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With over 22,000 members worldwide in over 70 regions, the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators is the largest children’s writing organization in the world and acts as a network for the exchange of knowledge between all those involved with literature for young people. Twice a year the SCBWI brings together top professionals to share their knowledge at the annual Summer and Winter conferences. Each month regional chapters sponsor or organize events around the globe and often times these events are open to both members and non-members. (Some of the events are included on our PaperTigers’ Calendar of Events but you can click here to see the full list.) If an event catches your eye, contact a Regional Advisor for more information. Whether you are already established in the children’s industry, just starting to enter the world of children’s book writing and illustrating, or simply have a passion for children’s literature, I’m sure you will find a warm welcome.

Here are a few highlights in Septemeber:

JAPAN

This past weekend SCBWI Japan hosted Storyboards and Picture Book Dummies for Good Bookmaking with author/illustrator Naomi Kojima. Holly Thompson, Regional Advisor for SCBWI Tokyo, has kindly sent me photos from the event which I will post soon.

AUSTRALIA - Sunday the 20th - Breakfast with the Visiting SPRUNG Children’s Authors

Share coffee and croissants with visiting children’s authors and illustrators then walk up the road to enjoy a range of sessions at the Albany SPRUNG Writers Festival.

PHILIPPINES - Saturday the 26th - Children’s Book Seminar at the University of the Philippines, Visayas (City Campus)

Regional Advisor Beaulah Pedregosa Taguiwalo tells me that this event will appeal to anyone published or aspiring to be a children’s book writer or illustrator.

Korea - Thursday the 24th - Sunday the 25th

The 6th Canadian Children’s Book Seminar at the Embassy of Canada located in Jeong-dong, Seoul. A few hundred children’s books from major Canadian publishing companies will be displayed. This event is not sponsored by SCBWI but Jenny Desmond-Walters, Regional Advisor for SCBWI Korea found out about it and was kind enough to forward the information. If Jenny is able to attend I’m sure she’ll send us some photos. Stay tuned. Thanks Jenny!

A huge thanks to Jenny Desmond-Walters, Regional Advisor for SCBWI -Korea, who emailed me last week about an event she had recently attended and that she thought we might like to share it with our readers. We are delighted to share it! Jenny visited an exhibit called Voyage to the World of Illustration at the Seoul Arts Center. She was most impressed by what she saw:

Illustration work of 19 children’s picture book illustrators is on display. Several of the exhibits were designed by the illustrators themselves. There is one by French illustrator Herve Tullet that I loved. There are 8 Korean illus. on display, and the countries of UK, CZ, FR, US, JP, PL and IT are represented. Original artwork is on display in framed pieces along with multimedia exhibits and even a giant stuffed reproduction of a gorilla from one UK illus, Anthony Brown.

It’s a remarkable exhibit. It’s not often that children’s book illustrations are given such attention and to be able to see examples of how certain illustrators have brought their creations to life is quite exhilarating. The piece designed by Herve Tullet where he attached each of his board books to a different kind of rope, chain, feather boa, or ribbon to match the style of his book was my favorite thing in the exhibit. Of course, the bigger-than-life sized gorilla flying in the air was pretty amazing too! I’d say for any writer or illustrator of children’s books, this exhibit will definitely ignite some fires in the imagination and inspire us along our chosen path.

The Paju Bookcity Book Festival for Children is taking place through the whole month of May, but has some super special events happening only May 1st - May 5th. There are performances, experiential events and tons of stuff to do. I’m excited about some of the upcoming events like visiting publishing companies on May 8th, 9th, and 20th. Also, the field trip to Book Making Sites on May 13th looks fun. Actually, every one of the events planned looks like something I would love to do. I guess I’ve got my work (or fun) cut out for me.

Click here to see more photos from the Voyage Exhibit and be sure to read PaperTigers current issue, where we pay tribute to the narratives for children, available in English, from/about Korea and the Korean diaspora.

