Second up in our Top-10 series in celebration of PaperTigers’ 10th Anniversary, we are delighted to welcome poet Janet Wong with her choice of multicultural poetry books.  Janet is herself the acclaimed author of an impressive list of poetry collections and fiction for all ages of young people, including Twist: Yoga Poems,  Night Garden: Poems from the World of Dreams and Knock on Wood: Poems about Superstitions, all stunningly illustrated by Julie Paschkis; Homegrown House illustrated by E. B. Lewis; and the middle-grade free-verse Minn and Jake novels.

Recently, Janet has embraced e-publishing with several collections of her own poetry, including Once Upon a Tiger and Declaration of Interdependence: Poems for an Election Year. She has also collaborated with Sylvia Vardell on three PoetryTagTime e-collections of poetry. You can read Janet’s thoughts about e-publishing here, and also my 2008 interview with her here.

I love that Janet has selected one book for each year of PaperTigers – which has also made me chuckle, since the list is actually now 11. You may have noticed that Deborah Ellis’  Top 10 also had eleven titles, grouping two books together.  Could this be a theme?  Perhaps, a bit like a Baker’s Dozen, a Reader’s 10 actually equals 11?!

Top 10: Multicultural Poetry Picks (2002-2012) by Janet Wong

Picking my top ten multicultural poetry books of the past decade was pretty difficult; but I managed to stick to my goal and to limit myself to only one title published in each of the ten years of the existence of PaperTigers. Here are ten books for young people that I love, some collections and some novels in verse. Please look for them at your library—and give them as gifts to your library if you can’t find them there. Read from these books aloud, a few pages now and then, when you have time. A poem is a perfect 5-minute pick-me-up, like a snack for the mind.

2002:   19 Varieties of Gazelle: Poems of the Middle East by Naomi Shihab Nye

2003:   Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson

2004:   Under the Breadfruit Tree by Monica Gunning, illustrated by Fabricio Vanden Broeck

2005:   A Wreath for Emmett Till by Marilyn Nelson, illustrated by Philippe Lardy

2006:   Thanks a Million by Nikki Grimes, illustrated by Cozbi A. Cabrera

2007:   Tap Dancing on the Roof by Linda Sue Park, illustrated by Istvan Banyai

2008:   Becoming Billie Holiday by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Floyd Cooper

2009:   Yum! MmMm! Que Rico! by Pat Mora, illustrated by Rafael Lopez

2010:   Amazing Faces collected by Lee Bennett Hopkins, illustrated by Chris Soentpiet

2011:   Under the Mesquite by Guadalupe Garcia McCall

2012:   The Wild Book by Margarita Engle

This week’s Poetry Friday is hosted by Irene Latham at Live Your Poem – Irene has a group zoo poem on offer today so head on over.

And P.S. We’ve just launched our own Facebook Page – PaperTigers: Books + Water – do visit us.

Agape School has participated in our Spirit of PaperTigers Outreach Program for the past two years and recently sent us their feedback (including some lovely photos!) on the 2011 Spirit of PaperTigers Book Set which was comprised of the following three books:

A Child’s Garden: A Story of Hope, written and illustrated by Michael Foreman (Walker Books/Candlewick Press, 2009)

Rain School, written and illustrated by James Rumford (Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, 2010)

 Biblioburro, written and illustrated by Jeanette Winter (Beach Lane Books, 2010)

Agape School was established by Lipichem Sangtam, a former journalist who gave up his career to start his own school, and serves 180 primary students ages 4-11. In his 2011 feedback letter to us, Mr. Sangtam writes:

The students are doing well and have been greatly enriched by the story books that you have sent. The students composed illustrated stories in response to reading the 2011 Spirit of PaperTigers Book Set. The beautiful pictures supporting the stories motivated them and they started small paintings with the few colours they have; and they started displaying in the school campus, which is encouraging. The students enjoy reading the books and the quality of the material, which is excellent.

English teacher Jevili Achumi comments:

The stories are filled with images and fanciful layers of illustration which attract the readers. The children were fascinated with the stories, the fanciful characters and the pictures which really take them to the roots. I also appreciate it if the illustrations and stories end up with a best moral.

Here is a sneak peek of the impressive artwork submitted to us. Do take the time to visit Agape School‘s page on our Spirit of PaperTigers Outreach site to see more photos! Click here to be taken there.

Today we bring you the first in a series of “Top-10″ posts as part of our 10th Anniversary celebrations.  First up is a selection of “Books that Open Windows” by award-winning writer Deborah Ellis.

Deborah’s latest novel came out last month: My Name Is Parvana (Groundwood Books, 2012) is the long-awaited sequel to her acclaimed The Breadwinner Trilogy.  As well as fiction, Deborah has written non-fiction highlighting global social issues from children’s perspectives, such as war, AIDS and bullying, and giving affected children a voice.  You can read PaperTigers’ interviews with Deborah here and here.

Top 10: Books that Open Windows by Deborah Ellis

Jean Little is a wonderful Canadian author of books for young people. She has a special place in my heart because when I was a child, my parents were friends with a friend of Jean’s – Jane Glaves – and I would get Ms. Little’s books for Christmas. One of my favorite Jean Little books is Look Through My Window, where one character talks about looking through someone’s window into who they are and what their lives are like.

The following books are ten I would recommend to anyone interested in seeing what’s inside someone else’s window.

1.   From Anna, by Jean Little ~ Novel for young people about a German family who comes to Canada just before the start of World War 2. The youngest, Anna, has struggles with her eyesight, her awkwardness and figuring out where her place is in her family and in this new world.

2.   All of a Kind Family, by Sydney Taylor ~ First in a series of books for young readers about a Jewish family in turn of the century Brooklyn. As the girls go about the adventures of their lives – such as earning money to pay for a lost library book – the family celebrates the calendar of holidays. As a Protestant-raised small-town girl, this was my first window into a different religion, and set off a respect and fascination for Judaism that continues to this day.

