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Hello! :o) You may be visiting Asia in the Heart, World on the Mind for the first time because you read about it in the Sunday Inquirer Magazine. Welcome! I've put together this post to introduce you to Asia in the Heart, World on the Mind and to the rest of the kidlitosphere.

Here are a few of my favorite Asia in the Heart, World on the Mind posts:

Author Interview: Perpilili Vivienne Tiongson

Illustrator Interview: Fereshteh Najafi

Author/Illustrator Interview: Grace Lin

1st Philippine National Children's Book Awards

Book Review: What shall I make? by Nandini Nayar and Proiti Roy

Inspiration from the 3rd Asian Festival of Children's Content

I highly, highly recommend these excellent Filipino book bloggers:

Bibliophile Stalker

Bookmarked!

Chachic's Book Nook

Coffeespoons

Ficsation 

Gathering Books

School Librarian in Action

You can follow me on my other social media accounts:

My first blog (which I still maintain)

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

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My email address: [email protected] 

Thank you so, so much for stopping by! :o)

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Hello! :o) You may be visiting Into the Wardrobe for the first time because you read about it in the Sunday Inquirer Magazine. Welcome! I've put together this post to introduce you to Into the Wardrobe and the rest of the kidlitosphere.

Here are some of my favorite Into the Wardrobe posts:

Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour: Interview with Illustrator Shahar Kober

Book Review: Graceling by Kristin Cashore

Author/Illustrator Interview: Peter Brown

The winner of the Cybils middle grade science fiction and fantasy category is...

Book Review: Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Another Interview with Author Sue Fliess!

I highly, highly recommend these other kidlit and YA lit blogs. They are the reason I started blogging more seriously!

A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy

A Fuse #8 Production

Chasing Ray

Chicken Spaghetti

Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

You can follow me on my other social media accounts:

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

Tumblr

Thank you so, so much for stopping by! :o)

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Hi, guys! How are you? Exactly one week ago was International Book Giving Day (a day to give children new, used, or borrowed books!) and I know many of you book lovers celebrated. I celebrated by giving my neighbors' kids copies of But That Won't Wake Me Up!, written by Annie and Anelka Lumbao and illustrated by Liza Flores (Adarna House, 2011). Please, please share how YOU celebrated!

To participate in the International Book Giving Day Blog Hop:

1. For those without a blog, please share your stories in the comments section of this blog post. =D

2. For those with a blog, write a post describing how you celebrated International Book Giving Day. A short and sweet post (e.g. a photo of you or your child giving away a book) is welcome!

3. Click on the "Add your link" button below and add the link to your post. Don't forget to check out the International Book Giving Day blog posts from all over the world!

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Links, links, links!

* Click here for a report on the very active Filipino reading community - it's my last post as the PaperTigers June guest blogger!

* Author Candy Gourlay was one of the first to blog about the 3rd Asian Festival of Children's Content (AFCC) in Singapore. Read her posts here.

* Little, Brown editorial director Alvina Ling blogged about the AFCC and Book Expo America (BEA) here. Meeting Alvina was one of the highlights of the AFCC for me! =D *major fangirl spazzing*

* Illustrator Blooey Singson summarizes the AFCC here.

* Here author Trevor Kew shares key points he took away from the festival.

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* This is my second guest blog post for PaperTigers. Please read it to find out about some new Philippine young adult literature. =D

* Click here to read about a possible international book bloggers meetup. If it happens, I'll definitely be there!

* Fantastic news! Tu Books has announced the first annual New Visions Award. The New Visions Award will be given for a middle grade or young adult fantasy, science fiction, or mystery novel by a writer of color. The winner receives a cash grant of $1000 and a standard publication contract with Tu Books. An honor winner will receive a cash grant of $500. Click here for more details. I look forward to reading the winning novels!

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For me, the best thing about blogging is the people - the community I am a part of. It's a joy interacting with other lovers of kidlit and YA lit, and I have some truly amazing friendships because of the kidlitosphere/YA blogosphere. I've been able to meet many book bloggers in the Philippines, and last month in Singapore, I met Liyana of Liyanaland. We were so happy to be spazzing over YA authors and K-pop together IN PERSON. We thought, why not do this with other kidlit and YA lit bloggers? Why not have an INTERNATIONAL book bloggers meetup? If you're interested in getting together with kidlit and YA lit bloggers from all over the world, please click here to fill out Liyana's survey. Help us plan this international meetup. I think we can really make this happen!