(Click on event name for more information)

Get Caught Reading Month~ USA

National Share-a-Story Month~ United Kingdom

Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month~ USA

Asian Heritage Month~ Canada

Asian/Pacific American Awards for Literature to be Announced~ USA

USBBY - Bridge to Understanding Award Winner to be Announced ~ USA

Discovering Ethnic Minorities - Storytelling Workshops for Children~ Hong Kong

5th Annual PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature~ ongoing until May 3, New York, NY, USA

35th Buenos Aires International Book Fair~ ongoing until May 11, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Books Illustrated Traveling Exhibition: An Australian Menagerie -Australian picture books~ongoing until mid Jun, China

Exhibition of Prize Winning Works of 16th Noma Concours (2008) “Palette of Dream Colours IV”~ ongoing until Jul 5, Tokyo, Japan

The Child and the Book Conference: This Land is Our Land~ May 1 - 3, Nanaimo, BC, Canada

BOOKFEST - The Vancouver Island Children’s Book Festival~ May 2, Nanaimo, BC, Canada

IRA’s 54th Annual Convention: Reading, Writing and Conversations~ May 3 - 7, Minneapolis, MN, USA

ALOUD: a Celebration for Young Readers~ May 4 - 6, Toronto, ON, Canada

WordPower~ May 4 - 8, Fort McMurray, AB, Canada

Tehran International Book Fair~ May 6 - 16, Tehran, Iran

Mapfre Hay Festiva~ May 7 - 10, Alhambra, Spain

Once Upon a Time: Children’s Book Illustrators, Then and Now~ May 8 - Jun 14, Oakland, CA, USA

Mt. San Antonio College’s Children’s Literature Day~ May 9, Walnut, CA, USA

Children’s Book Week~ May 11 - 17, USA

New Zealand Post Book Awards Festival~ May 11 - 20, New Zealand

Forest of Reading, Festival of Trees~ May 13 - 14, Toronto, ON, Canada

Auckland Writers and Readers Festival~ May 13 - 17, Auckland, New Zealand

Surabaya Book Fair~ May 13 - 17, Surabaya, Indonesia

Seoul International Book Fair~ May 13 - 17, Seoul, Korea

The 5th China International Cultural Industries Fair~ May 15 - 18, Shenzhen, China

African American Book Festival~ May 15 - 16, Mt. Vernon, NY, USA

Mother’s Day Readings With Authors Mitali Perkins, Christina Seid, Pooja Makhijani, and Others~ May 16, New York, NY, USA

Children’s Books Ireland Conference: Challenge and Change in Children’s Books~ May 16 - 17, Dublin, Ireland

National Black Book Festival~ May 16 - 17, Houston, TX, USA

Sydney Writers’ Festival~ May 18 - 24, Sydney, Australia

The Foundation for Children’s Books New England Voices Series with Author/Illustrators Grace Lin and Giles Laroche~ May 19, Boston, MA, USA

Bisto Children’s Book of the Year Awards Presentations~ May 20, Dublin, Ireland

The Guardian Hay Festival~ May 21 - 31, Hay-on-Wye, United Kingdom

WriteAway Conference: Something Old, Something New -approaches to classic literature, culture and heritage in education~ May 22, London, United Kingdom

Storytelling Association Singapore Presents Silver and Gold: Precious Stories to Inspire Young and Old~ May 23, Singapore

World Village Festival~ May 23 - 24, Helsinki, Finland

Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences and Annual Book Fair~ May 23 - 31, Ottawa, ON, Canada

Library and Information Week~ May 25 - 31, Australia

National Simultaneous Storytime~ May 28, Australia

International Latino Book Awards Presentations~ May 28, New York, NY, USA

Reading Matters Youth Literature Conference~ May 28 - 30, Melbourne, Australia

BookExpo America~ May 28 - 31, New York, NY, USA

Thessaloniki Book Fair~ May 28 - 31, Thessaloniki, Greece

The National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature Exhibit: The Wizards of Pop -Robert Sabuda and Matthew Reinhart~ May 28 - Sep 19, Abilene, TX, USA