3.   Obasan, by Joy Kogawa ~ Moving telling of a young girl’s experience in a Japanese internment camp in Canada during World War 2.

4.   Nobody’s Family is Going to Change, by Louise Fitzhugh ~ Novel for young people about a girl in New York who can’t make her father see her for who she is. She grows to learn about other kids in other families and their struggles.

5.   A Dog on Barkham Street and The Bully of Barkham Street,  by Mary Stoltz – Look at the same story from two points of view. They taught me how to look for more than one side of the story.

6.   Mighty Be Our Powers, by Leymah Gbowee ~ A powerful memoir of a woman who survived the Liberian civil war and won the Nobel Prize for her work to rebuild the country.

7.   Amazing Grace, by Jonathan Kozol ~ About homelessness and poverty in America and the power of the education system to hurt or help the children in its care.

8.   Shannen and the Dream for a School, by Janet Wilson – part of the Kids’ Power Book series for young activists, this is a profile of Shannen Koostachin and her First Nations community of Attawapiskat as they try to get a safe school built.

9.   Bury Me Standing, by Isabel Fonseca ~ A moving, detailed history of the Roma people.

10.   Grey is the Color of Hope, by Irina Ratushinskaya ~ Prison diaries of the Soviet poet who spent seven years in the Gulags. One of the few records we have about what that time and place was like for women.

On Wednesday we launched our 10th Anniversary celebrations – and we hope you’ll join us for some special features over the coming month. One of our new features is a catch-up Gallery of Eun-Ha Paek’s artwork (we first featured her in our early days back in 2002).  Eun-Ha is not only our web designer but she is also an artist, and she often combines her two talents to create very special digital animations. While researching her work for our feature, I came across this beautiful animation of the deceptively simple poem “Now and Then” that forms part of Billy Collins Action Poetry:

Billy Collins has given a TED talk about the Action Poetry project that includes viewings of some of them (plus a bonus original poem that I loved – anyone with teenage children, daughters especially, will empathise!).

This week’s Poetry Friday is hosted by Betsy at Teaching Young Writers.

…BUT IT IS NOT TOO LATE TO ENTER.

The Frances Lincoln Diverse Voices Children’s Book Award is for a manuscript that celebrates cultural diversity in the widest possible sense, either in terms of its story or the ethnic and cultural origins of its author.

The prize of £1,500, plus a full editorial consultation with Janetta Otter-Barry at Frances Lincoln Children’s Books and a meeting with leading literary agent Caroline Sheldon, will be awarded to the best work of unpublished fiction for 8-to-12-year-olds by a writer, aged 18 years or over, who has not previously published a novel for children.

The writer may have contributed to an anthology of prose or poetry.

The work must be written in English and it must be a minimum of 15,000 words and a maximum of 35,000 words.

The closing date for all entries is 31st December 2012

For more details visit www.sevenstories.org.uk

or Email: diversevoicesATsevenstoriesDOTorgDOTuk

Today we are launching the celebrations of our 10th Anniversary with this stunning poster created by artist John Parra.  Thank you, John!

John features in our Gallery as part of our celebrations over on the main PaperTigers website – and you will also find another Gallery featuring our talented web-designer Eun-Ha Paek, as well as new articles – one by me:

Looking Forward to the Next Ten Years of PaperTigers, and Beyond;

and another:

Celebrating PaperTigers 10th Anniversary: What a Smilestone!
by PaperTigers former Managing Editor Aline Pereira

There’ll be plenty more to look forward to over the coming month, including some Top 10s from a number of our friends around the Kidlitosphere so come on in and join the party!

523 million girls and women worldwide cannot read or write. Let us stand together to champion the right of all girls to be Fierce, Fearless and Free.

LitWorld, an organization working towards achieving global literacy, has launched the Stand Up for Girls campaign to advocate for every girl’s right to a quality education. Our entire civilization is at stake when girls’ lives are fragile because they are prevented from accessing the right to read and write. All girls must be able to vote with their names, read their medicine bottles, farm their land, ride a subway and go to college. Stand Up for Girls speaks to these issues and gives us all a chance, young and old, to show our daughters and the sisters of our hearts that we have not forgotten, that we want the world to be safe, fair and full of hope for all of them.

Visit litworld.org and pledge your commitment to take action and create positive change for women and girls worldwide, and to learn how to participate in LitWorld’s Photo Contest, plan your own Stand Up for Girls Event, become a Stand Up for Girls Champion, and more.

Your Top 3 Actions to Stand Up for Girls:

1. Take a picture of yourself with the Stand Up for Girls Sign and post it to Litworld’s Facebook wall for a chance to win tickets to their NYC Gala 2013!

2. Change the avatar on your social network profiles to showcase your Stand Up for Girls picture and use the Stand Up for Girls banner as your cover photo. Tell 10 people to Stand Up for Girls and use the hashtag #standup4girls to make your message heard!

3. Stand Up at noon on October 11, and use Litworld’s Activity Packet to make the first annual Day of the Girl a whole day of celebration! Don’t forget to share your actions here.

Ibrahima Ndiaye, illustrated by Capucine Mazille, translated by Rebecca Page,
The Magic Formula
Bakame Editions (Rwanda), 2011.

The Magic Formula is a retelling of an African folktale about a magic marula tree that won’t release its fruit until a certain long, complicated phrase is recited.  Set during a drought in the land of “Farafinaland” in the year “nobody-knows”, the animals have all come together in their suffering.  Nevertheless, their individual traits emerge in the course of the lively narrative: the lion is fierce; the hyena is sneering and excitable; and the elephant is wise.

One day, the elephant calls on the animals to journey together in search of food (also offering scope for the eye-catching illustration both within the story and spread across the book’s covers).  The insects provide an “aerial escort”, and the chameleon with his “special eyes” takes on the role of scout perched on the giraffe’s head.  Sure enough, he is the first to see the magic marula tree laden with fruit – and he also spots the old woman Mama Tenga under another distant tree.  She gives the magic words to first the elephant and then the hyena – but each is distracted on the way back to the marula tree and forgets them.  It is only when, at the elephant’s suggestion, they all work together in “solidarity” that they are able to remember the words and access the fruit.

