Big Brother Mouse
Big Brother Mouse is a not-for-profit publishing project in Laos.
Big Brother Mouse focuses on publishing books that improve literacy and quality of life; and on making those books accessible, particularly in rural Lao villages. Books are scarce in Laos. Many people have never read anything except old textbooks and government pamphlets.
The project uses the slogan, “Books that make literacy fun!” Its first books, published in 2006, were easy picture books designed to have a strong appeal for children. Since then, it has expanded to publish books for all ages, “designed not only to make reading fun, but also to share information about the wider world.” A growing number of titles focus on health, nutrition, history, and science.
Coordinates: 19°53′42″N 102°08′28″E / 19.895°N 102.141°E
The founder, retired book publisher Sasha Alyson, first visited Laos in May, 2003, and discovered that many children in Lao villages had never seen a book. In fact, he himself “never saw a book in Lao. That gave me the idea for a publishing project here, that would both teach publishing skills and create books.” He began exploring the feasibility of such an idea.
For three years, Alyson regularly visited Laos from a temporary base in Thailand, exploring the feasibility of such a project. He met with government officials, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), teachers, and students. During that period, Alyson also worked with two Lao college students: Khamla Panyasouk and Siphone Vouthisakdee. Together they developed five easy and entertaining books for children, often using popular books from the west for inspiration about how to make books appealing. These first five books were:
Three of the books were illustrated by Ounla Santi, a Vientiane art student who has continued to illustrate many books for the project. Two others were illustrated by Tha Tao and Taeng Thaotueheu, high school students who placed first and second in an art contest that Alyson sponsored in an effort to find promising young illustrators.
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