Author's books map the condition of the world's children

PHOENIX - Did you know 250 million children in the world have no birth certificates, no identity, and can basically disappear - even in the United States?

"These issues are not light or easy, but they affect millions of children," says author and educator David J. Smith. The startling anecdotes and statistics in his book This Child, Every Child will prompt much-needed discussions at home and in the classroom on the condition of the world's children.

Smith is uniquely qualified to talk about children's issues. An international educational consultant and bestselling author, his award-winning book If the World Were a Village has sold 400,000 copies in 23 languages, and Smith has presented programs in more than 40 countries. We sit down with him for a quick interview on the importance of his mission to education us all on the human condition when it comes to the world's children:

SF: Tell us why it was important to you to write This Child Every Child and what you hope readers walk away with on this one...
David J. Smith: "This Child Every Child " came out of a conversation with the director of Child Protection at UNICEF , and the need for a way to help children understand the amazing disparities that exist between the developed world and the developing world as far as the lives of children are concerned.

SF: You also wrote "If the World Were a Village" so brilliant and eye opening.. how did that come about?
David J. Smith: "If The World Were A Village" came out of my work with grade 7 students - in fact, the idea for it came from one of my students. What it's really about is what I call "world-mindedness", a way of helping people think about the world - who we are, who the others are, where they live, what their lives are like, etc.

SF: What will people learn about the world's children by reading your books?
David J. Smith: Here are just three facts:
1: 250 million children world-wide do not have any birth certificate, any way to prove who they are, or anything about themselves;
2: Millions of children work at jobs instead of going to school, sometimes with their families, but often in dangerous and potentially lethal jobs. 3: When " If The World Were A Village " was first published, if the world were a village of 100 people, there would have been 14 telephones, now there are nearly 100; in 2002 there were 169 chickens in the village, now there are 250.

SF: You have been a teacher for 25 years.. and are the creator of the award winning curriculum "Mapping the World By Heart".. tell us what your goal is with this program and these books?
David J. Smith: The object of the curriculum is to help children build a vivid and usable world map in their heads that they can carry around with them throughout their lives - in school and afterward. Through many different methods, children's mental maps of the world (and their teachers' mental maps as well) are constructed, developed, enriched, and elaborated; the program ends with children being able to draw a map of the world, entirely from memory, starting with a blank sheet of paper, showing 193 countries, capitals, states and provinces, oceans seas and gulfs, and more. It is a life-changing and powerful experience that teaches students not only world geography but also teaches them how to learn to do something impossible, to learn how to learn.

SF: A part of the proceeds from your book sales go to charity-tell us about that..
David J. Smith: An arrangement between my publisher, Kids Can Press, and the charity OneXOne (One By One) allows for a percentage of the publisher's proceeds to go to OneXOne to be used for literacy programs - at the moment, it's for their literacy programs in Haiti.

David J. Smith has traveled to places as diverse as Bulgaria, Namibia, and Indonesia to speak about his book, If the World Were a Village, and his internationally-renowned Mapping the World By Heart curriculum ,  which helps children learn about the world's countries and its people.