Ibrahima Ndiaye’s retelling is slightly different from another recent version of the story from Tanzania, The Amazing Tree (North-South Books, 2009) by John Kilaka, whose work has also been published by Bakame Editions.  These two versions compliment each other with their different sets of characters and the chant in Kinyarwanda in The Magic Formula and in Kiswahili in The Amazing Tree, as well as the contrasting styles of the illustrations.  Here, Capucine Mazille’s watercolours add depth to the story with a wonderful mix of charaterful facial expressions.  As well as the key characters, the line-up includes an exciting array of  different African animals, including an aardvark and a pangolin – plenty to absorb young readers. The lively dialogue also makes this a great readaloud, and young listeners will probably soon pick up the magic formula quicker than the animals themselves, adding to their enjoyment of the story

The Magic Formula, under its Rwandan title Imvugo idasanzwe, is included in IBBY’s Honor List 2012, which highlights outstanding books from around the world.  This translation into English offers us the opportunity to share this wonderful story too.

Marjorie Coughlan
October 2012

Click on event name for more information

Banned Books Week: Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the Freedom to Read~ ongoing until Oct 6, USA

Bath Festival of Children’s Literature~ongoing until Oct 7, Bath, United Kingdom

Wigtown Book Festival~ ongoing until Oct 7, Wigtown, United Kingdom

Hispanic Heritage Month~ ongoing until Oct 15, USA

National Year of Reading~ Australia

The Children’s Bookshow: Stories From Around The World~ ongoing until Nov 8, United Kingdom

Frances Lincoln Diverse Voices Children’s Book Award 2013~ submissions accepted until Dec 31, 2012, United Kingdom

2012 South Asia Book Award~ submissions accepted until Dec 31, 2012

SingTel Asian Picture Book Award 2013~ submissions accepted until Dec 31, 1012, Singapore

Exhibits of Winning Entries from the 2011 Growing Up Asian in America Contest~ ongoing until Feb 2013, USA

Skipping Stones Youth Honor Awards Celebrating Multicultural Awareness, International Understanding and Nature Appreciation~ submissions accepted until June 25, 2013, USA

Canadian Library Month

International School Library Month

Children’s Book Week: Heroes and Heroines~ Oct 1 – 7, United Kingdom

TaleBlazers Literary Arts Festival~ Oct 1 – 26, Province of Alberta, Canada

Children’s Book Festival~ Oct 1 – 31,  Ireland

Ubud Writers and Readers Festival~ Oct 3 – 7, Ubud,  Indonesia

National Poetry Day and Announcement of The Foyle Young Poets of the Year Winners ~ Oct 4, London, United Kingdom

The Craft of Reading, an Exhibition of Books Featuring Folk Art and Craft, Curated By Young India Book~ Oct 4 -10, Chennai, India

The 3rd Annual Art Auction – a Benefit for the  Annual Children’s Poetry Festival in El Salvador~ Oct 5, San Francisco, CA, USA

Litquake, San Franciso’s Literary Festival (including Kidquake and Teenquake)~ Oct 5 – 13, San Francisco, CA, USA

12th Annual Conference Teaching for Social Justice: Acts of Courage and Resistance~ Oct 6, San Francisco, CA, USA

The Carthage Center for Children’s Literature’s Caldecott Celebration~ Oct 6, Kenosha, WI, USA

Frankfurt Book Fair~ Oct 10 – 14, Frankfurt, Germany

2011 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award Nominees Announced~ Oct 11, Frankfurt, Germany

Discussion Forum on The Hans Christian Andersen Awards~ Oct 12, Frankfurt, Germany

Children’s Book Week~ Oct 5 – 15, Netherlands

The 41st Annual Conference on South Asia~ Oct 11 – 14, Madison, WI, USA

Leonard Marcus Presents – Let the Wild Rumpus Start: Maurice Sendak as Storyteller and Psychologist~ Oct 12, Vancouver, BC, Canada

AASL Fall Forum: Transliteracy and the School Library Program~ Oct 12 – 13, Greenville, SC, USA

Sheboygan Children’s Book Festival: Memory~ Oct 12 – 14, Sheboygan, WI, USA

Esquimalt Children’s StoryFest~ Oct 13, Esquimalt, BC, Canada

Monterrey International Book Fair~ Oct 13 – 20, Monterrey, Mexico

YALSA’s Teen Read Week: It Came from the Library! ~ Oct 14 – 20, USA

Vancouver International Writers and Readers Festival~ Oct 16 – 21, Vancouver, BC, Canada

The Digital Shift: Libraries, Ebooks and Beyond. A Library Journal/School Library Journal Online Event~ Oct 17

Chapter & Verse, a Book Club for Adults Discussing Children’s Lit (Frozen by Mary Casanova; A Strange Place to Call Home by Marilyn Singer, illustrated by Ed Young)~ Oct 18, USA

Dark Alchemy: Literary Brews Conjured Across the Curriculum With Kenneth Oppel, Keynote Speaker and Featuring CWILL BC presenters~ Oct 19, Vancouver, BC, Canada

8th Annual World Matters Festival: Missing Peace~ Oct 20 – 21, Eltham, Australia

CHARACTER COUNTS! Week~ Oct 21 – 27

The Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Award Celebration~ Oct 25, San Marcos, TX, USA

Fremantle Children’s Literature Centre Exhibits and Programs~ Fremantle, Australia

Dromkeen National Centre for Picture Book Art Exhibits~ Riddells Creek, Australia

Books Illustrated Events and Exhibitions~ Middle Park, Australia

International Youth Library Exhibits~ Munich, Germany

Tulika Book Events~ India

International Library of Children’s Literature Events~ Tokyo, Japan

Newcastle University Programme of Talks on Children’s Books for 2011-2012~ Newcastle, United Kingdom

Seven Stories (the National Home of Children’s Books in Britain) Events~ Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom

Discover Children’s Story Centre~ London, United Kingdom

Arne Nixon Center’s Children’s Literature Book Clubs for Adults Events~ USA

Events Sponsored by The Center for the Book in the Library of Congress~ USA

The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art~ Amherst, MA, USA

The National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature Exhibits~ Abilene, TX, USA

Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Events

Hello and welcome to this week’s Poetry Friday.  I will update this post with your posts throughout the day – in the meantime, please leave your links in the Comments below.

