Crisscrossing the Globe: a World of International Books for Young People is an article in the 2/1/2010 issue of School Library Journal describing USBBY’s 2010 Outstanding International Books list. Written by Elizabeth Poe, the article includes annotations for all the books recognized. The outstanding lineup of titles includes My Little Round House (selected for the Spirit of PaperTigers book set donation project), Sopa de Frijoles, Wanting Mor, Hannah’s Winter, Tales from Outer Suburbia, and more.

This annual list is one of the activities of USBBY, the US chapter of IBBY, the International Board on Books for Young Readers, whose aim is to promote international understanding and good will through books for children and young adults. A goal very much in line with PaperTigers’ own.

And speaking of USBBY, the organization is currently seeking applicants for the 2011 Bridge to Understanding Award. The award recognizes a program that promotes reading as a way to expand a child’s world. Any organization (such as schools, libraries, clubs, scout troops), within the United States, that has a program for children using books and reading as a way of promoting an understanding of cultures/countries outside the United States is eligible to apply. The selection committee will consider such criteria as the number of children reached by the program and the impact on the community as demonstrated by publicity coverage or anecdotal evidence. To be considered for the 2011 award, the program must occur during 2010. Download an application, or visit the website for more information.

This month’s focus for the Social Justice Challenge is Water, a precious, life-giving resource that many of us take for granted. It is only relatively recently that awareness is growing everywhere of water being a finite resource. Many of us just have to turn on the tap for a ready supply of clean water for drinking, washing, even playing – but it is shocking indeed to think that nearly half the people living in the developing world do not have access to clean water; and that, according to UNICEF:

“Inadequate access to safe water and sanitation services, coupled with poor hygiene practices, kills and sickens thousands of children every day, and leads to impoverishment and diminished opportunities for thousands more.”

Older Brother and Little Bother cite a statistic they believe comes from WaterAid that 3 people die every 10 minutes because of a lack of clean water. In an attempt to turn this remote, hopeless-sounding figure into something they can get their heads round, we are currently reading Ryan and Jimmy: And the Well in Africa that Brought Them Together by Herb Shoveller (Kids Can Press, 2006). This is the wonderful and inspiring story of how the determination of one small boy in Canada, Ryan Hreljac, captured people’s imagination so that he was able to raise the $2,000 needed to buy a well for a community in Uganda – and then go on raising money to fund drills for more wells – so that now, the Ryan’s Well Foundation, with the now eighteen-year-old Ryan at its head, is working to bring safe drinking water and increase sanitation and hygiene awareness in 16 countries around the world.

Another engaging book and superb resource for raising young people’s awareness about water is (more…)

Today, in honor of Black History Month, the Spirit of PaperTigers (whose news has been spreading far) make way for the spirit of Coretta Scott King.

In commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the Coretta Scott King Book Awards (established in honor of Coretta Scott King’s legacy to increase the presence and appreciation of African-American writers and illustrators in the book community), last year TeachingBooks.net launched the Coretta Scott King Book Award Curriculum Resource Center, “a free, multimedia, online database for educators and families, featuring more than 250 original recordings with the award-winning authors and illustrators, and hundreds of lesson plans” (including material on Jerry Pinkney’s work—he’s the only artist to date to win the award five times).

We encourage you to explore these resources and seek out the fantastic books they highlight. Doing so would make for a wonderful way of honoring Black History Month. And since we are talking about going deeper, beyond the “festivals & heroes” surface of the occasion, here’s a little piece of trivia for you: Did you know that Coretta Scott King initially didn’t like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.? She thought he was too short. But, luckily, she knew better than to let first impressions get in the way of better judgement. Amen to that!

Bookshelf #14:

Older Brother  and Little Brother
11 years old and nearly 9 years old
Kirkbymoorside, United Kingdom

These shelves are in Little Brother’s bedroom but both boys dip into them – as do I!  There are lots of favorites there – many of which we’ve got to know through PaperTigers.  Sometimes we just grab a random handful and pile into bed for a “book session” – though as they get older, it seems to be getting harder and harder to get readaloud time together apart from bedtime.

Submitted by: Marjorie

For details on how to submit a photo of your child’s bookshelf, click here.

Hooray for Nathalie Mvondo, who writes today that her blog Multiculturalism Rocks! is now a month old – and what a month! She’s featured an interview with Stacy Whitman, founding editor of TU Publishing; the re-emerging bookcover scandal; and a sensitive and informative post about the Haiti earthquake.

If you haven’t paid Nathalie a visit yet, head on over and discover Multiculturalism Rocks! for yourself – and don’t miss out her delightful About Me page, where she talks about her first book and the trouble it got her into!

The Middle Country Public Library in Centereach NY, USA, currently has an exhibition entitled “The Creative Worlds of Lynne Barasch” . Ongoing until May 2010 the exhibit features several of Lynne’s books with interactive stations relating to each title. Lynne will appear at the library this Saturday, January 16th, at 1 PM for lower school age children and at 2PM for teens. Click here to read PaperTigers review of Lynne’s most recent book First Come the Zebra and here to read our review of her book Hiromi’s Hands, published in 2007 by Lee and Low Books.

