I had the great pleasure this past weekend of going to Tokyo for two PaperTigers related events — one, to give a talk about PaperTigers to the SCBWI Tokyo chapter, and two, to visit the Bologna Children’s Book Fair Exhibit held annually in Japan at the Itabashi Art Museum. On Friday, July 8 a small but enthusiastic audience of SCBWI members came to my talk at Tokyo’s Women’s Plaza in Shibuya to hear me explain what
PaperTigers is all about. I told everyone how there were three main components to PaperTigers — the blog, the website, and the outreach program. When my focus turned to the SPT outreach program, I was also able to introduce host Holly Thompson’s particular outreach contribution which involved a set of books being donated to the Butterfly School in Cambodia. That was a great plus! After our talk, we had a round of Q and A about PaperTigers and I got to see some of the lovely work of illustrators such as Izumi Tanaka and hear about writer and illustrator Yoko Yoshizawa’s work with the retelling of folktales around the world, using the work of local illustrators. I met Ruth Gilmore, librarian and church worker, and author of kidsermons– a four book series of children’s sermons. I was able to meet with Annie Donwerth Chikamatsu, creator of the wonderful website about Japan called Here and There Japan. And of course, it was quite exciting for all of us to chat about Holly Thompson’s new fundraising project, the Tomo anthology of Japan-related YA fiction, which is now receiving submissions. Check out the Tomo blog as well as Holly’s own blog and website, Hatbooks.
The following Saturday I went to the Itabashi Art Museum to see the 2010 Bologna Book Fair exhibit. The Book Fair exhibit tours
Japan annually. In the Tokyo area, the hosting museum is the Itabashi Art Museum which has been hosting the book fair for thirty years. I was most intrigued by the artwork of the winner of the 2010 International Award for Illustration, Philip Giordano. His illustrations were for a rather fantastical re-telling of the famous Japanese fairytale — Kaguyahime. There were many other wonderful illustrations, but I was a bit dismayed by how few there were from the Americas — south and north. Yet, I was very glad to get a taste of some of the world’s best art for children; it certainly inspired me to think about writing for children in a new way! I picked up the Illustrator’s Annual and have been enjoying browsing through it.
As delightful as my Tokyo visit was, it ended rather soberly with tremors from a 7.3 earthquake that hit Tohoku on the morning of July 10. I was in my cousin’s apartment when things started to sway and shake