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National Share a Story Month~ United Kingdom

Get Caught Reading Month~ USA

Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month~ USA

Asian Heritage Month~ Canada

Discover Children’s Story Centre Events~ London, United Kingdom

International Youth Library Exhibits~ Munich, Germany

The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art Exhibits~ Amherst, MA, USA

The National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature Exhibits~ Abilene, TX, USA

Dromkeen National Centre for Picture Book Art Exhibits~ Riddells Creek, Australia

Mirror, an Exhibition by Children’s Author and Artist Jeannie Baker~ Australia

Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Events

Feria del Libro~ ongoing until May 5, Santiago, Chile

TD Canadian Children’s Book Week~ ongoing until May 7, Canada

Buenos Aires Book Fair~ ongoing until May 9, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Art, Children’s Literature, and the Environment: Art and Photography from Green Earth Book Award Recipients~ ongoing until May 15, Salisbury, MD, USA

Booktopia, the West Vancouver Children’s Literature Festival~ ongoing until May 15, West Vancouver, BC, Canada

Reading Crusade 2011~ ongoing until May 23, Christchurch, New Zealand

Look! The Art of Australian Picture Books Today~ ongoing until May 29, Melbourne, Australia

The Art Institute of Chicago Exhibit: Real and Imaginary: Three Latin American Artists – Raúl Colón, David Diaz and Yuyi Morales~ ongoing until May 29, Chicago, IL, USA

Mitali Perkins’ 2011 Fire Escape Short Fiction and Poetry Contest~ entries accepted until Jun 1, USA and Canada

Skipping Stones Magazine’s Youth Honor Award Program – Multicultural Awareness and Nature Appreciation~ entries accepted until Jun 25

Golden Kite, Golden Dreams: The SCBWI Awards Exhibit~ ongoing until Jun 24, Hattiesburg, MS, USA

2012 South Asia Book Award~ entries accepted until Dec 31

Exhibits of Winning Entries from the 2011 Growing Up Asian in America Contest~ ongoing until Feb 2012, USA

Paula Yoo’s Third Annual National Picture Book Writing Week~ May 1 – 7

Picture Book Week with Malaysian Illustrators~ May 2 – 7, Bangsar, Malaysia

Children’s Book Week~ May 2 – 8, USA

10º Congreso Nacional de Lectura~ May 3 – 6, Bogota, Columbia

Bogota Book Fair~ May 4 – 16, Bogota, Columbia

Children’s Literature Book Club for Adults Discusses Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park and Water Hole Waiting by Jane and Christopher Kurtz~ May 5, Fresno, CA, USA

The 5th International Conference on the Fantastic and the Miraculous (FANCUD): In the Mirror of the Past: Journeys from History to HISTORY~ May 5 – 7, Zielona Góra, Poland

The Childhoods Conference: Mapping the Landscapes of Childhood~ May 5 – 7, Lethbridge, AB, Canada

8th Thessaloniki Book Fair and International Conference: Book and Education: What Has to Change?~ May 5 – 8, Thessaloniki, Greece

The Asia House Festival of Asian Literature~ May 5 – 27, London, United Kingdom

BOOKFEST – The Vancouver Island Children’s Book Festival~ May 7, Nanaimo, BC, Canada

Children’s Literature Council Workshop: Read the Movie? Using Movies Based on Books to Promote Literacy~ May 7, Los Angeles, CA, USA

Children’s Literature Festival~ May 7 – 8, Delhi, India

IRA 56th Annual Convention: The Power of Literacy~ May 8 – 11, Orlando, FL, USA

Auckland Writers and Readers Festival~ May 10 – 15, Auckland, New Zealand

New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards Festival: The Big Read~ May 11, New Zealand

Awâsis 2011 Aboriginal Education Conference~ May 11 – 13, Saskatoon, SK, Canada

Adarna House Workshop: Developing Book-Based Lesson Plans~ May 14, Quezon City, Philippines

Bisto Children’s Book of the Year Awards~ May 16, Dublin, Ireland

Sydney Writers’ Festival~ May 16 – 22, Sydney, Australia

6th Annual Storytelling Marathon~ May 16 -22, Quito, Ecuador

2011 New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards Ceremony~ May 18, Auckland, New Zealand

Library of the Early Mind Screening~ May 19, Westmount, QC, Canada

Rutgers University Conference: Multiple Childhoods / Multidisciplinary Perspectives: Interrogating Normativity in Childhood Studies~ May 19 – 21, Camden, NJ, USA