In honor of the mosaic of poetry that will make up the wonderful whole as created each week for Poetry Friday, I thought I’d highlight Jorge Luján’s gorgeous poem-turned-picture-book Sky Blue Accident/Accidente Celeste - beautifully translated by Elisa Amado and illustrated by Piet Grobler (Groundwood Books, 2007) (and the “beautifully” refers to both the translation and the illustrations, by the way).

Before the poem starts, two double-page spreads show a small boy cycling to school, at first concentrating hard on the task in hand and then being distracted by a bird in the sky…  And so:

Una mañana de brumas
me tropecé con el cielo
y a los pedazos caídos
los escondí e mi bolsillo.

Once on a misty morning
I crashed into the sky,
Then hid its broken pieces
In my pocket.

What follows is a joyous flight of imagination, as the child tries to show the pieces of sky to his teacher; and then all the children try and repair the hole in the sky by painting a new one, to get things back to normal (for without a complete sky “Lost clouds stumbled around/bumbling into corners,” – isn’t that a beautiful image? – and the moon is also behaving oddly…).  The boy then uses the fragments of the “real” sky to fill in the last remaining gaps.

The poem is a delight and Piet Grobler’s gorgeous illustrations are very clever as well as a joy to the eye – for they combine the flight of imagination in the poem (including a teacher who grows wings and flies out the window) with a school setting that has the boy drawing on his lined exercise paper; and there are also certain visual motifs that the reader catches up with eventually. You can see some pages from the Spanish edition on Jorge’s website.

So now we will see what kind of sky Poetry Friday brings us this week. Will it be cloudy, gray or blue – or maybe sparkly or rosy or velvet?  I can’t wait to find out… and if you have a moment on your hands while you’re here wondering too, do pause and watch this video of Jorge’s poem Tarde de Invierno/Winter Afternoon, illustrated my Mandana Sadat, and like Sky Blue Accident, beautifully translated by Elisa Amado and published by Groundwood Books (2006).  It’s still my favourite book video ever…

Just released today it’s the book trailer to Grace Lin‘s newest novel Starry River of the Sky! Already receiving rave reviews, Starry River of the Sky is the companion book to Where the Mountain Meets the Moon which was awarded the prestigious Newbery Honor Award in 2010. Starry River of the Sky officially launches October 2nd but for those of you that just can’t wait to get a copy it is already available on Amazon or, if you reside near Cambridge, MA, you can attend the  booklaunch this Sunday, September 30th and get a signed copy! Be sure to visit Grace’s blog on October 2nd and join in the online launch party! Grace will also be going on a short, 3 stop book tour in October to promote the book. Why such a short tour? Not only is Grace celebrating the launch of her new book, she and her husband just celebrated the birth of her first child, a daughter, a mere 4 months ago! Congratulations Grace!

NB: Where the Mountain Meets the Moon was one of the books we selected to be included in our 2010 Spirit of PaperTigers Book Set.  Each year we send carefully chosen books to particular schools and libraries in various parts of the world. The books chosen seek to provide “multicultural” or “trans-cultural” stories that promote awareness of, knowledge about, and positive acceptance of “the other” in ways children can learn and enjoy. We are convinced of the crucial role of literacy and reading in an education that fosters understanding and empathy. To learn more about our Outreach program click here and to read our recent announcement of the 2012 book set click here.

A few months ago while at my local library I came across a copy of the children’s book The Tiffin by Mahtab Narsimhan. I was running late and didn’t have time to read the book flap but because I was so intrigued by the cover I checked the book out. Later that night I began to read The Tiffin and was instantly hooked! Set in India the book tells the story of the rare time when a tiffin (a box lunch delivered by a dabbawalla) goes astray. The tiffin contained an important note which when lost results in devastating consequences. The Tiffin is a book that can be judged by it’s intriguing cover and I was up until the wee hours of the morning reading it from start to finish.

The next day, a wee bit sleep deprived, I spent some time on the computer researching the book and learning more about author Mahtab Narsimhan. Originally from Mumbai,  India, Narsimhan  now resides in Toronto, Canada.  The catalyst that started her writing career was a tragic one. In 2003, devasted by her father’s death she began to write down her thoughts and memories of their life in India.  These scribblings, along with her love for fantasy, morphed into the idea of writing a novel and her first book The Third Eye was published in 2007. Sequels The Silver Anklet followed in 2009 and The Deadly Conch in 2011. Narsimhan has also published two anthologies Piece by Piece: Stories About Fitting Into Canada (Penguin Canada, 2010) and Her Mother’s Ashes Part 3 (TSAR Publications, 2009).

The Tiffin  has been nominated for several  awards and is shortlisted by the Canadian Library Association for the 2012 Book of the Year for Children Award.  If you haven’t already read it, I highly recommend you add it to your “Must Read” list.  Check out this wonderful review of the book by West Vancouver librarian  Shannon Ozirny (who you may remember was the MC at the VCLR Serendipity Conference that Marj and I presented at in Vancouver early this year). Shannon’s review was printed in the November 2011 issue of Quill and Quire and is partially reprinted here with Quill and Quire’s permission.

The Tiffin
by Mahtab Narsimhan
(Dancing Cat Books, 2011)
Reviewed by Shannon Ozirny

In the context of children’s literature, the term “other worlds” often connotes places that are purely imaginary and only reachable by an enchanted cabinet or peculiarly numbered train platform. But Toronto-based, Silver Birch Award–winning author Mahtab Narsimhan (the Tara Trilogy) introduces children to the “other world” of the dabbawallas of her native Mumbai. Despite being very real and accessible by traditional modes of transport, this world will be just as awe-inspiring for North American young people as any fantasy realm could hope to be (click here to read more!)

