While attending the 2011 Asian Festival of Children’s Content I met and spent time with three wonderful children/young adult authors: Chris Cheng from Australia, Dave Seow from Singapore and Jane Houng from Hong Kong. Interestingly enough, I ran into all 3 of them again at the 2012 Bologna Children’s Book Fair, and am looking forward to seeing them all again next week at the 2013 Asian Festival of Children’s Content. Besides being involved with AFCC panel sessions and workshops, each of them will also be doing a book launch during the Festival. Each launch takes place at the AFCC venue, the National Library of Singapore, and you are more than welcome to come join in the celebrations. I know that I will be there!

Dave Seow, Sunday, May 26th 4:45pm

Emma’s Elephant ~ Emma has an elephant named Ella. She’s no ordinary elephant but an invisible elephant, but if Ella likes you, she’ll let you see her.

Jane Houng, Wednesday, May 29th 11:15am

Bloodswell -  is a young adult novel suitable for readers over the age of sixteen. Billed as “a fast-paced vampire saga infused with the sights, people and atmosphere of Hong Kong”, it’s a story of intense teenage friendships, dangerous secrets and forbidden love. Read Asian Review of Books’ review here.

Chris Cheng, Wednesday, May 29th 1:45pm (Project Splash! Asia launch) and 7:30pm (SCBWI dinner)

Water ~ 2013 is designated as the International Year of Water Cooperation. This book is a celebration of water and its importance to our existence. Illustrator Susanna Goho-Quek’s beautiful illustrations are created with acrylic, water colour and pen on paper, canvas and plastic sheet. All proceeds from the sale of this title—an original contribution to the Project Splash! Asia collection to be launched at AFCC2013—go towards furthering the mission of the Asian Festival of Children’s Content.  Project Splash! Asia, is a first collection and bibliography of children’s books from Asia on a common theme—water. More information about Water and Project Splash! Asia is here.

This gorgeous poster heralds this year’s Golden Baobab Prize. Entries are now open for submissions of unpublished manuscripts of writing for children up to the age of 12 from “African citizens of all ages;” and his year, Golden Baobab will award three prizes:

· The Picture Book Prize awards $1,000 to the best story written for readers ages 6-8;

· The Early Chapter Book Prize awards $1,000 to the best story written for readers ages 9-11;

· The Rising Writer Prize awards $1,000 to the most promising young writer below the age of 18.

This year’s prize packages also include a publishing deal and opportunities to attend exclusive Golden Baobab writers’ workshops. Additional rules and regulations can be found here. The deadline for submissions is not far away – 14 July 2013 – so if you’re thinking of entering, go for it!

You can follow Golden Baobab’s news on their blog… and do read our recent Guest Post, “African youth literature: what visibility on the international market?” by Mariette Robbes of the International Alliance of Independent Publishers.

Mariette Robbes is a volunteer with the International Alliance of Independent Publishers, following an internship with the organisation in 2011.  She holds a Masters in the”World of the Book” (Aix-en-Provence University), for which she specialized in children’s book publishing in India; and she has just completed three months with the International Youth Library in Munich, pursuing her research into the history of youth publishing in India.  Mariette is also working concurrently on several textile and graphic creation projects.

At this year’s Bologna Book Fair, the International Alliance of Independent Publishers ran a workshop with African children’s book publishers (from Mali, Guinea, Togo, Senegal, Rwanda, Madagascar and Benin) and a Brazilian publisher specialized in the Afro-Brazilian culture.  We are delighted to welcome Mariette to PaperTigers with an article about the workshop and some of the issues discussed, and in which she highlights some of the challenges facing these small, independent publishers.

~ African Youth Literature: What Visibility in the International Market? ~

A reflection on multiculturalism, African children’s literature
and the international market place.

Children’s books publishing, in expansion in many regions in the world, is particularly strategic in countries where publishing is emergent – it is indeed through youth literature that tomorrow’s readership is formed. While catering for their local readership, publishers in Africa also wish to be known internationally and to have business with publishers from others countries. Their participation at some public book fairs in the North, for instance the Montreuil Children’s Book Fair (the biggest French children’s book fair) shows the existence of a readership on the Northern markets. However, publishers from African countries still participate very little in the global exchange of rights that animates the publishing world – and which is the core of international events like the Bologna or Frankfurt Book Fairs.

