Meetings with Others. Multicultural stories for children and adults

The book is aimed at children between six and ten years old. They can be used as family readings in the privacy of one’s home or by the teachers as an educational aid during the lessons or after school activities for the youngest pupils of the primary school.
The texts present a positive and idealized image of reality, which is typical for fairy tales. It is seen through Camilla’s eyes, a little girl that meets new people under the protection of her loved ones (parents and grandfather) in order to discover the world through a dialogue with the Others.
The Others are the people who stand out from their environment in some regards. They are usually perceived as odd and uncharacteristic and for this reason are often the center of attention and the talk of the town. They are the subject of false and unjust opinions presented in a stereotypical way in everyday talks, TV programs, newspaper articles etc. Each child meets Others eventually. It is only natural that children are surprised and then want to ask questions about the facts they have observed.
The basic educational contents that underline each story are: tolerance, respect for otherness, and conviction that one needs get to know other people better before expressing opinions about them and judging their behavior. Through the description of consequent meetings with Others and the morals that underline them, these stories teach that even if a person seems to be odd in certain respect, we should not discriminate them, or exclude them from the circle of acquaintances, friends and relatives. One must learn the problems and needs of such a person and having that knowledge help them by giving support with one’s presence, conversation and a smile. These are the values that we all, even children, can share with another person, especially someone in need.
The subject matter of the stories may also be of interest to younger children. The decision of whether the children are mature enough to acquaint them with the problems carried out in the stories is up to the parents and teachers and should be based on an analysis.
The fundamental idea of this book is meeting with the Other, entering into a dialog with the child or children, developing knowledge about thier world, experiencing his otherness in a personalized way and understanding the reasons for being just the way he is. Only with that principle in mind, aversion and fear may be replaced with interest and friendship. Only thanks to gradual knowledge and understanding, one can discover the Other as a human being and love him as a human being.

About the Author
Przemysław Paweł Grzybowski - PhD in Humanities in the field of education, lecturer in the General and Comparative Education Department of Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz (Poland). His academic interests concentrate on the multicultural/intercultural and comparative education. Coordinator of the discussion list of the Young Pedagogists Forum attached to the Scientific Committee of Education of the Polish Academy of Sciences; mentor of the Academic Voluntary Center attached to Kazimierz Wielki University. Author travels around the world as a lecturer of the international language, speaker and journalist. A participant of the Patch Adams’s movement of the clown-doctors. Took part in the numerous international educational projects. Author of the several academic papers and monographs.