And here is the book trailer

Today is Peace Day.  It’s also a day of  Global Ceasefire.  Wouldn’t it be wonderful if all the fighting stopped for this one day.  It’s certainly something to aim for, and beyond.

This week with my Cub Scout Pack in Kirkbymoorside, UK, we thought about Peace and what a global ceasfire might mean.  We made peace cranes, thanks to  Stone Bridge Press’ wonderful A Thousand Cranes: Origami Projects for Peace and Happiness (2011), adapted from a book by Florence Temko (1921-2009); and then we held a short vigil by candle-light (one of our Challenges in our Diamond Challenge was silence: hard but ultimately rewarding).

We shared Lao Tzu’s wise poem from 2,500 years ago:

If there is to be peace in the world,
There must be peace in the nations.
If there is to be peace in the nations,
There must be peace in the cities.
If there is to be peace in the cities,
There must be peace between neighbors.
If there is to be peace between neighbors,
There must be peace in the home.
If there is to be peace in the home,
There must be peace in the heart.

It is one of the prayers in the beautifully presented Let There be Peace: Prayers from Around the World, selected by Jeremy Brooks, illustrated by Jude Daly (Frances Lincoln, 2009).

People around the world will be pausing for a moment’s silence today at midday local time.  Let’s hope the guns stop firing too.

This week’s Poetry Friday host Renée LaTulippe has a bowl of Poetry Candy over at No Water River, so head on over…

Celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi today with Saffron Tree, who highlights two “lovely stories” wrapped in one book – The Story Lady by Shruthi Rao and Blanket of Stars by Rachna Chhabria.

The Sambat Trust has recently launched its seventh library in the Philippines – many congratulations.  There are some photos of very happy children…

Author Mitali Perkins has announced the winner of her 10th Teens Between Cultures Prose competition; and in case you missed it, here’s the link to the Poetry Competition winner too – definitely take the time to read these winning entries.

Cynsations has an interview with Debbie Ridpath Ohi  (whom we welcomed to the PaperTigers Gallery in August) – and there’s also a giveaway of Debbie’s just-released I’m Bored with a hand-drawn doodle… Quick!  There are only four days left…!

And I learned something new from The Book Chook – I, who love elephants so, how come I never knew 22 September is Elephant Appreciation Day?! – phew – thank you, Book Chook.  She has lots of elephant activities on her post.  So what’s your favorite elephant book?

African Library Project recently posted a link on their Facebook page to an interesting article published in the Nigerian Tribune: International Literacy Day: Promoting literacy to tackle insecurity.  Literacy and Peace was the theme for this year’s International Literacy Day, which was celebrated on September 8, and in the article writer Adewale Oshodi examines the connection between literacy and peace in Nigeria.

According to UNESCO’s Global Monitoring Report on Education for All, sub-Saharan Africa still has one of the lowest regional literacy rates, and not much is being done towards raising the level in this part of the world. This should, therefore, give everybody a cause for concern, especially the fact that there is a link between illiteracy and violence, and going by what is happening in most African countries, South of the Sahara, it is high time the authorities took the issue of literacy seriously.

Oshodi compares the rates of literacy, violence and poverty in different regions of Nigeria and concludes

With this analysis, it can be ascertained that there is a link between illiteracy and violence, and this year’s International Literacy Day’s theme, Literacy and Peace, should be taken seriously by those in positions of authority, thereby making it possible for a larger percentage of the populace to acquire education, and as a result of this, conflicts and violence are being eliminated in a way.

The article continues with Oshodi interviewing  government officials on their thoughts about the correlation between literacy and peace and what steps and programs are being implemented to improve literacy in their regions.

To add your thoughts on the article, come join  in the discussion happening on African Library Project’s Facebook page.

To learn more about our Spirit of PaperTigers Project which works to advance education through books and reading, and development through clean and accessible water, in various regions and areas throughout the world, click here .

Cheryl Foggo, illustrated by Qin Leng,
Dear Baobab
Second Story Press, 2011.

Ages 7-11

Following the death of his parents, seven-year-old Maiko has had to leave all that was familiar, encapsulated in his memory of the ancient baobab tree in his village, to come and live with his aunt and uncle in their red brick house in a Western city. Maiko forms a special bond with a small fir tree growing outside the house.  He listens to its whisperings, and confides his feelings and anxieties to it: his homesickness; and how Leonard, a boy at school, laughs at his ears.  When his aunt and uncle decide that the tree needs to be cut down, Maiko tries to protect it by hiding the tools.  Only when the inevitable day arrives, do his aunt and uncle realise the tree’s importance to Maiko, and an alternative solution is found.

The story is straightforward enough to appeal to young readers.  They will appreciate the way his love of his two special trees helps him to emerge with confidence from the unsettling changes in his life.  In addition, there is a subtle depth to the narrative that will make it appealing to older readers.  When Maiko hides the tools, for example, his aunt berates his uncle for leaving them out to be stolen.  The situation is not then tidily resolved – Maiko does not confess – and readers therefore find themselves asking questions that have no single straightforward answer.  The same is true of Leonard.  Something has certainly happened behind the scenes between Maiko’s telling his uncle about how he is being teased at school and our next encounter with Leonard.  It is enough to hear explicitly that while Maiko is playing with his friend Li, “They saw Leonard.  He did not laugh at Maiko’s ears.”  Older readers will probably pick up on this and ponder it.  The illustrations emphasise these key moments too.  They convey Maiko’s emotions throughout the story: his sadness , worry and guilt, but also his happiness playing in the snow, for example, or his exuberant play with Li when dressed up as a baobab for his first Halloween.

Dear Baobab is a gentle story about settling into a new home and a new culture.  It opens up many questions for young readers, who will be touched by its universally relevant themes of bullying and belonging.

