Big Brother Mouse

who we are

Big Brother Mouse is a new project that publishes books that make it fun and easy to learn to read. Today, few books are available in Laos, and they rarely reach the villages where most people live. Most children, especially in the countryside, have never read a book except for a few school textbooks, and some have not even read those. Few Lao people think that reading could be enjoyable, add to their knowledge, or improve their quality of life.

what we do

Big Brother Mouse wants to change these perceptions about reading. Our goal is to show the rich diversity of experiences that books can provide. Our books include: traditional Lao stories; modern adaptations of traditional stories); local books inspired by authors from other countries such as Theodor Seuss Geisel (author of Dr. Seuss) and non-fiction subjects ranging from dinosaurs, to tooth decay and techniques for cartooning. Some of our books are translated from other languages but most are written in Laos with Lao culture and Lao readers in mind. Some books are Lao language only and others in both Lao and English. The latter are useful for people of any age who speak either English or Lao and are learning the other language.

What our books share in common is making it fun to read - for example tooth decay is explained from the perspective of some fun-loving tooth bacteria!

Our enterprise is 100% Lao-owned. In addition to publishing, we also teach publishing skills while striving to increase reading and literacy rates nationwidewide.. Our fast-growing enterprise employs 18 young Laotians aged 15 to 24, who are learning to write, draw, use computers, and operate a business.

After two years of preparation, our first books for beginning readers were published in March 2006 and we now also publish for older readers. More than 50 books are in the pipeline, and we have many more at the ‘idea' stage.