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As a fan of Shen’s Books I was delighted to see publisher Renee Ting and author Emily Jing partenering up on Shen’s blog to bring us “Crossing Cultural Borders,” a 6-week series of posts about different themes and issues related to multicultural literature for young readers. We encourage you to follow the series and contribute by adding your views.

You may also want to swing by The Miss Rumphius Effect to read Tricia’s post on evaluating books from the viewpoint of other cultures. And over at Writing With A Broken Tusk, author Uma Krishnaswami brings up the question of whether or not multicultural children’s literature has been successful in its attempts to cross cultural borders. Her question was prompted by the article “Questioning Cultural Stereotypes Through Children’s Books” by Tulika managing editor, Radhika Menon.

All well worth your blog-hopping journey.

While cookbook authors seduce with rapturous descriptions of sizzling butter and caramelized onions, children’s book authors and illustrators cook up things in a differently enticing way. Bound between hard or soft covers, stories to satisfy the appetite of hungry readers abound. But too many book choices can be as overwhelming as an abundant produce aisle or farmer’s market. Just what is that Samurai Shortstop all about? And what of The Arrival, First Daughter or Mismatch? Discovering new books and writers is as exciting as trying an unfamiliar new fruit.

Identifying quality children’s literature, multicultural literature in particular, can be a time consuming task. Luckily, we have many tried and true sources to help us recognize the special tastes of Paul Yee or Laurence Yep, Rachna Gilmore or Mitali Perkins.

For a feast of book and book-related offerings we hope you’ll turn to us, of course. We also recommend CCBC (Cooperative Children’s Book Center), ALAN (Assembly of Literature for Adolescents), the Edge of the Forest, School Library Journal and the Horn Book. And the ever-growing garden of great Kidlit blogs such as Shen’s Blog and The Fire Escape, to name just two.

In the world of children’s literature pickings are never slim. Hungry readers are lucky to be so well fed.

Thanks, thanks, and more thanks to dcist.com, the D.C. Stanford Club, Sepia Mutiny, MotherReader, Zee, YALSA, Liz, Fuse#8, and others for announcing my book launch party at the D.C. Public Library next Saturday. There's still room to squeeze in, but please RSVP so I can plan the food. I'm ready to bhangra, are you? Politics and Prose Bookstore is providing copies of First Daughter: Extreme American Makeover, but they'll only have a few on hand so mostly we'll be dancing like this:



I'll also be signing copies of Rickshaw Girl at ALA's annual convention in D.C. from 1-2 p.m. on Saturday at booth #2910. Stop by and say hi if you're in the vicinity.

Sameera closed out her blog tour today over at Sara's Holds Shelf. Meanwhile, I had a great time being interviewed by the astute Kelly Herold as part of the SBBT. Here's the full schedule, courtesy of Master Organizer Colleen Mondor:

Sunday, June 17

Gene Yang at Finding Wonderland

Monday, June 18

Tom & Dorothy Hoobler at Chasing Ray
Mitali Perkins at Big A, Little a
Sara Zarr at Interactive Reader
Justina Chen Headley at Hip Writer Mama
Justine Larbalestier at A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy
Dana Reinhardt at lectitans
Brent Hartinger at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast
Laura Ruby at Writing and Ruminating
Jordan Sonnenblick by Bildungsroman
Ysabeau Wilce at Finding Wonderland

Tuesday, June 19

Laura Ruby at Miss Erin
Bennett Madison at Shaken & Stirred
Shaun Tan at A Fuse #8 Production
Chris Crutcher at Bookshelves of Doom
Holly Black at The YA YA YAs
Kazu Kibuishi at Finding Wonderland
Christopher Golden at Bildungsroman
David Brin at Chasing Ray
Kirsten Miller at Jen Robinson's Book Page
Sara Zarr at Big A, little a
Sonya Hartnett at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

Wednesday, June 20

Mitali Perkins at Hip Writer Mama
Svetlana Chmakova at Finding Wonderland
Dana Reinhardt at Interactive Reader
Laura Ruby at A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy
Holly Black at Shaken & Stirred
Hilary McKay at Bookshelves of Doom
Kirsten Miller at Miss Erin
Julie Ann Peters at A Fuse #8 Production
Carolyn Mackler at The YA YA YAs
Jordan Sonnenblick at Writing and Ruminating