Marjorie Coughlan
September 2012

It was a real thrill for me to meet not only Dashdondog Jamba at the IBBY Congress last month, having interviewed him last year, but also Anne Pellowski, who worked with him on the Libraries Unlimited edition of Mongolian Folktales.  Here’s a photo of us all:

Dashdondog was a member of a superb storytellers’ panel with Michael Harvey telling a tall tale in a mixture of Welsh and English and Sonia Nimr recounting hers first in English then in Arabic.  It was fascinating in both cases how much audience participation was possible, regardless of the language they were speaking, simply (and of course, not simple at all really) becasue they were such fine storytellers.

Dashdondog’s story-telling in Mongolian was accompanied by a slideshow that provided the necessary context and I loved his verse rendition of the work of the Mongolian Mobile Library that he founded in 1990 – the onomatopeia could be universally understood. You can watch part of it here. As well as his gift for storytelling, this part of Dashdondog’s presentation provided an indication of how committed the Mobile Children’s Library is in ensuring library books reach as many children as possible, regardless of the challenges of terrain, distance and weather conditions they encounter.

Do read Dashdondog’s article about the library here – and you can read some of his vibrant poems translated into English on his blog.

Head on over to our PaperTigers Book Review page where we bring together in one place the best children’s and young adults’ multicultural book reviews published in several countries.

PaperTigers reviews are written by us and have an international scope, to keep you up to date on what is being published around the world.  In addition to offering our own reviews, we also reprint reviews from the following trusted sources:

From the USA, reviews by the Cooperative Children’s Book Center, a key resource for anyone interested in children’s books published in the USA;

From Canada, reviews from Resource Links, a national journal dedicated to reviewing and evaluating Canadian learning resources;

From Australia, reviews from My Book Corner, an online resource that provides book reviews on an entire assortment of children’s literature, ranging from the fun and quirky to the simply inspirational and unforgettable;

From China, reviews from the Asian Review of Books, published in Hong Kong by Paddyfield.com and Chameleon Press;

From the UK, reviews from Books for Keeps, the most authoritative children’s book magazine in the country.

We also have archived reviews from two valuable sources which are no longer being published:  Desi Journal (USA), a website dedicated to literature from and about the South Asian diaspora, and Book Trusted News (United Kingdom), the magazine of the Young Book Trust.

So look no further for kidlit book reviews. We have them all here!

Thank you to all the magazines and websites for sharing with us their great content! Publishers interested in having their books reviewed by PaperTigers, and magazines interested in having their reviews reprinted here, can email us at:

[email protected] for more information.

Bookshelf #28:
D. and S.
9 years old and 8 years old
Bangalore, India

The kids’ bookshelves are dual purpose shelves, filling a space on top of the stairs that we didn’t want either the kids or the puppy to tumble out of. The raised ledge there meant that the custom built shelves don’t take up valuable floor space, fitting well into an otherwise unusable space. The rocking chair, a hanging chair in another corner and a futon make this space a cozy space to read, do charts and homework with our ‘research’ being close by. One of our favourite spaces in the house.

My children are readers, one from very early on and the other needing some intervention to go from reluctant reader to engaged reader in the past year or two. One major reason (in my opinion) is access to books and the availability of a variety of books in our house. When the right book comes along, it is impossible to not pick it up! As a result of thinking things through, I got to read books that I missed reading when I was growing up like the entire Anne of the Green Gables series and Little House on the Prairie.

Submitted by: Sangitha, blogging at Life and Times in Bangalore

For details on how to submit a photo of your child’s bookshelf to our Around the World in 100 Bookshelves, click here.

The Japanese section of IBBY, JBBY, was an important presence at this year’s Congress in London.  I will post more fully on the session that they presented;  for today’s Poetry Friday I want to highlight a book that was part of a display of new picture books from Japan – “The Expression of Japanese Children’s (Picture) Books After March 11th”.

JBBY Board member Atsuko Hayakawa showed me a picture book published in July this year called “Sagashiteimasu”, which translates as “I Have Been Searching For…” or  “I Am Searching” .  It’s a set of fourteen poems by Arthur Binard (a long-term resident in Japan and translator of this book highlighted by Sally last year).   Each poem is in the voice of an object in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum – an object that was left behind when the owner was killed by the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima on 6 August 1945.  Beautifully composed photographs of each object by Tadashi Okakura accompany the poems.

Here’s the blurb on the book from the leaflet I was given ( if it becomes available as a pdf, I’ll add a link) -

A stopped clock, a pair of gloves without an owner, a charred, radioactive lunchbox…  These are among the fourteen everyday items, all atomic-bombed on August 6th 1045, presented in this photography book as ‘storytellers,’ each one revealing its tale to the modern reader. Since the morning of that day when Pika-don (the atomic bomb) was dropped on Hirsohima, these objects have been searching for the life they once knew, or for the familiarity of their owners who suddenly disappeared.  The author, who was born and raised in the United States, is also a poet who has lived in Japan for many years.  Focussing on the devastation not as the history of the past, but as the reality we face now, the author alerts the readers to the catastrophic potential of nuclear fission with as little as 1.0kg of uranium, and advocates against the reliance on nuclear power.

The book is in Japanese but you can read this insightful article here about how Binard came to write the poems, with some translations of extracts: enough to make me wish I could read the whole book.   The image that really struck me was of a beautiful purple dress.  I think it must be this one.  It is very, very sobering, reading the stories behind the artifacts in the Hiroshima Memorial Museum’s Peace Database, and from the translations in the article, I can imagine just how powerful these poems must be.  Thank you, Atsuko-san, for showing this book to me.

This week’s Poetry Friday is hosted by Katya at Write. Sketch. Repeat – head on over…

We are very proud to announce the new book set for our Spirit of PaperTigers Outreach Programme. This year we have selected four books in total: three books that will be sent to all the schools and libraries around the world participating in the Spirit of PaperTigers Outreach, and one more that will go to certain places that have older students. So, without further ado, the books are:

You can read more about the books with more links to PaperTigers features here, and the 2012 Book Set also features on the homepage of the Papertgers website.