Canadian Library Association National Conference and Trade Show~ May 29 - Jun 1, Montreal , QC, Canada

World Book Fair~ May 29 - Jun 7, Singapore

The 5th Annual PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature showcases the work of more than 160 international writers from across the globe in conversations, readings, performances, and panels together with their American counterparts for an exciting cross-cultural celebration of the written word. The following events, with a focus on children’s and young adult’s literature, are free and open to the public:

The Voyage of the Reader: Using Children’s Books to Create a Love of Reading ~ Wed, April 29

Participants: Mary Ann Hoberman, Francine Prose, and Vera B. Williams. Moderated by President and Publisher of Razorbill books, Benjamin D.Schrank.

How do authors create and hold on to young readers in the electronic world? Three distinguished panelists-Vera B. Williams, an award-winning author and illustrator; Mary Ann Hoberman, the U.S. Children’s Poet Laureate; and Francine Prose, the award-winning author of picture books, children’s, young adult, and adult novels-offer their expertise.

Leaps and Bounds, Fits and Starts: The Evolution of a Children’s Book Writer ~ Thurs, April 30

Participants: Neil Gaiman, Mariken Jongman, Shaun Tan, and Andrea Davis Pinkney as the participating moderator.

Join children’s book authors Neil Gaiman, Mariken Jongman, and Shaun Tan for a discussion about the ever-evolving landscape of children’s and young adult literature with Scholastic Vice President, Executive Editor Andrea Davis Pinkney.

Evolution for Children: The Fight Goes On ~ Sun, May 3

Participants: Vicki Cobb, Tijs Goldschmidt, Deborah Heiligman, and Mary Ann Hoberman. Moderated by Ellen Loughran.

Teachers, librarians, scientists, and children’s book writers have fought in the courts and classrooms for the right to teach Darwin’s theory, and the authors on this panel have many ways of winning it.

Started in 1967, International Children’s Book Day takes place on or around Hans Christian Andersen’s birthday, April 2nd, and is celebrated to inspire a love of reading and to call attention to children’s books. The event is sponsored by IBBY, The International Board on Books for Young People, a non-profit organization which represents an international network of people from all over the world who are committed to bringing books and children together. Each year a different National Section of IBBY has the opportunity to sponsor International Children’s Book Day, deciding on a theme and inviting prominent talents from their country to work on a message and design a poster. These materials are used in different ways to promote books and reading. Many IBBY Sections promote ICBD through the media and organize activities in schools and public libraries. Often ICBD is linked to celebrations around children’s books and other special events that may include encounters with authors and illustrators, writing competitions or announcements of book awards.

The 2009 sponsor of International Children’s Book Day is EBBY - The Egyptian Section of IBBY and the theme this year is “I am the World.” Illustrator and storyteller Hani D. El-Masri designed the poster. Click the images below to enlarge the poster and read Mr. El-Masri’s message and biography.
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(Click on event name for more information)

National Poetry Month~ Canada and USA

Growing Up Asian in America Art and Essay Contest Winners Announced~ San Francisco, CA, USA

Exclusive Books Children’s Book Festival~ ongoing until Apr 4, South Africa

Toronto Festival of Storytelling~ongoing until Apr 5, Toronto, ON, Canada

7th Bangkok International Book Fair & 37th National Book Fair~ ongoing until Apr 6, Bangkok, Thailand

20th Annual Children’s Book Illustrator Exhibit~ ongoing until Apr 18, Hayward, CA, USA

Bologna Children’s Book Fair Events in the City~ ongoing until April 30, Bologna, Italy

Discovering Ethnic Minorities - Storytelling Workshops for Children~ ongoing until May 31, Hong Kong