As soon as I spotted the Social Justice Challenge button dotted all over the blogosphere, I knew that I would have to come up with some very good arguments not to take it on… so you will now find said button in our side-bar and here is my first post as an Activist for this month. If you haven’t already, I really do recommend you read this post, which explains the workings of the Challenge much better than I ever could… I will just say that this is a Challenge to do, as well as to absorb…

Launching January’s theme of Religious Freedom, which happens to run parallel to our own current theme of Respect for Religious Diversity, we are asked to answer a few questions:

What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of religious freedom?
Peace and harmony – when we all learn to respect the right of each individual to follow (or not) the religion of their choice without fear of persecution, the human race will come close to achieving them. And education also comes to mind – because children (and adults) need to find out about the different world faiths, and learn to value both the diversity and shared values that they have at their heart.

What knowledge do you have of present threats to religious freedom in our world today?
I have some awareness of religious intolerance across the world – but I’m not going to go into it here…

Have you chosen a book or resource to read for this month?
With my sons, I’m going to read Many Windows: Six Kids, Five Faiths, One Community by Rukhsana Khan with Elisa Carbone and Uma Krishnaswami (Napoleon, 2008) and The Grand Mosque of Paris: A Story of How Muslims Rescued Jews During the Holocaust by Karen Gray Ruelle and Deborah Durland DeSaix (Holiday House, 2009), both of which I have already read… I haven’t chosen something new for myself yet… if I hadn’t recently read Wanting Mor (also by Rukhsana) , I would choose that…

Why does religious freedom matter to you?
It is a human right.

Two of the books I gave my 8-year-old daughter for Christmas were Douglas Wood’s Old Turtle (illus. by Cheng Khee-Chee) and Old Turtle and the Broken Truth (illus. by Jon J Muth). I had heard much about these modern-day classics over the years and was looking forward to sharing them with her. I read the books once, before wrapping and putting them under our Christmas tree, but it wasn’t until we read them together, snuggled up in bed, that I realized how truly special they were. Their plea for unity, acceptance and understanding between people and nature got two thumbs up from my daughter.

In Old Turtle, when all creation starts arguing over who or what God is, Old Turtle, their wise and ancient leader, is the only one who accepts and incorporates the beliefs of all the creatures: “‘God is indeed deep,’ she says to the fish in the sea, ‘and much higher than high,’ she tells the mountains.” In Old Turtle and the Broken Truth (Muth’s image of the Truth falling from the sky and breaking in half being an especially poignant one), it’s up to a young, determined girl to help humans see that the truth they are fighting over is broken, and that there is not just one truth, but “truths all around us, and within us.”

The very important ideas these books convey add dimension to our website’s current focus on Respect for Religious Diversity, and the following quote from Old Turtle and the Broken Truth perfectly captures its essence:

Remember this, Little One… The Broken Truth, and life itself, will be mended only when one person meets another—someone from a different place or with a different face or different ways—and sees and hears herself. Only then will the people know that every person, every being, is important, and that the world was made for each of us.

A very Happy New Year to all our readers old and new – in the words of our current editorial over on the PaperTigers website, all of us on the PaperTigers team wish you a 2010 filled with books, peace and understanding!

…And in order to help you ensure that you have plenty of books to read, it’s time to launch our Reading the World Challenge for 2010. You may have noticed that this year we have a wonderful new widget (Thank you, Eun Ha!): please do use it on your blog if you have one; and if you don’t, do let us know about your book-choices – we would love to feature them here. I know there are many book-challenges out there but do join us if you can.

The criteria will be the same as last year, with one slight difference. You can choose at what point between January and June your 7-month period begins, in order to have completed the Challenge by the end of the year. So here’s what we have to do:

Choose one book from/about/by or illustrated by someone from each of the seven continents – that’s:

Africa
Antarctica
Asia
Australasia
Europe
North America
South America

Have the books read aloud to you or read them yourself; share them as part of a book-group or in class. Combine your choices with other reading challenges.

The books can be picture-books, poetry, fiction, non-fiction… the choice is yours.

You can find lots of ideas in the PaperTigers Reviews and Reading Lists sections – and if you have any ideas you’d like to suggest to people joining in from different continents, please do!

Happy Reading!

And P.S. If anyone would like the code for adding the button to their blog, please email me – marjorie(at)papertigers(dot)org – and thank you to all of you who have already taken it for getting the word out…

The last book of the year has been read (Sahwira: An African Friendship, by Carolyn Marsden) and a whole new year of reading is about to start. Oh the joys of being an avid reader!…

If, like me, you’re likely to ring in the New Year in bed, with a good book, you might want to consider Reading Into the New Year. “It hardly sounds like a challenge,” I hear you say. Well, it isn’t. It’s more like an invitation to have fun and share your passion for books with others. However, the book(s) you choose to curl up with to welcome the new year and new decade might reveal much about your aspirations and hopes—and I guarantee the fireworks in your mind’s eyes will be just as incredible as the ones outside!

Whereas I am still planning to get caught up with titles I missed from previous years, the list of 2010 releases I just started already excites me beyond words. Perhaps one or two of these titles might inspire you to start your own brand new pile of books to look forward to?

Ling and Ting by Grace Lin
A Million Shades of Grey by Cynthia Kadohata
Bamboo People by Mitali Perkins
Our Grandparents: A Global Album (A Global Fund for Children book)
Seeds of Change: Wangari’s Gift to the World by Jen Cullerton Johnson, illustrated by Sonia Lynn Sadler.

The always reliable CCBC is hard at work compiling the best of the 2009 crop: CCBC Choices 2010 will be available after March 6, 2010 (for information on how to have a copy sent to you, go to their website). And Fuse#8 has a great post on the best of the decade.

Happy New Year of Reading to all!