I’m still gathering my thoughts from the wonderful experience that was the IBBY Congress in London Thursday to Sunday 23-26 August.  Four days of inspirational speakers and meeting kindred spirits from all over the world.  I’ve now added a selection of photographs to our Flickr – you can see them here.  I haven’t quite finished tagging and describing yet, but I’m getting there… and here is a smaller selection for you to enjoy on the blog – again, I’ve numbered them so that I can come back and label them!

A London children’s theatre company Theatre Peckham helped the Opening Ceremony go with a swing with their delightful performance of an extract from the theatre adaptation of Kate DiCamillo’s The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane.  Then fuelled with a piece of Wally’s delicious 25th birthday cake (but where was he?  Answer: everywhere, in the guise of the very game Imperial College staff!), we headed back to the auditorium for our first plenary session – and what a line up!  Three UK Children’s Laureates – the current reigning Julia Donaldson and two of her predeceesors, Michael Morpurgo and Anthony Browne.

Each spoke about what particular passions they had brought to their role as laureate: Michael  described how he and poet Ted Hughes had first come up with the idea, and how Hughes had been instrumental in making it all happen; Anthony played the ‘shape game’ and showed how it appears everywhere in his work and outside it; and Julia talked of the three areas close to her heart: enhancing children’s experience of reading through drama; keeping libraries open (a big issue in the UK); and promoting stories for and about deaf children.

Julia and her husband Malcolm, on guitar, then showcased some examples of what theatre can do to enhance literacy, from the chorus of a very fast Italian pasta song written while on holiday in Siena, Italy, to a virtuoso performance of The Gruffalo in French, German and (its most recent language) Scots.  In between, we were treated to the song that inspired Julia’s book A Squash and a Squeeze with audience participation… and I say treated, well, it was a real treat for me as I got to be the hen!  Thanks to Australian author Susanne Gervay (yes, that was one of my top thrills of IBBY, meeting Susanne in person…), you will shortly be able to see it on Flickr too – don’t laugh too much!!

Well, that was just the first few hours of the Congress – I will certainly be writing more about it over the coming weeks.  In the meantime, hello to all those PaperTigers friends I got to meet for the first time in real life – Shirin Adl, Candy Gourlay, Dashdondog Jamba; and to old friends and new.  I’ll now be dreaming of IBBY Mexico 2014…  In the meantime, head on over to Flickr and enjoy my photos – and much better ones on the official IBBY Congress 2012′s photostream.

Click on event name for more information

National Year of Reading~ Australia

Américas Book Award for Children’s and Young Adult Literature Award Presentation~ Washington, D.C., USA

Beijing International Book Fair (BIBF)~ ongoing until Sep 2, Beijing, China

The Word on the Street National Book and Magazine Festival: Celebrating Reading. Advocating Literacy ~ (September dates vary by location), Canada

Frances Lincoln Diverse Voices Children’s Book Award 2013~ submissions accepted until Dec 31, 2012, United Kingdom

2012 South Asia Book Award~ submissions accepted until Dec 31, 2012

SingTel Asian Picture Book Award 2013~ submissions accepted until Dec 31, 1012, Singapore

Exhibits of Winning Entries from the 2011 Growing Up Asian in America Contest~ ongoing until Feb 2013, USA

Skipping Stones Youth Honor Awards Celebrating Multicultural Awareness, International Understanding and Nature Appreciation~ submissions accepted until June 25, 2013, USA

Singapore International Storytelling Festival (SISF)~ Sep 1 – 5, Singapore

Delhi Book Fair~ Sep 1 – 9, Delhi, India

Ghummakkad Narain – the Traveling Literature Festival~ Sep 1 – 30, New Delhi, India

¡Cuéntame un cuento! : Latino Cultural Inclusion in Juvenile Collections Webinar

Nairn Book & Arts Festival~ Sep 4 – 9, Nairn, United Kingdom

International Children’s and Youth Literature Festival~ Sep 4 – 16, Berlin, Germany

Brisbane Writers Festival~ Sep 5 – 9, Brisbane, Australia

Moscow International Book Fair~ Sep 5 – 10, Moscow, Russia

International Literacy Day~ Sep 8

UNESCO Literary Prize Awards Presentation~ Sep 8, Paris, France

Book Blogger Appreciation Week~ Sep 10 – 14

Fairytale Town’s Giving Voice to Children’s Literature: Parent  Workshop~ Sept 12, Sacramento, CA, USA

The Manila International Book Fair: Words Without Borders~ Sep 12 – 16, Manila, Philippines

Ethics and Children’s Literature Symposium~ Sep 13 – 16, Greencastle IN, USA

The Canadian Children’s Book Centre Presents: The Art of the Picture Book Exhibition~ Sep 14 – Oct 14, Montreal, QC, Canada

Flor y Canto Children’s Poetry Festival~ Sep 15, San Francisco, CA, USA

Hispanic Heritage Month~ Sep 15 – Oct 15, USA

Telling Tales: A Family Festival of Stories~ Sep 16, Rockton, ON, Canada

BANNED! [The Title of This Event Has Been Censored]- a lively panel discussion of literature and censorship with authors, educators, and librarians~ Sep 16, Minneapolis, MN, USA

Joint Conference of Librarians of Color (JCLC)~ Sep 19 – 23, Kansas City, MO, USA

Chapter & Verse, a book club for adults discussing children’s lit~ Sep 20, USA

The Carle Honors 2012 Annual Gala and Art Auction~ Sep 20, New York, NY, USA

International Day of Peace~ Sep 21

Thin Air – Winnipeg International Writers Festival~ Sep 21 – 29, Winnipeg, MB, Canada

International Day of Peace~ Sep 21

4th Annual Elizabeth York Children’s Literature Festival~ Sep 22 Anderson, IN, USA