This question of visibility and intercultural exchange is quite complex and not specific to African children’s literature, as Gita Wolf – from the Indian publishing house Tara Books – underlines in her book Picturing Words & Reading Pictures (Tara Books, Chennai, 1997):

 ”Whether rights are bought for books from India or Africa also depends largely on current political climates. What should children in Europe or North America be reading? Are multicultural books exotic, or are they necessary? As in other industries like fashion, countries like India can be ‘in’ one season and ‘out’ the next.”

Those topics were the main subject of exchanges in a two-day workshop that saw eight independent publishers from different African countries and Brazil share their experiences and think of innovative solutions that would help them to be more visible at international book fairs, in order to promote their publishing houses worldwide.

Publishers present were:

Paulin Assem – Ago editions (Togo)
Agnès and Peter Gyr Ukunda – Bakame (Rwanda)
Antoinette Correa – BLD (Senegal)
Sékou Fofana – Editions Donniya (Mali)
Aliou Sow – Ganndal (Republic of Guinea)
Marie Michèle Razafintsalama – Jeunes Malgaches (Madagascar)
Cristina and Mariana Warth – Pallas editora (Brazil)
Cendra Gbado Batossi and Pierre Gbado – Ruisseaux d’Afrique (Benin)

All these publishers come from very different countries and backgrounds, and publish a wide array of books; from poetry to comics, to picture books and young adult literature. Their readerships are different, as well as the government policies supporting the development of book industries in their own countries. In this sense, all the publishers had different stories to share when it comes to marketing their books in the global market.

 

During the two days of the workshop, intense discussion took place between publishers, sharing their own experiences of the international marketplace: for example, Marie Michèle Razafintsalama from the publishing house Jeunes Malgaches (Madagascar) related her experience of buying the rights of The Little Prince by Saint-Exupéry to translate it into a bilingual Malagasy and French edition Ilay Andriandahy Kely; while Cristina and Mariana Warth from Pallas Editora (Brazil) explained their preparation process for the Fair, beginning months in advance.

Though it is well noted that the invitation program of Bologna Book Fair is a great opportunity because it allows publishers to attend, it is not sufficient in itself for creating a convincingly visible presence at the Fair.  On this point, a presentation by Hannele Legras, Literary Agent from Hannele and Associates agency, was very helpful. She gave an introduction to foreign rights management, practices of the profession, a panorama of international markets, and a lot of tips and advice that publishers were eager to try.

The workshop was also the place for publishers to express their views on the difference between their local readerships’ tastes, expectations and purchasing power, and what can be seen in the Western marketplace. Do publishers need to adapt their books in order to market them internationally? What are the market standards in other emerging markets i.e China, Brazil, Mexico, etc? How might they differ from the Western standards, thus creating not one standard for publishing, but many different business models?

In the coming months and as a follow-up to the workshop, the Alliance will produce a small guide which will summarise all the ideas shared by publishers and the different speakers at the workshop.

The workshop also allowed publishers, who do not often have the opportunity to meet up, to exchange projects, books and ideas among themselves. Watch out for new projects and collaborations coming soon!

N.B. This workshop took place in the context of the International Assembly of Independent Publishers (more information here), and thanks to a partnership with the Bologna Book Fair to engage in reflection about the visibility of African independent publishers in international book fairs and rights events.

The other day, Corinne gave a heads up to Dr. Myra Garces-Bacsal’s sparkly Pre-AFCC Glitter posts – well, today’s features Corinne herself – so head on over to the wonderful Gathering Books blog  to see what Corinne is going to be doing at AFCC…

One thing it doesn’t mention, though, is that Corinne is also on the judging panel of one of the children’s book awards that will be presented during AFCC… Just looking at the shortlists makes you gulp at the decisions she and the rest of the panel are having to make!

Following up on our post about the Singtel Asian Picture Book Award (Author) shortlist, here are the details for the shortlisted illustrator candidates. The objective of the Singtel Asian Picture Book Award is to encourage and inspire the creation and publication of more Asian-themed picture books. The award is also intended to stimulate public interest and awareness of picture books. The first SingTel Asian Picture Book Award 2013, with a prize of S$10,000 (to be split evenly amongst an author and an illustrator), will be presented during the Asian Festival of Children’s Content on 28 May 2013.

Reza Dalvand
(Iran)
Title: Who Knows Mr. Pink

Reza Dalvan is an author and a member of the Iranian Society of Illustrators. He won several prizes inc
including the Encouragement Prize for Nami Island International Illustration Concours, South Korea 2013, First prize for the Niayesh Illustration biennial – Iran 2012 and the First prize of Grand exhibition Isfahan University of Art – Iran 2012.

