Author: MagicHorse

Thank you to Theatre Inconnu!

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Thank you to Theatre Inconnu!

We close out 2025 with heartfelt thanks to Victoria’s Theatre Inconnu and the Iraj Quintet for hosting a fundraiser for Books Over Borders in memory of one of our long term friends, supporters and volunteers, Nancy Schwartz.

Nancy and her husband, Harley, not only helped run our website for many years, but were always keen to support our charitable mission in whatever way they could. We thank them both for their thoughtfulness, kindness and generosity! We’ll miss you very much, Nancy!

This memorial event for Nancy centred on a puppet performance of Prince Attila’s Journey to the End of the World based on a story by Amina Shah with script by P.K. Page.

What brings this powerful tribute full circle is that these beautiful puppets and stage were created in 1982 and both Harley and Nancy were instrumental in helping to do so.

Audience watching puppet show

Our thanks also to Tim Gosley and all the puppeteers who volunteered their time. It was a beautiful and touching evening.

Best wishes,

Andrew Boden

Welcome

I remember the day sixteen years ago when we shipped out our first books to disadvantaged kids across Canada.

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welcome!

Hello and welcome to the new Books Over Borders website!

I remember the day sixteen years ago when we shipped out our first books to disadvantaged kids across Canada.

Three days later we received news from the charities we were donating the books to. The children loved our books and their teachers and caregivers, too. Photos of kids and their parents reading together started coming in shortly after. Kids who were too poor to own books were sitting and reading with their parents and teachers. The same books that so many of you helped us buy for them.

Those days were some of the proudest moments of my life.

Mother and Daughter
Stickering
Repacking
Three amigos

I had no idea that there would still be so much demand for Hoopoe Books a decade and a half later. In 2010, we started working in Afghanistan and sent tens of thousands of books to kids there. Now, with the Afghan refugee crisis causing so much dislocation for so many people, we’re helping Afghan families receive bilingual books in English and their own languages here in Canada.

We’re doing all this thanks to your generous gifts.

For those of you who knew us under our old name, the Institute for Cross-cultural Exchange (ICE), you’ll find that Books Over Borders has the same mission it has had for the last sixteen years: to give disadvantaged children around the world with beautifully-illustrated books high in multicultural content. We still are very grateful for our partnership with the brilliant folks at Hoopoe Books and, of course, very thankful for our in-country partners in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

For those of you who knew us under our old name, the Institute for Cross-cultural Exchange (ICE), you’ll find that Books Over Borders has the same mission it has had for the last sixteen years: to give disadvantaged children around the world with beautifully-illustrated books high in multicultural content. We still are very grateful for our partnership with the brilliant folks at Hoopoe Books and, of course, very thankful for our in-country partners in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Most importantly, I’m  thankful to all of you who helped over 250,000 children learn to read! I look forward to working with all of you here at our new online home.

Best wishes,

Andrew Boden