A Basket of Bangles

This book delivers a keen insight to the impact of micro-lending as a positive force for change. The story tells how a young woman and four of her friends, with seed money borrowed from an innovative bank in Bangladesh, change their lives by starting their own businesses. It works on many levels including multiculturalism, women's rights, capitalism and entrepreneurship. Based on the real success of the Grameen Bank, this is the kind of story that all western children need to understand in an ever growing global village. This book has recently been listed as one of the Best Children's Books of the Year from Bank Street College and also received a 2003 Skipping Stones Honor Award in the Multicultural and International Books category.