Thursday, June 21

Eddie Campbell at Chasing Ray
Sara Zarr at Writing and Ruminating
Brent Hartinger at Interactive Reader
Justine Larbalestier at Big A, little a
Cecil Castellucci at Shaken & Stirred
Ysabeau Wilce at Bildungsroman
Jordan Sonnenblick at Jen Robinson's Book Page
Chris Crutcher at Finding Wonderland
Kazu Kibuishi at lectitans
Mitali Perkins at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast
Laura Ruby at The YA YA YAs

Friday, June 22

Tim Tharp at Chasing Ray
Justina Chen Headley at Big A, little a
Ysabeau Wilce at Shaken & Stirred
Dana Reinhardt at Bildungsroman
Julie Ann Peters at Finding Wonderland
Cecil Castellucci at A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy
Bennett Madison at Bookshelves of Doom
Holly Black at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast
Justine Larbalestier at Hip Writer Mama
Kirsten Miller at A Fuse #8 Production

Saturday, June 23

Justina Chen Headley finishes out the week at Finding Wonderland

Put on some reggae, grab your sunglasses, and head out with us on the 2007 Summer Blog Blast Tour, during which over 25 young adult authors will be hosted by the best kid lit blogs on the planet. I'm going to be interviewed here (Monday, June 18), and here (Wednesday, June 20), and here (Thursday, June 21).

Photo Source: Nicholaus Haskins

Author Mitali Perkins asked Aline, managing editor of the Papertigers website, some questions about her and her role in the project – and you can now read the Q&A on Mitali’s Fire Escape blog… Thank you, Mitali!

And can I just point out here that Mitali has taken blogging into another dimension: Sparrow, the protagonist of her imminent new book, First Daughter: Extreme American Makeover actually has her own blog. Wow, we novices at PaperTigers salute you!

With the launch of PaperTigers' new blog, I invited Aline Pereira, editor of the award-winning, resource-rich site, to talk about her vision and vocation.

Q. Tell us about your journey to this land where children's literature is beloved. When did you start reading? How did you end up as the managing editor of the site?

A: I have always loved reading and writing, which I have been doing ever since I can remember. When I came to San Francisco from my native Brasil in 1996, after living in Portugal for some time, the first thing I did was join a writing group of non-native speakers writing fiction in English. To this date those co-writers are my closest friends... But before moving to Portugal and then here, I was working as assistant manager at a bookstore in Rio de Janeiro that specialized in art and children's books. It was the first bookstore in Rio to have a café, readings, music performances... It was a remarkable place to be. Lots of positive, creative energy...

In San Francisco, I worked as a project manager at a web design firm in the South of Market area for 6 years before my daughter was born (I took a 3 year-break after her birth) but I never lost sight of my dream of working with books again. And as it happens with most important things in life, serendipity played a big role in my joining PaperTigers: one day, when I was not even looking for a job, my husband was hired to work on the Pacific Rim Voices family of websites (of which PaperTigers is one of the projects) and heard that they were looking for someone to replace Elisa Oreglia, the person who conceived and started the site, as she was moving to China to pursue other projects. Needless to say, I jumped at the chance. Luckily, Peter Coughlan, the Executive Director of Pacific Rim Voices, believed in my skills and enthusiasm enough to give me the reins of the project. It's been a challenging, wonderful and very rewarding ride.

Q. (Note to confused Fire Escape visitors: In the photo, the stony dude with large nostrils is neither Aline's hubby nor Peter Coughlan.) What do you like about managing the PaperTigers site?

A: The most rewarding things are being familiar with the great work of authors and illustrators; letting others know about new books, talents and projects, and providing a type of grassroots overall support to those involved in writing, producing, recommending and reading these great books (authors, illustrators and publishers, and also librarians, teachers and parents) in their attempts to encourage children to become hungry readers and respectful citizens of the world. Knowing that our rapidly growing readership thinks that we are doing a good job feels pretty good, too.

