepts of charity and community service in a fun and engaging way.
Spreading the Message of Philanthropy: How one school in Maryland used the book to create their own “ripple” of charity.
Carderock Elementary school, in Montgomery County, MD, took The Lemonade Ripple to heart and created their very own “Carderock Ripple.” Teachers and parents (including the author) read the book to every kindergarten through fifth-grade class, and encouraged the children to undertake their own project of charity or community service sometime during the month of October. The kids engaged in a wide variety of fun, easy, and creative charity projects over the next month. They set up apple cider and coffee stands, and they sold donuts, cookies, candy corn, and fruit. They collected used lacrosse equipment to donate, hosted basketball tournaments to raise funds, and played the piano at a home for the elderly. After each project was completed, the student wrote his or her name and activity on a paper lemon that was hung on a large lemonade stand at the entrance to the school. They also placed any money they had raised in a large jar on the stand, so that the whole school could see how many projects were being performed and how much money was being raised. Collectively, the students raised over $1800, and they then voted to donate it to a charity helping families of kids with cancer. The “Carderock Ripple” allowed the kids to see that their single acts of service made a large charitable impact and it allowed them to be active participants in both raising and then donating the proceeds of their community service.
The Lemonade Ripple launch materials and website will include information and tools for teachers, librarians, and parents to replicate some of these charitable ideas or to create their own ideas and share them with others.
The Lemonade Ripple launch materials and website will include information and tools for teachers, librarians, and parents to replicate some of these charitable ideas or to create their own ideas and share them with others.
What Parents, Teachers and Principals are saying about The Lemonade Ripple:
"You cannot teach kindness. This is why The Lemonade Ripple is such a beautiful story, because it lights the spark in all of us, young and old, to truly want to help others. We have seen that even the smallest good deed can make a big difference. We are all empowered and encouraged to continue to think of ways that we can help others in a meaningful way and to engage in daily acts of kindness."
Wendy Kuhn
PTA President, Carderock Springs Elementary School, Bethesda, MD
PTA President, Carderock Springs Elementary School, Bethesda, MD
“The Lemonade Ripple is a great allegory for what we want kids to understand about service learning-that caring about others and giving back to the community are rewarding experiences and that kids are creative resources capable of jumpstarting great movements. Sharing this story with students at all ages provides a great foundation for discussions across content areas; our middles school students were intrigued and inspired by this entertaining story on philanthropy.”
Karyn Niles
Assistant Principal, Herndon Middle School, Herndon, VA
About The Foundation for Community Betterment:
Assistant Principal, Herndon Middle School, Herndon, VA
About The Foundation for Community Betterment:
Proceeds from sales of The Lemonade Ripple benefit The Foundation for Community Betterment, a national organization dedicated to community enhancement by creating an immediate, positive impact on the lives of individuals or organizations that currently need just a little bit of help and hope. The lesson of The Lemonade Ripple mirrors the mission of the Foundation: that even a little bit of help can go a long way, just like a drop of water can create a ripple or a wave of goodness. There are active Community Betterment Chapters in West Palm Beach FL, Alexandria Bay, NY; Chicago, IL; Cleveland, OH; Canton, OH; Seattle, WA; and the greater Washington, DC area. For more information, visit: www.communitybetterment.org.
About Author and Illustrator Paul Reichert:
Paul Reichert is a life-long cartoonist and illustrator, but after flipping a coin between law school versus art school, Paul became a lawyer and spends his days as a litigator at a law firm in Washington, DC. He remains a cartoonist-by-night and at heart, and he has published several editorial cartoons. Paul lives in Potomac, Maryland with his wife and two daughters, and they spend summers on the St. Lawrence River in upstate New York. The Lemonade Ripple is his first children’s book. For more information, please visit: www.paulreichert.net.
About the Publisher:
Better World Kids Books is the first imprint in children’s book publishing dedicated to enabling kids (and their parents) to help save the planet. The first books from this new imprint, including The Lemonade Ripple, are being published in 2012. Better World Kids Books is an imprint of Sky Pony Press, the children’s book imprint of SkyHorse Publishing, ranked in March 2011 as America's fastest growing small publisher by Publishers Weekly. Its books are distributed by W.W. Norton in the United States and Thomas Allen & Son in Canada. For more information about the publisher, please visit www.skyponypress.com.
You can purchase a copy of the book here.
You can purchase a copy of the book here.