Exhibition of Prize Winning Works of 16th Noma Concours (2008) “Palette of Dream Colours IV”~ ongoing until Jul 5, Tokyo, Japan

Fay B. Kaigler Children’s Book Festival~ Apr 1 - 3, Hattiesburg, MS, USA

Ethiopian Children’s Book Week~ Apr 1 - 7, Ethiopia

International Children’s Book Day~ Apr 2

Desi Teens and Muslim Migration: Personal Journeys from the Asian Diaspora

25th Annual Virginia Hamilton Conference on Multicultural Literature for Children and Young Adults~ Apr 2 - 3, Kent, OH, USA

Conference: What’s New in Children’s Books~ Apr 4, Boston, MA, USA

Young Poets Week~ Apr 6 - 12, Canada

Children’s and Young Adult Literature Festival: Read Green~ Apr 15 - 16, Salisbury, MD, USA

National Library Week~ Apr 12-18, USA

15th Celebration of Children’s Literature~ Apr 18, Berkeley, CA, USA

15th Annual Border Book Festival~ Apr 17 - 19, Mesilla, NM, USA

Congreso Iberoamericano de Libreros~ Apr 18 - 20, Buenos Aires, Argentina

London Book Fair~ Apr 20 - 22, London, United Kingdom

Global Action Week: Open Books, Open Doors~ Apr 20 - 26

Camara Chilena del Libro Book Fair~ Apr 21 - 28, Santiago, Chile

Blue Metropolis Montreal International Literary Festival and Children’s Festival~ Apr 22 - 26, Montreal, QC, Canada

World Book and Copyright Day~ Apr 23

Cambridge WordFest~ Apr 23 - 26, Cambridge, United Kingdom

35th Buenos Aires International Book Fair~ Apr 23 - May 11, Buenos Aires, Argentina

27th Annual Spring Festival of Children’s Literature~ Apr 24 - 25, Frostburg, MD, USA

SCBWI New England’s Annual Conference: Many Voices~ Apr 24 - 26, Nashua, NH, USA

Los Angeles Times Festival of Books~ Apr 25 - 26, Los Angeles, CA, USA

Lecture: The Reconfiguration of Children and Children’s Literature in a Globalized World~ Apr 27, Drumcondra, Ireland

5th Annual PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature~ Apr 27 - May 3, New York, NY, USA

Jane Addams Children’s Book Award Winners Announced~ Apr 28, New York, NY, USA

El Día de los Niños/El Día de los Libros~ Apr 30, USA

Frances Lincoln Diverse Voices Children’s Book Award Winner Announced~ Apr 30, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom

The American Library Association (ALA) will provide a free live Webcast of its national announcement of the top books and media for children and young adults on January 26 at 7:45 a.m. MT. You can also twitter the awards, and receive live updates on award winners as they are announced during the ceremony. In addition, the Youth Media Awards has a home on Facebook which features the RSS feed from the Youth Media Awards Twitter site as well as has videos, photos, and information about the awards.

Awards announced on January 26, 2009 include:

• Alex Awards for the best adult books that appeal to teen audience
• Coretta Scott King Book Awards honors African American authors and illustrators of outstanding books for children and young adults that demonstrate sensitivity to “the African American experience via literature and illustration.”
• John Newbery Medal honors the author of the year’s most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.
• Laura Ingalls Wilder Award honors an author or illustrator whose books have made a substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children.
• Margaret A. Edwards Award honors an author’s lifetime contribution in writing for young adults as well as a specific body of his or her work.
• Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in literature written for young adults.
• Pura Belpré Award recognizes Latino/Latina writers and illustrators whose work best portrays, affirms and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth.
• Randolph Caldecott Medal honors the illustrator of the year’s most distinguished American picture book for children.
• Robert F. Sibert Medal honors an author, illustrator and/or photographer of the most distinguished informational book published for children.
• Schneider Family Book Award for books that embody an artistic expression of the disability experience.
• Theodor Seuss Geisel Award is presented annually to the author(s) and illustrator(s) of the most distinguished book for beginning readers published in English in the United States.
• William C. Morris Award begins in 2009, honoring a debut book published by a first-time author writing for teens and celebrating impressive new voices in young adult literature.

