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PaperTigers is a proud sponsor of  the 3rd Asian Festival of Children’s Content (AFCC) which takes place this week in Singapore. From May 26 – 29, participants from around the globe will gather ” to meet, interact, network and find common ground and business opportunities with the entire community of children’s content creators.” Last year’s AFCC  was highly successful with over 600 conference participants from 23 countries. ( Read our blog posts about the 2011 AFCC by clicking here and our website focus issue on Singapore and the Asian Festival of Children’s Content by clicking here). The 2012 AFCC is bound to break  attendance records with the introduction of new awards, a country focus (Philippines), specialized language workshops and a greater reach to communities in Asia. Be sure to check the AFCC’s Facebook page for timely updates and photos from this year’s event as well as the AFCC website . If you are lucky enough to be attending this year’s conference and will be blogging, facebooking or tweeting please leave a comment below with the relevant links so we can follow along!

Looking back at 2011 one of my highlights was attending the Asian Festival of Children’s Content (AFCC) in Singapore. I met so many lovely people and learned so much more about what was happening in the world of Asian children’s literature at this world class event that I would not hesitate to recommend the AFCC as a “must do” to anyone that is able to attend. The organizers did a fabulous job of putting together a program that was jam packed with informative sessions conducted by speakers from around the globe. Stats show that the 2011 AFCC  attracted over 600 participants from 23 countries in the 3 days festival, which comprised of 4 key conferences, 7 Tracks, 70 Sessions, 70 Speakers, 1 Children’s Literature Lecture and 2 literary awards. In addition, another 400 participants attended the free events held in conjunction with the AFCC. President Jose Ramos Horta President of Timor – Leste delivered the Children’s Literature Lecture and presented the literary awards. To get a feel for what I experienced at the 2011 Festival read my posts  here and visit our PaperTigers’ July issue which focused on Singapore and the Asian Festival of Children’s content.

The 3rd Asian Festival of Children’s Content will be taking place May 26 – 29, 2012. Venue is to remain the same: the historic Arts House in Singapore. Organizers are hard at work planning a program that I’m sure will be as successful than 2011. For more information head on over to the Asian Festival of Children’s Content website or visit their facebook page. Illustrators take note – last week  the call went out for submissions of published work to be showcased at the Book Illustrators Gallery. Closing date for submissions is March 31. Email afccbig (at) gmail (dot) com for more details.

Press release:

An Inspired Elementary School Teacher Launches a Revolution in Reading For Colombia’s Rural Children in POV’s “Biblioburro: The Donkey Library”, Premiering Tuesday, July 19, 2011, on PBS

Donated Books, Two Donkeys and One Determined Man Refashion the Bookmobile For a Region Better Known for Guns, Drugs and Poverty

A Co-­presentation With Latino Public Broadcasting

Watch the full episode. See more POV.

Luis Soriano is surely the most famous resident of La Gloria, a small town in a rural area of northern Colombia plagued by poverty, crime and armed insurrection. But Soriano’s fame has little to do with guns, drugs or politics. His reputation rests on the eight hooves of two sturdy donkeys named Alfa and Beto, his own two feet and his willingness to spend weekends tramping through rugged and dangerous backcountry. These are the components of a simple but brilliant idea using donkeys to bring a circulating library of donated books to the children in some of Colombia’s poorest and most remote towns and villages.

Carlos Rendón Zipagauta’s new documentary, Biblioburro: The Donkey Library, tells the story of 39-year-old Soriano and his traveling library from the point of view of the man himself and, one might say, his two hardworking burros. The film rides along with Soriano on one of his arduous weekend rounds and discovers a world of dense tropical beauty, nearly impassible trails, dangers both natural (snakes, swollen streams) and human (guerillas, bandits), open-air classrooms and, most wonderfully, a thirst for reading and knowledge. But Biblioburro is also a portrait of Soriano — an unassuming, small-town elementary school teacher who not only had a great idea, but has been acting on it every weekend for over a decade

Biblioburro provides a bracingly up-close sense of the determination and hard work required to saddle up each Saturday in the early morning darkness, and the sheer nerve and patience — not always expressed quietly by man or donkey — needed to brave Colombia’s poor and violence-torn hinterlands. Why would a man, and his family, persist in bearing such a burden? It soon becomes clear that Soriano is bringing more than books to the education-starved children of northern Colombia. He is bringing a gospel of education as the way the members of the next generat

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