From Girl Scouts selling cookies to kids trading Pokémon cards, it’s clear that the entrepreneurial spirit starts young. While it may be too early for them to be founding their own businesses, it’s never too soon to teach kids about the values and lessons of being an entrepreneur. By implementing this kind of enterprising thinking early, it sets kids on a path to success and self-confidence that will help them along every step of the way.
It’s that success and self-confidence that Gosia Glinska intends to foster in Mia and Tiago: The Bird in Hand Principle (Weeva Publishing). Alongside the characters themselves, readers are taken on a journey through the process of becoming an innovator, from brainstorming to bringing their plan to fruition. This children’s book imparts the wisdom of harnessing their own strengths to make something that they can truly be proud of!
A BIRD IN THE HAND IS WORTH TWO IN THE BUSH
Mia and Tiago have a conundrum: their elementary school is hosting the Moonshots Contest, where students come up with new ventures that can aid their community. The prize? A chance to fly on the rocket ship JupiterOne! The problem? Mia and Tiago don’t have a single clue what their entrepreneurial venture should be.
As they’re brainstorming, they come across some advice from a very unlikely source — Edison the eagle! This wise old bird swoops in to help by introducing Mia and Tiago to the “bird in the hand” principle — an approach to building a venture by starting with what you already have at your disposal.
Edison gives the example of Kwabena and Peter, two friends from Ghana who wanted to start a business together but weren’t sure where to begin. After a number of failed attempts to come up with a business idea, Kwabena and Peter took stock of the resources they already had access to. Realizing that there were plenty of abandoned tires in their area, as well as a local shoemaker in need of a job, they combined the two and founded a business recycling old tires into shoes.
Inspired by Edison’s story, Mia and Tiago put their heads together and draft a list of the resources they have, and come up with a unique idea all their own. They’ve got this competition in the bag!
PROFESSIONAL ADVICE MADE KID-FRIENDLY
Between the compelling story and Tomasz Pląskowski’s charming illustrations, Mia and Tiago: The Bird in Hand Principle is a great choice for your child’s next read. It’s more than just an entertaining story, however; the author uses information drawn from the research of Professor Saras D. Sarasvathy’s program, the Principles of Effectual Entrepreneurship at the Virginia Darden School of Business. Named by Fortune Small Business magazine as one of the Top 18 Entrepreneurship Professors, Professor Sarasvathy’s teachings are invaluable to anyone, young or old, looking to cultivate an entrepreneurial spirit.
Along with Professor Sarasvathy’s lessons, this children’s book also includes an overview for young readers after the story’s conclusion, making sure that they absorb the key information and carry it on with them. The first in an oncoming series of children’s books about entrepreneurial lessons from “the Lemonade Principle” to “The Affordable Loss Principle,” Glinska’s story is a must for any parents looking to cultivate innovative principles in their children’s lives.
About Gosia Glinska:
Gosia Glinska is the Associate Director of Research Impact at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business. She believes that entrepreneurship can be harnessed to improve people’s lives and address social problems, and that we should teach the entrepreneurial method to K-12 students to empower them to take charge of their own destinies. To that end, she has written Mia & Tiago based on the effectuation principles developed by Saras Sarasvathy.
About Tomasz Pląskowski:
Tomasz Pląskowski is a freelance illustrator. Tomasz creates illustrations for children and a lot more. Tomasz has worked on various projects for publications, magazines and museum exhibitions.