The press release announcing all of the winners will be posted in the Youth Media Awards Press Kit prior to 10:30 a.m. MT. These award announcements are made as part of the ALA Midwinter Meeting, which brings together more than 10,000 librarians, publishers, authors and guests in Denver, Colorado from January 23 to 28.

(Click on event name for more information)

Canadian Library Month~ Canada

Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read~ ongoing until Oct 4, USA

International Children’s and Youth Literature Festival~ ongoing until Oct 4, Berlin, Germany

3rd Annual CYBIL (Children’s and Young Adult Bloggers’ Literary Awards) Nominations Open~ Oct 1 - 15

National Young Writers’ Festival~ Oct 2-6, Newcastle, Australia

Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards Ceremony~ Oct 3, Boston, MA, USA

21st Yukon International Storytelling Festival~ Oct 3-5, Whitehorse, YK, Canada

2008 Ceremony of Best Books~ Oct 4, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Américas Book Award for Children’s and Young Adult Literature Winners Ceremony~ Oct 4, Washington, D.C., USA

Orange County Children’s Book Festival~ Oct 5, Costa Mesa, CA, USA

Children’s Book Week~ Oct 6-12, United Kingdom

13th Annual New England Conference on Multicultural Education~ Oct 8, Hartford, CT, USA

School Library Journal Webcast: Capturing Struggling Readers and Reluctant Readers~ Oct 8

Book It! Cheltenham’s Children’s Literature Festival~ Oct 10-19, Cheltenham, United Kingdom

18th Monterrey International Book Fair~ Oct 11-19, Monterrey, Mexico

YALSA’s Teen Read Week: Books With Bite @ Your Library~ Oct 12-18, USA

“Multicultural Bites” with authors Mitali Perkins, Coe Booth and An Na (part of ReaderGirlz’s celebration of Teen Read Week)~ Oct 13

Ubud Writers and Readers Festival~ Oct 14-19, Ubud, Bali, Indonesia

Frankfurt Book Fair~ Oct 15-19, Frankfurt, Germany

55th Jane Addams Children’s Book Awards Ceremony~ Oct 17, New York, NY, USA

IBBY Ireland Conference: Green Gables to Globalization: Crossover, Canada and Children’s Books~ Oct 18, Dublin, Ireland

SCBWI Tokyo Writers’ Day~ Oct 18, Tokyo, Japan

Children’s Literature Council Fall Gala~ Oct 18, Santa Ana, CA, USA

Vancouver International Writers Festival~ Oct 21-26, Vancouver, BC, Canada

The Big Picture Party: Celebrate the Power of Picture Books~ Oct 27, London, United Kingdom

Book Week~ Oct 27-Nov 9, Japan

Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Awards Ceremony~ Oct 30, San Marcos, TX, USA

28th Santiago International Book Fair~ Oct 31-Nov 16, Santiago, Chile

The Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBC) is proud to sponsor the longest running children’s festival in Australia: Children’s Book Week. Celebrating its 63rd birthday this year, Children’s Book Week will take place August 16th -22nd with the theme “Fuel your Mind”. Schools and public libraries from all over Australia will spend the week celebrating books and Australian authors and illustrators. Classroom teachers, teacher librarians and public librarians will offer a plethora of activities: author and illustrator visits, workshops, theatre acts, competitions, and storytelling relating to the theme in an effort to highlight the importance of reading.

CBCA is a volunteer run, not-for-profit organization comprised of individual members who are passionate about children’s and young adult literature. To help promote Children’s Book Week as well as their Book of the Year Awards, they offer a range of merchandise that can be purchased to decorate schools and classrooms for Book Week. This year Australian author and illustrator Shaun Tan, winner of the 2007 CBCA Picture Book of the Year Award for his book The Arrival, has designed the vibrant, eye-catching posters.