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With Joo Hee Yoon at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast!

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One of the influences and inspirations of this blog is Li and her blog GAL Novelty. Li took a long break from the blogosphere but is now back with a new blog, A World of Paper Hearts. Check it out! ~^o^~

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I apologize for the lack of new posts here. I've been working on my MA thesis. I'll be updating here as soon as I can. For now, please head on over to Color Online for my new interview with children's book author Candy Gourlay! =D

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*I'm interviewed by Charlotte at The Book on the Hill about blogging from the Philippines.

Charlotte is in Paris and she has the best job in the world. She works for a publisher and reads children's books all day long. She reviews the books, and based on her reviews, the publisher decides if they will buy the rights to the books and publish them in France. Wow!

*I interviewed the gorgeous and talented Fereshteh Najafi, an Iranian children's book illustrator, at Asia in the Heart, World on the Mind!

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Wow. The big reveal is today. I can't believe it.

My sooper sekrit project is a second blog called Asia in the Heart, World on the Mind. Asia in the Heart, World on the Mind is a children's and young adult blog about books set in Asia and books with Asian characters (regardless of where they are published and whether or not their authors and illustrators are Asian), and Asian authors and illustrators (no matter where they are in the world). I started the blog because of the sheer pleasure I get from such books and from getting to know such authors and illustrators.

Also, there aren't enough blogs highlighting Asian children's and young adult books. This needs to change.

I am not going to abandon Into the Wardrobe. Into the Wardrobe will remain my more general children's and young adult book blog.

I'm launching the new blog with interviews of two Filipino writers: Perpilili Vivienne Tiongson, the author of "I Hate My Mother!", and Candy Gourlay, the author of Tall Story. Coming soon: blog posts on the children's and young adult book scene in Hong Kong and South Korea! (I've also cross-posted a lot of relevant Into the Wardrobe posts over at the new blog.)

Click HERE to check out Asia in the Heart, World on the Mind! I hope you all like it. =D

P.S. Carlo Angelo Canlas ([email protected]) designed both my blogs. Isn't he awesome? =D

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I have never been on any kind of "best" list, so I am really happy that Into the Wardrobe is part of the 100 Best Book Blogs for Kids, Tweens, and Teens. I'm especially thrilled about Into the Wardrobe being categorized under "Well-Rounded Book Blogs." Yay! =D

Thank you, Online School. I am glad there are people who enjoy reading this blog and find it helpful.

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For the months of October and November, PaperTigers, a website on multicultural books for young readers, is featuring children's and YA books from and about the Philippines, as well as their talented authors and illustrators. I am absolutely thrilled that a spotlight has been put on Filipino children's and YA books!

I had the great privilege of contributing four articles to this latest edition of PaperTigers:

Click here to read my interview of author Carla Pacis.

Here to read a reprint of my interview with author Dorina Lazo Gilmore.

Here to read a reprint of my interview with author/illustrator Edna Cabcabin Moran.

And click here to read my fully revised review of "I Hate My Mother!": Magnetic levitation, a grain of rice & 3 women by Perpilili Vivienne Tiongson.

I'd also like to point out the special feature on illustrator Sergio Bumatay III. I especially like his illustrations for Naku, Nakuu, Nakuuu! (PaperTigers reviews the book and shares some of Sergio's illustrations from the book.) The man's work is FREAKIN' AWESOME.

Check out all this and more at Papertigers.org! :o)


P.S. For all Filipinos in America, all Filipinos who grew up in America, and all who are half Filipino/half American, Happy Filipino American Heritage Month!

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It's now time for the fourth Children’s and YA Bloggers’ Literary Awards (the Cybils), so far the only book awards from the blogging community! The Cybils reward the children’s and young adult authors and illustrators whose books combine literary merit and “kid appeal.”

How are the winners chosen? Anybody may nominate any children's and YA books published in the contest year in English. This is where you come in! Click here to nominate your favorite books published in English between Oct. 16, 2008 and Oct. 15, 2009. Nominations are already open and they close on Oct. 15, 2009. You may nominate one book per category. Here are the categories:

Easy Readers/Short Chapter Books
Fantasy/SF
Fiction Picture Books
Graphic Novels
Middle Grade Fiction
Non-Fiction, MG/YA
Non-Fiction Picture Books
Poetry
Young Adult Fiction

Panelists read the nominated books and determine a list of five to seven finalists for each category. The finalists are announced on Jan. 1, 2010.