Mountain Echoes – A Literary Festival~ May 20 – 23, Thimphu, Bhutan

UNESCO World Day for Cultural Diversity, for Dialogue and Development~ May 21

Children’s Books Ireland Conference: Get Together: Childrens Books Collaborations~ May 21 -22, Dublin, Ireland

Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award Week~ May 21 – 30, Sweden

Book Expo America~ May 23 – 26, New York, NY, USA

The Foundation for Children’s Books New England Voices Series~ May 24, Boston, MA, USA

BookExpo America~ May 24 – 26, New York, NY, USA

Library and Information Week~ May 24 – 30, Australia

AFCC Panel Discussion: Building a Nation of Readers via Web 2.0 An Introduction to Kidlitosphere and the YA Blogosphere by Corinne Robson (www.papertigers.org), Tarie Sabido (http://asiaintheheart.blogspot.com) and Dr. Myra Garces-Bacsal (www.gatheringbooks.org)~ May 25, Singapore

A Collective Children’s Book Launch by Coonoor Kripalani (in English & Hindi)~ May 25, Singapore

International Latino Book Awards~ May 25, New York, NY, USA

National Simultaneous Storytime: Feathers for Phoebe by Rod Clement~ May 25, Australia

Reading Matters: Youth Day~ May 26, Melbourne, Australia

Reading Matters: My Favourite Children’s Book~ May 26, Melbourne, Australia

Asian Festival of Children’s Content (AFCC)~ May 26 – 28, Singapore

American Literature Association 22nd Annual Conference~ May 26 – 29, Boston, MA, USA

Book Blogger Convention~ May 27, New York City, NY, USA

Reading Matters Conference~ May 27 – 28, Melbourne, Australia

Librasia 2011 – The Asian Conference on Literature and Librarianship~ May 27 – 30, Osaka, Japan

World Book Fair~ May 27 – Jun 5, Singapore

World Village Festival~ May 28 – 29, Helsinki, Finland

Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences 2011: Coasts and Continents: Exploring Peoples and Places~ May 28 – Jun 4, Fredericton, NB, Canada

The Guardian Hay Festival: A Festival for Tots, Teens and In-Betweens~ May 28 – Jun 5, United Kingdom

Museum of Childhood Exhibit: Author and Illustrator Judith Kerr~ May 28 – Sep 4, London, United Kingdom

Master Class on Picture Books with Anushka Ravishankar, Gavin Bishop and John Mckenzie ~ May 29 – 30, Singapore

(Click on event name for more information)

Get Caught Reading Month~ USA

National Share-a-Story Month~ United Kingdom

Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month~ USA

Asian Heritage Month~ Canada

BOOKtopia Children’s Literature Festival~ ongoing until May 7, West Vancouver, BC, Canada

Buenos Aires Book Fair~ ongoing until May 10, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Drawing from a Story: Illustrations by Selected Caldecott Medal Winners~ ongoing until May 23, Chadds Ford, PA, USA

Once Upon a Time . . . Children’s Book Illustrators, Then and Now~ ongoing until May 27, Oakland, CA, USA

Mitali Perkins’ 2010 Fire Escape Short Fiction and Poetry Contest~ entries accepted until Jun 1, USA and Canada

Into the Wood: Antonio Frasconi’s Art for Children~ ongoing until Jun 13, Ameherst, MA, USA

Skipping Stones Magazine’s Youth Honor Award Program – Multicultural Awareness and Nature Appreciation~ entries accepted until Jun 25

The National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature Exhibit: Why Grow Up? Etienne Delessert~ ongoing until Jun 26, Abilene, TX, USA

Monsters and Miracles: A Journey through Jewish Picture Books~ ongoing until  Aug 1, Los Angeles, CA, USA

Everyday Adventures Growing Up: Art from Picture Books~ ongoing until Nov 28, Chicago, IL, USA

BOOKFEST – The Vancouver Island Children’s Book Festival~ May 1, Nanaimo, BC, Canada