On Friday, August 15th, as a kick-start to Children’s Book Week, the CBCA will announce and present their 2008 Book of the Year awards in the following categories: Older Readers, Younger Readers, Early Childhood, Picture Book, and the Eve Pownall Award for Information Books. The shortlists for these awards were announced in April and at the same time the unique CBCA Junior Judges’ Project (JJP) was launched. The CBCA Junior Judges’ Project encourages children to do their own judging of the shortlisted books in the annual CBCA Book Awards, based on similiar criteria to those used by the CBCA Book of the Year judges. Once the Short List is announced, students guided by their teachers are encouraged to read the shortlisted books and, based on the judging criteria, select their Winner and two Honour Books in one or more categories and cast their votes online, either through their teachers or individually.

Earlier this year while searching the web for children’s literature events, I came across Zarah Gagatiga’s blog School Librarian in Action. Zarah lives in the Philippines so I immediately emailed her and asked her if there were any children’s literature events happening there that we could share with our PaperTigers readers. She quickly emailed back with a resounding YES! - the Philippines’ 25th National Children’s Book Day would be celebrated July 15. Zarah then put me in touch with Ani Almario, Secretary-General for the Philippines Board on Books for Young People, who was pleased to send me the details for the upcoming celebration:

The annual ceremonies celebrating National Children’s Book Day, in commemoration of the publication of Jose Rizal’s Monkey and the Turtle, shall once again happen at the Cultural Center of the Philippines on July 15th. The ceremonies include the announcement of new books coming out in 2008, courtesy of the country’s leading children’s book publishers; the awarding of this year’s Salanga (Writer) and Alcala (Illustrator) prizes; and the induction of new PBBY members.

From July 15 -22 an exhibit entitled the 25 Best-Loved Children’s Book Characters Exhibit will be held at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. After surveying hundreds of Filipino children, this is an exhibit of life-size sculptures of the 25 best-loved children’s book characters. The sculptures are done by members Ang Ilustrador ng Kabataan.

During July, 25 schools will be visited by their favorite children’s book authors. The visits are a joint project between PBBY and the members of Kuwentista ng mga Tsikiting (Kuting), a group of Filipino children’s book authors.

Museo Pambata, the Philippines premier children’s museum, will be celebrating the silver anniversary of National Children’s Book Day throughout July with the following activities: Pop Stories Exhibit, an opinion corner for child visitors; a book donation corner; and a special day when people can dress up at their favorite children’s book characters!

Thanks to Zarah and Ani for providing this information so that we could share it with you. When I first contacted Zarah she posted this on her blog:

This goes to show how blogs and the Internet can help people from different places bridge gaps and get information. The world is indeed becoming smaller, but all the more richer it’s been. Barriers are broken down; new meaning and world views are constructed.

How true! If you know of an event happening in your country, we would love to share it with our readers. Please leave a comment or send me an email.

(Click on event name for more information)

Asia-Pacific Conference on Children’s Book Publishing~ Jul 1 - 3, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Storytellers of Canada 16th Annual Conference~ Jul 2 - 6, Saskatoon, SA, Canada

4th Iberian Congress on Literature for Children~ Jul 3 - 5, San Sebastian, Spain

18th International Poetry Festival of Medellin~ Jul 5 - 12, Medellin, Columbia

NAIDOC (National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee) Week~ Jul 6 - 13, Australia

Multicultural Children’s Literature Conference~ Jul 7 - 8, Boston, MA, USA

15th Tokyo International Book Fair~ Jul 10 - 13, Tokyo, Japan

SCBWI Tokyo Authors & Illustrators Networking Night~ Jul 10, Tokyo, Japan

9th Annual Pacific Northwest Children’s Book Conference~ Jul 14 - 18, Portland, OR, USA

