The book is set to be distributed to 5000 school eye health clubs and children as an educational tool to raise awareness of visual impairment and its easy identification and treatment.
'The Singing Tree' tells the story of a young girl named Elene, who instead of playing with the other children, sits alone under the warka tree. Due to problems with her vision, she cannot see the birds and believes that the tree sings to her. Her mother discovers the problem and takes Elene to an eye clinic, where she is fitted with a pair of glasses – completely transforming her life.
The story is based on the personal childhood experiences of author Kenneth Youngstein. When he was 5, he received this first pair of glasses. His mother often told him that when they left the opticians, he looked up to the sky and shouted, “Look Mommy, birds!”
'The Singing Tree' has already been published and found success in South Africa, Zambia, Cameroon, Ghana, India, and Nepal. In India, the storybook was the second most important book published in 2018 (out of 100).