Q. What are your dreams for the site and the blog?

A: I hope that PaperTigers new team blog helps us get closer to our audience, which includes teachers, librarians and parents working with and raising children in different parts of the world. As for the website, I hope for more funding so we can do more of what we do, and better: that is, to promote understanding within and across cultures through children's literature with a particular focus on the Pacific Rim and South Asia. Growing our pool of overseas contributors is also a priority, to make sure we are covering more literature coming out of other important but less talked about parts of the region as well.

Q. Name a couple of reads with bookmarks that are on your nightstand right now.

A: To the horror of many an avid reader, I admit to having a chronic problem with dog-earing my books. My nightstand is almost collapsing under the weight of my dog-eared piles, but their company helps me sleep better. The books don't get moved from my nightstand (or the floor around my bed, for that matter) to the bookshelves until long after I've finished reading them.

Books there now include: Salman Rushdie's Haroun and the Sea of Stories, Lensey Namioka's Mismatch; the YA poetry collection What Have You Lost?, selected by the terrific Naomi Shihab Nye, and several others, including your First Daughter. I'm embarrassed to say Sparrow has been staring at me for a couple of weeks now, with those pretty eyes of hers. "I'll get to you soon," I assure her every evening before falling asleep.

Aline, please don't let Sparrow become a literary nag; it's heartening to know she's on your nightstand in such superb company. A thousand thanks to you and to Pacific Rim Voices for the information and encouragement you provide to those of us in children's literature circles. Até a vista!

Grab a juicy peach or two, find the nearest hammock, and read the weekend away by taking Mother Reader's Second Annual 48 Hour Book Challenge.

PaperTigers (visit the award-winning site on multicultural books for young readers) announces the launch of a fabulous new blog. Note to novice bloggers: stock blog with content before going live and you just might make it on blogrolls everywhere.

Haiku-reviewer Emily confesses all, Fuse moves to SLJ (read the 57 comments for a who's who -- or who thinks they're who -- of kid lit bloggers), Miss Snark retires, and Editorial Anonymous comes blazing into the blogosphere. I'll be in Portland, Maine today recovering from all the excitement (and doing an author visit at King Middle School with artist Jamie Hogan).

Tagged by the likes of Jen, MotherReader, and Camille, I must break my no-meme practice and confess 8 bad habits. First, the rules to this particular cyber-game.

Each player lists eight facts/habits about themselves. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed. At the end of the post, the player then tags eight people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

1. bite nails
2. read LOTR and Harry Potter and Narnia every year
3. spread mango pickle on bread, top with onions, eat alone
   
4. nurse one diet coke a day
5. chew/suck atomic fire balls
6. obsessively comb retriever fur
7. google own books and blog
   
8. break meme rules by not tagging anybody

I posted recently on Sparrowblog about Duke University student Andrew Giuliani and his relationship with his father. I edited the post many times, as one of my goals in tracking the First Kid wannabes is to avoid trashing them. I'm glad I took time to fiddle with the words, as my stats shortly revealed a visitor from a dorm at Duke University searching for "Andrew Giuliani." Now I know young Giuliani's not the only student there, but if he was indeed googling himself, I'd want him to leave my blog feeling like he'd been treated with courtesy.

The New York Times yesterday reported on a new discussion among prominent bloggers in A Call For Manners in a World of Nasty Blogs that was spurred by disturbing death threats posted on Kathy Sierra's technology blog:

... Mr. O’Reilly and Mr. Wales (creator of Wikipedia) talk about creating several sets of guidelines for conduct and seals of approval represented by logos. For example, anonymous writing might be acceptable in one set; in another, it would be discouraged. Under a third set of guidelines, bloggers would pledge to get a second source for any gossip or breaking news they write about.

Bloggers could then pick a set of principles and post the corresponding badge on their page, to indicate to readers what kind of behavior and dialogue they will engage in and tolerate. The whole system would be voluntary, relying on the community to police itself.

...Some online writers wonder how anyone could persuade even a fraction of the millions of bloggers to embrace one set of standards. Others say that the code smacks of restrictions on free speech ...

