def _get_children_text(parent, tag, construct=unicode):
 return [construct(child.text) for child in parent.findall(_ns(tag)) if child.text]

def _get_children_text ( parent , tag , construct = unicode ) : return [ construct ( child . text ) for child in parent . findall ( _ns ( tag ) ) if child . text ]
find child nodes by tag; pass each nodes text through a constructor .