Following on from Monday’s post, here are some of our highlights from Day 2 of the Bologna Book Fair.

We started out with a children’s theatre production inspired by Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and performed by students from Bratislava’s Academy of Fine Arts – great fun!

The JES: Join – Enjoy – Share session for the International Meeting of Children’s Librarians. They had two very interesting speakers lined up: Ruba Totah from the Tamer Institute in Ramallah, Palestine, which won the 2009 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, talking about their many projects, linking to community and school libraries;

and famous Brazilian author Ana Maria Machado, winner of the Hans Christian Andersen Medal in 2000, who gave a very thought-provoking paper about the lamentably small number of foreign-language books translated into English…

“African Books for Children”, a roundtable session chaired by Viviana Quiñones of the French Centre national de la littérature pour la jeunesse – La Joie par les livres with Phocas Ekouedjin of Afrilivres (Association of African Francophone Publishers) and Tainie Mundondo of Apnet (African Publishers Network), as well as publishers from Benin, Senegal, Tanzania, Cameroon, Mauritius and Rwanda. They discussed the publishing and distribution of African children’s books and profiled recent children’s books published in Africa.

A presentation of the 20-year-old journal Takam Tikou in its new online format. Takam Tikou, published by the Centre national de la littérature pour la jeunesse – La Joie par les livres, focuses on children’s books and reading in Africa, the Arab world, the Caribbean and the Indian Ocean. If you read French, there is a fabulous wealth of material and resources available – definitely well worth exploring.

The announcement of the Astrid Lingren Award – see Corinne’s post. It was very exciting and we really felt we had a stake in it this year, with PaperTigers being a nominating body. The visual presentation of winner Kitty Crowther’s books made me want to read all of them – and also ask myself why I’d never come across her work – well, it turns out only one of her books has been translated into English. What was it that Ana Maria Machado was saying earlier that morning?

Seeing a proof of Allen Say’s new book, The Boy in the Garden - it’s going to be another gorgeous book. Thank you for showing it to us, Christine!

And you can see more photos from Day 2 here…

Doris Gebel, USBBY Board Member, has asked us to pass along the following information for the 8th IBBY Regional Conference to be held Oct 2 – 4 in St. Charles, Illinois. The conference is open to anyone interested in international children’s books, including educators, librarians, authors, and students. You do not have to be a member of USBBY to attend or reside in the USA. Everyone is welcome! Registrations will be accepted until all spots are taken.

This year’s conference Children’s Books: Where Worlds Meet will offer attendees a rare opportunity to interact with an unparalleled line-up of international authors and illustrators, and to explore global connections through children’s literature.

International speakers include Shaun Tan from Australia; Yohannes Gebregeorgis, founder of Ethiopia Reads; Arvind Kumar, book distributor extraordinaire from India; Ana Maria Machado, Hans Christian Andersen Award-winning author from Brazil; and others, from a total of fourteen countries on five continents. Carmen Diana Dearden from Venezuela, editor and publisher of Ediciones Ekaré, will deliver the prestigious Dorothy Briley Lecture.

Speakers from the United States include Katherine Paterson, David Wiesner, Anne Pellowski, and publisher/editor Arthur Levine. Naomi Shihab Nye will deliver the closing keynote address.

Stimulating and thought-provoking book discussions and small group sessions will provide opportunities to network with concerned professionals and to think about issues related to the use of international literature to build intercultural understanding. Fascinating traveling exhibits include the International Youth Library’s “Imaginary Library” of original artwork by celebrated illustrators from around the world, the 2008 IBBY Honour Books, and the 2008 IBBY Outstanding Books for People with Disabilities. These exhibitions will be explained through “gallery talks” by such guests as IYL Director Christiane Raabe, IBBY Executive Secretary Liz Page, and others.

The 8th IBBY Regional Conference is an opportunity to show commitment to promoting international understanding through children’s books, and to join an international community devoted to providing children around the world with equal access to quality literature. This event promises to be outstanding, and is not to be missed.