Bolormaa Baasansuren
(Mongolia)
Title:  Old City

Bolormaa Baasansuren was born in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. She graduated from the Institute of Fine Arts
in Mongolia and was a research student of Bunkyo University in Japan. She won the grand prize for
Noma 14th picture book competition in Japan and has four published picture books including Legend of Wives and My Little Round House. {See PaperTigers’ features on Bolormaa here, here and here}

Lak – Khee Tay Audouard
(Singapore)
Title: Wayang Night

Born in Singapore, children’s book illustrator Lak – Khee grew up in a multi – racial neighbourhood. She saw her first picture book at ten and since then she has been “hooked” on books. Lak – Khee is most keen to share her love for fast – disappearing cultural treasures with a whole generation of IT savvy children of today.

Gina Eugenia
(Indonesia)
Title: Cap Go Meh

Gina received her BA in Visual Communication from ITB University, Indonesia. Illustrated around 25 children books and has worked with Disney Magazine Indonesia, a project for Children Folktales in Southeast Asian Countries and Korea by the SEAMEO in 2012

Following up on yesterday’s post, here are more details about the shortlisted candidates for this year’s  SingTel Asian Picture Book Award (Author). The objective of the award is to encourage and inspire the creation and publication of more Asian-themed picture books. The award is also intended to stimulate public interest and awareness of picture books. The first SingTel Asian Picture Book Award 2013, with a prize of S$10,000 (to be split evenly amongst an author and an illustrator), will be presented during the Asian Festival of Children’s Content on 28 May 2013.

The 2013 SingTel Asian Picture Book Award (Author) candidates are:

Swapna Haddow
(United Kingdom)

Don’t Eat That, Phoenix!
Phoenix, a young Chinese boy, is celebrating New Year with his family. Phoenix is excited to get the banquet started and sets his dinner table with lots of Chinese New Year items he discovers in his home. The entire family sits down to dinner and enjoys Phoenix’s unique banquet.

Sophie Dewayani
(Indonesia)

Cap Go Meh
Nisa, a Muslim girl, and Lili, a Chinese – Indonesian, debate over where cap go meh rice cake is the genuine icon of Eid Al – Fitr tradition or Chinese New Year celebration. After sharing the rice cakes and the excitement of experiencing each celebration, Nisa and Lili end up discovering what is more essential; that a dish is able to bridge diversity.

Debra Chong
(Singapore)

If I Were…
“If I were a lion, I could scare enemies away with a single roar.”
If I were a giraffe, I could reach out and pick delicious fruits from the tallest tree.”
But Shan Shan is neither.
She’s a panda that’s good at….hmmmm, just what is it that pandas are good at anyway?

Ganbaatar Ichinnorov
(Mongolia)

Old City
Little boy Anar loves his toy horse. Suddenly his horse escapes into grandpa’s old photo album. Anar goes after the horse and finds himself in the photo album where everything is like in real world. Anar wanders in the city streets looking for his horse but the horse runs away from him and he can not catch it. However grandpa helps him to find his favorite toy horse and makes him happy.

Lak – Khee Tay Audouard
(Singapore)

Wayang Night
A narrative about a much awaited evening of roadside theatre outing for two siblings with their parents. As the young reader turns the pages, glimpses of culture, food and Peranakanarchitecture are offered. In the style reminiscent of 50s era comics, the central attraction will be the pop – up stage.

Maria Agnes Du’a Bewa
(Indonesia)

Utan For Marcia
Marcia is about to turn six years old and, as is tradition, should received an utan (type of sarong) woven by her mother as birthday gift. Unfortunately, her mother is very busy but Marcia has a plan to ensure she receives this special gift.

We are very excited to welcome artist Jimmy Liao to our Gallery on the PaperTigers website.  I love this illustration from his book The Sound of Colors, and I first fell in love with Jimmy’s work when I encountered The Blue Stone a few years ago.  Then, at the Bologna Book Fair in 2010, I was bowled over again by the vibrancy and joyous imagination of his work.  I just wanted to follow the little girl up that blossom-lined avenue!

…and as for the meadow on the cover of One More Day with You, that you can also see here, along with other examples of Jimmy’s books…

So I am thrilled that Jimmy has taken a pause on his phenomenal creative journey to join us at PaperTigers.  His books have taken his native Taiwan and also China and Japan by storm, and have been translated into many languages;  alas, they are not as well represented as they should be in English.  Please can we have more!