Robert Scoble, a popular technology blogger who stopped blogging for a week in solidarity with Kathy Sierra after her ordeal became public, says the proposed rules “make me feel uncomfortable.” He adds, “As a writer, it makes me feel like I live in Iran.”

Anastasia Goodstein (Totally Wired) of Ypulse fame described Sparrowblog as "a very cool blog promoting a forthcoming YA novel:"

...All you YA authors out there, take note: Ypulse reader Mitali Perkins just launched a fictional character blog to promote her book First Daughter: White House Rules. The character is "Sameera, who can't vote but still wants to make a difference. She's also Pakistani-American, adopted, and provides a non-partisan insider's view of campaigning." This is why I want to write YA -- it seems like so much FUN.

I just discovered La Bloga, a group blog that features posts on "Chicana Chicano Literature, Chicana Chicano Writers, Chicana Chicano Fiction, Children's Literature, News, Views, and Reviews." Children's literature is covered by René Colato Laínez, author of bilingual picture books like I Am René, the Boy / Soy René, El Niño (Piñata Books), which won the International Latino Book Award for Best Bilingual Picture Book of 2006 and a special recognition in the 2006 Paterson Prize for Books for Young People, and a forthcoming book from Boyd's Mill Press called My Shoes and I. Here's an excerpt from his bio:

Colato Laínez is a graduate of the Vermont College MFA program in Writing for Children & Young Adults. He was born in El Salvador and was inspired to be a writer by his great uncle, Jorge Buenaventura Lainez, at whose house he first learned the word "escritor/writer." He has been a bilingual elementary teacher at Fernangeles Elementary School, where he is known by the students as "the teacher full of stories."

A hearty shout-out from the Fire Escape to fellow bloggers:

• Lisa Yee for winning the James Thurber Writer-in-Residence Award.
  
  
• Chris Barton, who landed his second contract for a mysterious picture book called S.V.T., which I'm convinced is about vomit.
  
  
• Alvina Ling of Little Brown for editing two of the SCBWI 2006 Golden Kite Award winning books and now S.V.T., too.
  
  
• Cynthia Leitich Smith for the spotlight in an article about blogging authors in PW and for her just-released novel (Tantalize, Candlewick) already in its third printing.
  
  
• Jen Robinson for her interview on Kim and Jason's Escape Adulthood podcast show.
  
  
• Kelly Herold, who got a nice SLJ mention of the communal children's wiki novel she started.
  
  
• Betsy Bird for her forthcoming article about kid lit blogs in the next issue of Horn Book Magazine.

the new issue of the edge of the forest went live (with a review of my Rickshaw Girl to boot) ...

the Children's Book Council and USBBY announced their list of 39 outstanding international books published in 2006, narrowing the choices from a field of 250 books ...

dozens of kid lit peeps had a blast in the bar nine (bar me and Jen Robinson, who were partying on the other coast in a more sedate venue; pix of my whirlwind California Dreamin' book tour to come with my mother in gorgeous array painting alpanas) ...

hordes of other book folk (and some of the ones hobnobbing at bar nine, of course) attended the SCBWI conference in New York ...

cynsations went down right when Cynthia Leitich Smith's new novel Tantalize (Candlewick) was scheduled for release, and she's blogging at hubby's site (they come in handy, don't they? hubbies and their sites) ...

the literate world continued to wait in breathless anticipation for the announcement of the Cybils awards (TBA TOMORROW!) ... Read the rest of this post

Librarian Liz Burns of Tea Cozy fame has written an article for the School Library Journal about blogging called Curl Up With A Cup of Tea and a Good Blog. I was never part of the in-crowd in school, but apparently I've made the cut at midlife, because Mitali's Fire Escape was included on her list of best book blogs -- a list that features many of my own blog crushes. Thanks, Liz! I'll have to flip, find, and watch a segment of Buffy for the first time, just for your sake.

Here's an updated list of bloggers who've read Rickshaw Girl:

• PlanetEsme
• MomReady
• The Edge Of The Forest
• Reader's Rants
• Gather Around A Table With A Good Book
• MotherReader
• Literary Safari
• InfoDad
• A Chair, A Fireplace and A Tea Cozy