National Book Festival~ Sep 24 – 25, Washington, D.C., USA

Appeldore Book Festival Family Day~ Sep 26, Appledore, United Kingdom

Reading Association of Ireland Annual Conference: From Literacy Research to Classroom Practice: Insights and Inspiration~ Sep 27 – 29, Dublin, Ireland

The Boston Globe–Horn (Children’s) Book Awards Ceremony~ Sep 28, Boston, MA, USA

6th Annual KidlitCon~ Sep 28 – 29, New York, NY, USA

Bath Festival of Children’s Literature~Sep 28 – Oct 7, Bath, United Kingdom

Wigtown Book Festival~ Sep 28 – Oct 7, Wigtown, United Kingdom

The Children’s Bookshow: Stories From Around The World~ Sep 28 – Nov 8, United Kingdom

Horn Book at Simmons One-Day Colloquium: Look Out!~ Sep 29, Boston, MA, USA

ScholarShare Children’s Book Festival~ Sep 29 – 30, Sacramento, Ca, USA

Banned Books Week: Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the Freedom to Read~ Sep 30 – Oct 6, USA

Fremantle Children’s Literature Centre Exhibits and Programs~ Fremantle, Australia

Dromkeen National Centre for Picture Book Art Exhibits~ Riddells Creek, Australia

Books Illustrated Events and Exhibitions~ Middle Park, Australia

International Youth Library Exhibits~ Munich, Germany

Tulika Book Events~ India

International Library of Children’s Literature Events~ Tokyo, Japan

Newcastle University Programme of Talks on Children’s Books for 2011-2012~ Newcastle, United Kingdom

Seven Stories (the National Home of Children’s Books in Britain) Events~ Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom

Discover Children’s Story Centre~ London, United Kingdom

Arne Nixon Center’s Children’s Literature Book Clubs for Adults Events~ USA

Events Sponsored by The Center for the Book in the Library of Congress~ USA

The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art~ Amherst, MA, USA

The National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature Exhibits~ Abilene, TX, USA

Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Events

If you are a regular devotee of the kidlitosphere, you have no doubt come across Debbie Ridpath Ohi‘s inspiring writing and cartoons, whether on Inkygirl or another of her various and varied blogs, or indeed her website.  We are delighted to welcome Debbie to our online Gallery, with a selection of artwork that includes the first page spread from her short story for the Tomo anthology, our current Book of the Month; illustrations from her imminent picture book I’m Bored (written by Michael Ian Black and published by Simon & Schuster on 4 September…); and a selection of personal pieces.

Here’s a taster from our Q&A, in which Debbie’s excitement about illustrating I’m Bored is infectious:

So hard to choose just one part! The most exciting in terms of specific moments:

My meetings with Justin Chanda (editor/publisher) and art director Laurent Linn at the Simon & Schuster offices in NYC. I remember that for the first few minutes, all I could think was OHMYGOSH OHMYGOSH I’M AT SIMON & SCHUSTER!!! To talk about a book that *I* was illustrating!! But then I realized that I needed to focus, so forcibly dragged my thoughts out of gush nirvana and back to the meeting.

Seriously, though, I learned so much from Justin and Laurent, and it was incredibly exciting to see I’m Bored progress from early sketches to the final proofs.

Another highlight for me: the first time I read Michael Ian Black’s manuscript. I laughed out loud and was so delighted….and then it hit home. *I* was going to be illustrating this story.

Yeay!  And we are excited that Debbie has two more books with Simon & Schuster in the offing.  So head on over to Debbie’s PaperTigers Gallery now – and keep an eye out at your local bookstore on 4 September – we’re sure you won’t be bored and you may never be able to look a potato in the eye in quite the same way again!

The Spirit of PaperTigers (SPT) Outreach seeks to further the overall goals of the PaperTigers Program: bridging cultures and opening minds, promoting greater understanding and empathy among young people from different backgrounds, countries, and ethnicities. More specifically, SPT outreach works to advance education through books and reading, and development through clean and accessible water.

Since 2009, the PaperTigers Program has put books into the hands of young readers through schools and libraries, encouraging literacy, developing understanding and making reading a lifelong habit.  Taking this work a step further, SPT outreach is seeking to ensure that, in areas where there is water stress or water scarcity, the children to whom the books are sent will have access to clean water and good sanitation. The possibility of effective education in certain parts of the world is linked to the basic realities of food and water.  By focusing on books and water together – nourishing both the mind and body – SPT continues to promote literacy and encourage children to become “hungry readers.”

BOOKS AND WATER

Every year we send carefully chosen books to particular schools and libraries in various parts of the world. The books chosen seek to provide “multicultural” or “trans-cultural” stories that promote awareness of, knowledge about, and positive acceptance of “the other” in ways children can learn and enjoy. We are convinced of the crucial role of literacy and reading in an education that fosters understanding and empathy.

While many organizations are doing excellent work in getting books to children through schools and libraries in areas of need, the specific focus of the SPT outreach is, each year, not only to select a set of books whose content and focus enhance the goals of reading and literacy, but to engage in particular areas in water projects that assist a school/village to have access to clean water and sanitation. SPT’s first water projects have been successfully completed in Tamil Nadu, India, La Gonav, Haiti, and Kiphire, Nagaland, India with future water projects under consideration in Guatemala  and the USA.

In addition to working with others to provide access to clean water, SPT hopes to reduce the effects of such diseases as diarrhea, cholera, typhoid, and river blindness contracted through contact with unsafe water and poor sanitation, or malaria and dengue fever contracted through stagnant water, which continues to have devastating effects on health – particularly on children.  Without adequate sanitation, education remains a distant dream for many children. Particular focus will also be given to the education of girls, where their development is often seriously impeded by long exhausting hours transporting water each day to their homes from distant water sources – water sources that are often contaminated and used by animals and humans alike.

To learn more about SPT and to read feedback from the participants, click here to be taken to the Spirit of PaperTigers Outreach website.