“Second to the Right, and Straight on Till Morning:” Navigating the Narrative Realm(s) of Children’s Texts~ May 1, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Old Passions – New Technologies: Children’s and Young Adult Literature
in a Web 2.0 World~ May 1, Los Angeles, CA, USA

Expo 2010~ May 1 – Oct 31, Shanghai, China

SCBWI Presents: Shaping a Picture Book/Shaping Character~ May 6, Paris, France

Asian Festival of Children’s Content~ May 6 – 9, Singapore

Bermuda International Literary Festival~ May 6 – 9, Hamilton
Bermuda

SCBWI Hawaii Illustrators’ Exhibit: The Art of Picture Books~ May 6 – Jun 16, Honolulu, HI, USA

One Hen Inc.’s First Anniversary Celebrations: It Takes a Village~ May 7, Wellesley, MA, USA

National Centre for Research in Children’s Literature Conference~ May 8, London, United Kingdom

Mt. San Antonio College’s Children’s Literature Day~ May 8, Walnut, CA, USA

SCBWI Presents: Children’s Books and our Phil-Chinese Heritage~ May 8, Philippines

Children’s Book Week~ May 10 – 16, USA

New Zealand Post Book Awards Festival~ May 10 – 19, New Zealand

Forest of Reading, Festival of Trees~ May 12 – 13, Toronto, ON, Canada

Auckland Writers and Readers Festival~ May 12 – 16, Auckland, New Zealand

Seoul International Book Fair~ May 12 – 16, Seoul, Korea

Follow the Yellow Brick Road to Fresno! Oz the Books! A Conference~ May 14 – 16, Fresno, CA, USA

2nd Conference on Children’s Literature and Translation~ May 15, Taichung City, Taiwan

Children’s Books Ireland Conference: Nurturing the Seed: Prospects and Possibilities for Children’s Books~ May 15 – 16, Dublin, Ireland

Sydney Writers’ Festival~ May 15 – 23, Sydney, Australia

Mountain Echoes – A Literary Festival~ May 17 – 20, Thimphu, Bhutan

New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards Winners Announced ~ May 19, New Zealand

WriteAway Conference: READ, PLAY, THINK, CREATE: generating delight in learning~ May 21, London, United Kingdom

National Black Book Festival~ May 21 – 23, Houston, TX, USA

Bisto Children’s Book of the Year Awards Presentations~ May 23, Dublin, Ireland

Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award Week~ May 23 – Jun 1, Sweden

Library and Information Week~ May 24 – 30, Australia

The Foundation for Children’s Books New England Voices Series~ May 25, Boston, MA, USA

International Latino Book Awards~ May 25, USA

BookExpo America~ May 25 – 27, New York, NY, USA

National Simultaneous Storytime~ May 26, Australia

Book Blogger Convention~ May 28, New York City, NY, USA

World Book Fair~ May 28 – Jun 6, Singapore

World Village Festival~ May 29 – 30, Helsinki, Finland

The Guardian Hay Festival~ May 29 – Jun 6, United Kingdom

SCBWI Presents: THE BIG PICTURE: Exploring the Art and Business of Children’s Book Illustration~ May 30, Tokyo, Japan

Today is the official launch of Asian Heritage Month in Canada and a special celebration will be held at the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa. Parliamentarians, government officials, community leaders and the general public are invited to share in an evening celebration hosted by Citizenship and Immigration Canada, that will include welcoming remarks, several cultural performances and a reception.

For more information on Asian Heritage Month events being held throughout Canada click here.

Asian Heritage Month is also celebrated in May in the USA where it is known as Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. On May 1st,  the Smithsonian Museum, located in Washington, DC, is hosting their free kickoff celebration of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.  Held in conjunction with the exhibition The Art of Gaman: Arts and Crafts from the Japanese American Internment Camps, 1942-1946 the day will include many events, a highlight of which will be tales from storyteller Anne Shimojima. Anne always receives rave reviews for the way she delights youth and adult audiences of all sizes with her graceful and spirited tellings of folktales from her Asian heritage!

If you’re looking for some great reads to take you through the month, take a look at this year’s winners and honor books of the Asian/Pacific American Awards for Literature. These awards, given by the Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association promote Asian/Pacific American culture and heritage based on literary and artistic merit. Bear these books in mind for any time of the year!

For a full calendar of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month events happening across the USA click here.