25th National Children’s Book Day~ Jul 15, Philippines

10th Harlem Book Fair~ Jul 17 - 20, Harlem, NY, USA

Montana Poetry Day~ Jul 18, New Zealand

17th Storytelling Festival at the Edge~ Jul 18 - 20, Stokes Barn, United Kingdom

Children’s Books Ireland ‘Summer Stories’ Family Event~ Jul 20, Dublin, Ireland

19th Annual Children’s Book Fair~ Jul 21 - Aug 8, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Maori Language Week~ Jul 21 - 27, New Zealand

IRA: Heritage Language Literacy Development in SE Asia Conference~ Jul 22 - 23, Jakarta, Indonesia

Hong Kong Book Fair~ Jul 23 - 29, Hong Kong

13th Lima International Book Fair~ Jul 24 - Aug 3, Lima, Peru

22nd World Congress on Reading: Reading in a Diverse World~ Jul 28 - 31, San Jose, Costa Rica

(Click on event name for more information)

23rd World Book Fair 2008~ May 30 - Jun 8, Singapore

4th Nami Island International Book Festival~ ongoing until Jun 30, Korea

Asian Children’s Writers and Illustrators Conference~ Jun 5-7, Singapore

Antioch University First Annual Children’s Literature Conference~ Jun 7, Los Angeles, CA, USA

6th Annual Feria del Libro: A Family Book Fair~ Jun 7, Los Angeles, CA, USA

Storylines Festival of New Zealand Children’s Writers and Illustrators~ Jun 8-15, New Zealand

Montana New Zealand Book Award Finalists Announced~ Jun 10, New Zealand

35th Annual Children’s Literature Association Conference~ Jun 12-15, Normal, IL, USA

Book Expo Canada~ Jun 13-16, Toronto, ON, Canada

“Princess Shawl” book launch and reading by Shirley Lim~ Jun 14, Kuala Lumpur

Cape Town Book Fair~ Jun 14-17, South Africa

CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Children’s Book Awards Winners Announced ~Jun 26, United Kingdom

Sunthorn Phu Day (celebrated poet)~ Jun 26, Thailand

American Library Association Annual Conference and Exhibition~ Jun 26 - Jul 2, Anaheim, CA, USA

Canadian Multiculturalism Day~ Jun 27, Canada

Jakarta Book Fair~ Jun 28 - Jul 6, Jakarta, Indonesia

American Indian Youth Literature Awards Presentations~ Jun 30, Anaheim, CA, USA

Why is it that authors feel the need to state that their characters don't like the site of blood. As in "She couldn't stand the sight of blood, especially her own." Um, shouldn't that go without saying? Now if she loved the sight of blood, that would be something to write about maybe. That might be unusual. But not caring so much for the site of your own blood outside of your veins...not a shocker!

Ok, that said, I just finished City of Bones by Cassandra Clare and I want someone else to read it now so we can discuss. I've been reading some mixed reviews, with some valid points, but overall I liked this one. Clary Fray is living an ordinary existance when she witnesses three teenagers killing a demon and is drawn into the supernatural world of the Shadowhunters, rune tattooed warriors who hunt down demons . Soon it's clear that Clary is not so ordinary after all. Imagine Harry Potter and Star Wars all mashed up together in a good way and you have City of Bones. There is the dreaded mention of disliking the sight of blood which made me afraid Clary would end up being Bella-ish. Then there was the begining of a Jacob/Edward feud and I'm thinking uh oh, this is going to be Twilight all over again. But the book redeemed itself by the end. This is only book one, so we'll see, but so far Clary seems rather smart. (Well, she should have figured out who her father is MUCH sooner, but I'll let that slide.) In fact I found most of the characters really appealing which is why I didn't mind that the plot seemed to borrow heavily from other stories. I'm looking forward to the next book.

1. Pics of the cast from the Twilight movie are up on Stephanie Meyer's website. I'm sorry but looking at those pictures made me giggle. For some reason, reading about a family of sparkling vampires is much less silly than looking at pictures of them.