For example, here are this year's panelists for the science fiction and fantasy category:

Panel Organizer: Sheila Ruth, Wands and Worlds

Panelists (Round I Judges), MG/Elementary:

Anamaria Anderson, bookstogether
Cindy Hannikman, Fantasy Book Critic
Brian Jung, Critique de Mr. Chompchomp
Eva Mitnick, Eva's Book Addiction
Charlotte Taylor, Charlotte's Library

Panelists (Round I Judges), Teen/YA:

Steve Berman, Guys Lit Wire
Gwenda Bond, Shaken & Stirred
Tanita S. Davis, Finding Wonderland
Nettle, The Muse, Amused
Sheila Ruth (see panel organizer)
Angie Thompson, Angieville
Samantha Wheat, Twisted Quill

From Jan. 1 to mid-February 2010, a different group of judges will read all the finalists and pick the winners. Here are the second round judges for the Cybils' science fiction and fantasy category:

Round II Judges:

Maureen Kearney, Confessions of a Bibliovore
Anne Levy, Cybils
Sam Musher, Parenthetical
Tarie Sabido (THIS IS ME!!!), Into the Wardrobe (THIS IS RIGHT HERE!!!)
Tasha Saecker, Kidslit

I am sooo grateful to be part of the Cybils this year. And I am sooo excited to read all the finalists and choose winners with the other judges. The winners will be announced on Valentine’s Day 2010. :o)

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Australian YA blogger Adele is celebrating international YA bloggers at her blog Persnickety Snark. She's already featured YA bloggers from Bangladesh, Vietnam, Spain, the Netherlands, and other countries - and the celebration is only halfway over! Today, she is featuring yours truly. :o) So if you want to know a little bit more about what it's like to blog about YA books from the Philippines, head on over here to read Adele's interview of me!

And oh yeah, today is my 27th birthday. :o)

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Debut YA novelist Albert Borris has a way with words. Or rather, had a way with words. This past December, just months before the release of CRASH INTO ME (Simon Pulse), Albert suffered a stroke so powerful, his doctors told him he was lucky to be alive. And alive he is, having made a full physical recovery, enough to roughhouse with his two young sons and work out at the gym. However, Albert is still working on recovering something else: his words.

To be sure, they are all up there in his brilliant mind. He just can’t get them out – verbally or on paper – in the correct order, yet. But he’s working on it. Prior to his stroke, Albert was a full time teen counselor, husband and father. He also served as Co-President of the Class of 2k9, a group of 22 debut middle grade and young adult novelists banding together to promote their books. Words were his thing. Communicating with others, in person and on the page, was his specialty.

As his friends and fellow debut novelists, we, the Class of 2k9, are making it our business to get the word out about Albert and his novel, CRASH INTO ME. Here's a bit about it:

When Owen, Frank, Audrey, and Jin-Ae meet online after each attempts suicide and fails, the four teens make a deadly pact: they will escape together on a summer road trip to visit the sites of celebrity suicides...and at their final destination, they will all end their lives. As they drive cross-country, bonding over their dark impulses, sharing their deepest secrets and desires, living it up, hooking up, and becoming true friends, each must decide whether life is worth living--or if there's no turning back.

Won’t you join us in spreading the word?

Pass this on to every librarian, teacher, and teen reader you know.

Send him an encouraging note on our website: www.classof2k9.com

Blog about Albert.

Pre order his book.

Anything you can think of to show your support would be deeply appreciated. Thank you.

The Class of 2k9

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Hello, hello! Welcome to this month's edition of the Carnival of Children's Literature. :D Below you will find links to some of the best May blog posts on children's literature. Enjoy!


Excellent book reviews that will make you want to read the book:

Becky reviews Where's Tumpty by Polly Dunbar at Young Readers.

Susan Stephenson reviews How to Heal a Broken Wing by Bob Graham at The Book Chook.

Janelle Davis reviews Before You Were Here, Mi Amor by Samantha Vamos and Santiago Cohen at Brimful Curiosities.

Lee Wind reviews 10,000 Dresses by Marcus Ewert and Rex Ray at I'm Here. I'm Queer. What the Hell do I read?.