In our Gallery, Jimmy shares with us images from the three books that are available in English (When the Moon Forgot, The Blue Stone: A Journey Through Life, and The Sound of Colors: A Journey of the Imagination), as well as others — all depicting a physical journey within the realms of imagination: so head on over to the Gallery to find out more about Jimmy and his own personal journey as an artist, and to view some gorgeous examples of his vibrant artwork. (I should perhaps also point out that in the last few years Jimmy has also collaborated with well-known children’s authors to create some wonderfully imaginative children’s books – it would just be wonderful to have more of his own author-illustrator work available too.)

And is it possible that we have more for you? YES indeed!  For alongside Jimmy’s Gallery, we also have a very special Personal View “The Journey of Translation: Walking with Jimmy Liao“, written by author Sarah L. Thomson, who adapted the three titles mentioned above for publication by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers as picture books in English for children.  In the article she talks about the poetry within the books – and her article is itself a poetic tribute both to Jimmy’s work and to the art of translating – do read it!

And do share with us your own experiences of Jimmy’s books…

Eric Walters, illustrated by Eva Campbell,
The Matatu
Orca Book Publishers, 2012.

Ages 5-8

No wonder children love trains, planes, buses and the like – they take people places; and when you’re not one of the passengers, you can let your imagination fly about where they’re going and what awaits at journey’s end. These are the kinds of exhilarating ideas that The Matatu inspires in its young readers. Little Kioko has dreamed about jumping aboard the colorful matatu, the brightly painted local buses that pause on route through his Kenyan village in a cloud of dust, carrying passengers inside and luggage and livestock piled precariously high on the roof — and now, for his fifth birthday, oh joy! His grandfather is taking him for a ride all the way to the end of the line and back again. He can hardly wait! …

Read the full review

Happy Children’s Day / Book Day (El día de los niños / El día de los libros)!

Looking for a great book to read at your Children’s Day /Book Day celebrations? Be sure to check out the book that was written specifically for this day!

Pat Mora, illustrated by Rafael López,
Book Fiesta! Celebrate Children’s Day/Book Day:Celebremos El día de los niños/El día de los libros
Rayo/HarperCollins, 2009.

Ages 4-8

Award-winning writer and literacy advocate Pat Mora, founder of El día de los niños/El día de los libros / Children’s Day/Book Day, has infused her latest offering with enough bookjoy to go around the globe!

Dedicated to the members of REFORMA and ALSC, “who connect children and books,” Book Fiesta! is a bilingual homage to the importance of reading and books in children’s lives.

Rafael López’s unforgettable illustrations are a fiesta rich in colors and pizzaz. They show children, adults and even animals reading everywhere -up in a hot air balloon, inside a whale’s mouth, in a submarine, on top of an elephant; and perfectly bring to life the book’s core message of “books anywhere, anytime.”

“We read in English and Spanish,
In Chinese and Navajo too.
We read by ourselves,
we read with a friend,
and at the library too.“

The book includes a letter from the author about why she founded El día de los niños/ El día de los libros, and suggestions for celebrating the occasion creatively and with gusto.

Budding book lovers will delight in this upbeat and celebratory offering!

Warning to parents and caregivers: this book may inspire children to read in the bathtub.

A portion of the proceeds from Book Fiesta! will be donated to literacy initiatives related to El día de los niños/ El día de los libros.

Reviewed by PaperTigers Editor Aline Pereira
October 2009

Learn more about Pat Mora, an amazing author and tireless literacy advocate, by reading our interview with her here .  We also have an interview with  award winning illustrator Rafael Lopez here which includes a gallery of his outstanding work.

Head on over to the PaperTigers site, where we continue our Journeys theme with an interview with Australian author and illustrator Gabrielle Wang.

Gabrielle talks about her journey as a writer, before and since the publication of her acclaimed first novel, The Garden of Empress Cassia, and introuduces us to her latest book, The Wish Bird, which is due out in August. I’m particularly excited about this book as it will feature “about ten full-page pen and ink illustrations throughout the book, more than I have ever done before.” Gabrielle started out as an artist before becoming a writer, so we defintiely have a treat in store.

Here are a couple of snippets from the interview:

I spent my teen years trying to hide my Chineseness as I think a lot of children of immigrant families did. At the same time, I always had the feeling that I didn’t quite belong in Australia, that perhaps I belonged in China. But after living in Taiwan and China for six years, I realised I did not fit in there either. Eventually, I think, we all need to realise that we are citizens of the world.

For me travelling is one of life’s greatest pleasures. Going to a new place is like being a child again. Now, I travel for research, which gives me added pleasure. But it is important to leave your own culture at home otherwise misunderstandings can ensue.

For example…! Head on over to the PaperTigers website to find out more and to read the whole interview.