2. Thanks to Bookshelves of Doom I have found my dream house. Check out the staircase/bookcase. Yum.

3. In local news the penguins are starting trouble again. But at least they have people standing up for them though. School Board Vice Chairman John Stevens said in a written statement “Parents determine what is appropriate for their own children and how to guide their children as they learn and grow,” and that “The schools should not be an instrument of censorship."

Ah. So there are some sane people on school boards!

4. I just finished reading Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin and Extras by Scott Westerfeld. Loved Memoirs. Didn't care for Extras. Zevin writes teenagers really well and Memoirs reminded a lot of the Jessica Darling series by Megan McCaffrey. Extras was a whole lot of superficial characters riding around on hover boards. It was like one very long Quiddich match. I know some kids like that sort of thing but I was never that kind of reader.

I have been thinking about fear lately. I just finished reading The Terror Dream by Susan Faludi and then there was an article in BUST by Michelle Dobrovolny about women, fear, and solo travel. So it’s been on my mind a lot. Then, as I was leaving the library last night a youngish guy stops me and asks me why I’m leaving so early. I’m confused but not really wary because I figured that he was just wondering if the library was closing soon. But no, it was my schedule he wanted to know about. He said he thought I always closed on Mondays. That’s when I started feeling a bit sketched out. But I thought about the Bust article and how I didn’t want to be fearful when there really wasn’t any danger so I just made a joke about not being willing to work 16 hour days and headed out to my car. Well, this dude followed me asking me where I lived. I said DC. At this point I was at my car in the parking lot and I was getting a bit nervous. The dude asked what I was up to after work. I said I was off to the gym, wished him a goodnight and hopped in my car. No harm done. But could there have been? As I sat in my car I realized that I had no idea if my fear was warranted in that situation or not. Obviously, the dude wasn’t planning on attacking me or he would have done so in the parking lot. Was it fair of me to assume he was an aggressor when he was just being friendly? Was it right for me to be afraid or was I falling prey to a big myth?

and I'm bored and trolling craigslist, looking at houses I'll never be able to afford. And anyway, who knows where we will have to live once Josh gets a job. But oh, this one is just so cute. Not quite as 'pony and tea party" evoking as the last one, but still I would live there. Sigh.

There's been some great discussion over on the child_lit about the anti-feminist tones in Stephanie Meyer's Vampire series which has gotten me thinking more about the influence books have on teen readers. I read Meyer's first book, Twilight, one day at work and I have to admit, I enjoyed the the story, angst, drama, and all. The later books in the series started to irritate me though. The main character, Bella, becomes the constant the damsel in distress and Edward is too perfect. I mean, he's too content to make an interesting vampire. And yes, he's creepily controlling. And yes. she too submissive. So is this going to corrupt the throngs of teen girls reading the series? It is okay to say, well at least they are reading, or is that akin to giving kids free run to eat as much candy as they like.

My opinion comes out of my own teen reading experience. As I've already admitted, I read all sorts of trash. V.C. Andrews, Christopher Pike, R.L. Stine... but I also read the good stuff too. And by time I was a "teen" I could tell the difference. That doesn't mean I didn't enjoy the junk food. I think we need to give teens credit. I'm sure they are capable of reading critically, when they want to. But sometimes it's pleasurable to get swept up in a melodramatic story without the critic in your head chiming in to spoil all the fun!

I kinda really liked this article in Slate this week on preteens reading the ever so trashy Flowers in the Attic series. I have to fess up to reading the entire series at the age of 12. Then I moved on to the other V.C. Andrews series. And guess what? No harm done. Now what really had me disturbed was my first viewing of Hamlet. But that's another story!

The article starts off with the author talking about not encouraging her kid to read The Golden Compass. I thought that was an odd jumping off point for talking about the allure of dreck. But I do like her points about allowing kids to read what they want to read.