Nancy Arruda reviews Cycle of Rice, Cycle of Life: A Story of Sustainable Farming by Jan Reynolds at Bees Knees Reads.

Mary Ann Scheuer reviews A Life in the Wild: George Schaller's Struggle to Save the Last Great Beasts by Pamela S. Turner at Great Kid Books.

Z-Dad and his three kids review Mommy Poems by John Micklos, Jr. and Lori McElrath-Eslick at Bookie Woogie.

Steven Bush reviews Frankie Pickle and the Closet of Doom by Eric Wight at Book Dads.

Kate Coombs reviews The Big Orange Splot by Daniel M. Pinkwater, The Araboolies of Liberty Street by Sam Swope and Barry Root, Cosmo’s Moon by Devin Scillian and Mark Braught, and The Boy Who Grew Flowers by Jen Wojtowicz and Steve Adams at Book Aunt.

Eva Mitnick reviews The Enchanted Castle by E. Nesbit at Eva's Book Addiction.

Sarah reviews Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett and Brett Helquist at In Need Of Chocolate.

Nymeth reviews The Savage by David Almond and Dave McKean at things mean a lot.

Jackie Parker reviews Getting the Girl: A Guide to Private Investigation, Surveillance, and Cookery by Susan Juby at Interactive Reader.

Andromeda Jazmon reviews A Wish After Midnight by Zetta Elliot at a wrung sponge.

Jennifer Roland reviews The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan at Pop Culture Curmudgeon.


Enjoyable and enlightening author profiles:

Jama Rattigan puts a spotlight on author/illustrator Allen Say at jama rattigan's alphabet soup.

Becky interviews Carol Lynch Williams at Becky's Book Reviews.

Terry Doherty interviews Laurel Snyder at Scrub-a-Dub-Tub.

Melissa Wiley interviews Stephanie Spinner at Here in the Bonny Glen.


Insightful reading experiences:

Carmela Martino shares This Is My Brain—This Is My Brain On Books--by April Halprin Wayland at Teaching Authors.

Jen Robinson shares Outdoor Reading at Booklights . PBS Parents | PBS. She also shares her most recent outdoor reading photo here.


Great resources:

Anastasia Suen shares a word choice mini lesson in What Can You Do with a Paleta? at Picture Book of the Day.

Jenny Schwartzberg traces the history of ghosts in children's books in Thinking about Ghosts at Jenny's Wonderland of Books.


Fun videos:

Sonja Cole booktalks Chu Ju's House by Gloria Whelan at Bookwink.

Elizabeth O. Dulemba presents My School Visit on YouTube! at dulemba.com.

Lynn E. Hazen presents Make a Cool SHIFTY CARD at Imaginary Blog.

Jon Bard presents 4 Rules Beginning Kids' Book Writers Should Never Break at Children's Writing Web Journal.

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April is National Poetry Month in the U.S., so it's going to be a REALLY EXCITING month in the kidlitosphere. Woot woot!!

Sylvia will review a children's poetry book every day at Poetry for Children.

Tricia will interview a poet (or two!) every day at The Miss Rumphius Effect.

Greg will present a previously unpublished poem by a different poet every day at GottaBook.

Anastasia will post a poem by a K-12 student every day at Pencil Talk - School Poems.

Kristy will have conversations with people who don't think they like poetry at Reverie -- Abstract Musings on a Hopeful Life.

Elaine will give away children's poetry books at Wild Rose Reader.

Jone, of Check It Out, will collaborate with students so that they can send their original poetry on postcards to different people.

And of course every Friday is still Poetry Friday: kidlit bloggers all around will share their poetry-related posts.

Have I mentioned that this is going to be a REALLY EXCITING month in the kidlitosphere? :D

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Fran Slayton is a children's book author whose debut middle grade novel When the Whistle Blows comes out June 2009. At her blog, Fran is posting a series of interviews with kidlit bloggers on how they determine which books to review and which authors to interview. The series is dedicated to all debut children's and young adult literature authors in 2009.

The first interview she has up is with me! Thank you so much for hosting me, Fran. It was fun being interviewed about kidlit blogging. :D

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Today's teaser is at Independent Book Report.

It's the first chapter of EARRINGS OF IXTUMEA. Check it out!

http://independentbookreport.blogspot.com/

On Friday my publisher, Virtual Tales will be featured!

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