Tomorrow, October 13th, the nominees for the 2012 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award will be announced at the Frankfurt Book Fair. Larry Lempert, Chairman of the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award jury, will reveal the candidates at 17:10 hours. Prior to this announcement  journalist Andreas Platthaus from the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung will discuss the 2011 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award recipient, Shaun Tan, with Ralf Keiser, Carlsen Verlag and Dr. Christiane Raabe, International Youth Library. Click here to see the program for the announcement.

The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, which amounts to SEK 5 million (approx. $750,000 usd), is awarded annually to a single recipient or to several. Authors, illustrators, storytellers and promoters of reading may be rewarded. The award is for lifelong work or artistry rather than for individual pieces and the prize can only be awarded to living people. The body of work must uphold the highest artistic quality and evoke the deeply humanistic spirit that Astrid Lindgren treasured. For the past three years PaperTigers has had the honor of being a nominating body for the award.

 

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Reading Association of Ireland Annual Conference: Creating Multiple Pathways To Powerful Literacy In Challenging Times~ ongoing until Oct 1, Dublin, Ireland

Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read~ ongoing until Oct 1, USA

Appledore Book Festival (featuring Michael Rosen)~ ongoing until Oct 2, Appledore, United Kingdom

Wigtown Book Festival~ ongoing until Oct 2, Wigtown, United Kingdom

Bath Festival of Children’s Literature~ ongoing until Oct 2, Bath, United Kingdom

National Young Writers’ Festival~ ongoing until  Oct 3, Newcastle, Australia

Mirror, an Exhibition by Children’s Author and Artist Jeannie Baker~ ongoing until Oct 11, Ipswich City, Australia

Hispanic Heritage Month~ ongoing until Oct 15, USA

2012 Scholastic Asian Book Award~ entries accepted until Oct 17, Singapore

23rd Biennial of Illustrations Bratislava~ ongoing until Oct 26, Bratislava, Slovakia

Once Upon A Wartime: Classic War Stories for Children~ ongoing until Oct 30, London, United Kingdom

4th CJ Picture Book Award~ entries accepted until Oct 31, Seoul, Korea

E-Mote Digital Storytelling Competition: When We Put Aside Our Differences~ entries accepted until Oct 31, Singapore

ALA Online Course: Introduction to Graphic Novels for Children~ongoing until Nov 4, USA

The Art Institute of Chicago Presents: Artful Alphabets: Five Picture Book Artists~ ongoing until Nov 6, Chicago, IL, USA

2012 PBBY-Salanga Prize~ entries accepted until Nov 11, Philippines

The Children’s Bookshow: Stories From Around The World~ ongoing until Dec 7, United Kingdom

2012 South Asia Book Award~ entries accepted until Dec 31

Budding Writers Project~ entries accepted until Jan 6, 2012, Singapore

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

Canadian Library Month: Your Library: A Place Unbound

International School Library Month

Children’s Month~ Philippines

Esquimalt Children’s Story Fest~ Oct 1, Esquimalt, BC, Canada

Horn Book at Simmons One-Day Colloquium~ Oct 1, Boston, MA, USA

Tulika Publishers’ Meet An Author Event: Alankrita Jain~ Oct 1, Bangalore, India

Filipino-American International Book Festival~ Oct 1 – 2, San Francisco, CA, USA

The Children’s Book Festival~ Oct 1 – 31, Ireland

Boys’ Pranks: An Exhibition about Ole Lund Kirkegaard~ Oct 1 – Feb 26, 2012, Kolding, Denmark

Orange County Children’s Book Festival~ Oct 2, Costa Mesa, CA, USA

5th World Summit on Arts and Culture~ Oct 3 – 6, Melbourne, Australia

Children’s Book Week~ Oct 3 – 9, United Kingdom

TaleBlazers Literary Arts Festival~ Oct 3 – 28, Province of Alberta, Canada

Ubud Writers and Readers Festival~ Oct 5 – 9, Ubud,  Indonesia

Children’s Book Week~ Oct 5 – 15, Netherlands

National Poetry Day and Announcement of The Foyle Young Poets of the Year Winners ~ Oct 6, London, United Kingdom

Children’s Illustrators Exhibit: Images Beyond Borders~ Oct 6 – 27, Dublin, Ireland

Benefit for the 2nd Annual Children’s Poetry Festival in El Salvador~ Oct 7, San Francisco, CA, USA

Spanish Language Arts Conference~ Oct 7 – 8, San Diego, CA, USA

Kidquake~ Oct 7 – 15, San Francisco, CA, USA

21st Annual Monterrey International Book Fair~ Oct 8 – 16, Monterrey, Mexico

Teachers 4 Social Justice 10th Annual Conference: Teaching for Social Justice – The Power of Community~ Oct 9, San Francisco, CA, USA

Frankfurt Book Fair~ Oct 12 – 16, Frankfurt, Germany

2011 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award Nominees Announced~ Oct 13, Frankfurt, Germany

Carthage Center for Children’s Literature Welcomes Book Illustrator David Diaz~ Oct 13 – 14, Kenosha, WI, USA

German Youth Literature Award Winner Announced~ Oct 14, Frankfurt, Germany

7th Annual World Matters Festival: Missing Peace~ Oct 14 – 16, Eltham, Australia

The Ninth International Conference on the Book~ Oct 14 – 16, Toronto, ON, Canada

3rd National Conference and Seminar-Workshop on Children’s Literature~ Oct 14 – 16, Quezon City, Philapinnes

Sheboygan Children’s Book Festival: Memory~ Oct 14 – 16, Sheboygan, WI, USA

Vancouver Children’s Literature Roundtable Fall Breakfast~ Oct 15, Vancouver, BC, Canada

CHARACTER COUNTS! Week~ Oct 16 – 22

YALSA’s Teen Read Week: Picture It @ your library~ Oct 16 – 22, USA

Mix It Up at Lunch Day~ Oct 18, USA

Vancouver International Writers and Readers Festival~ Oct 18 – 23, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Chapter & Verse Meeting (a Book Club for Adults Discussing Children’s Lit)~ Oct 20, USA

Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Awards Ceremony~ Oct 20, San Marcos, TX, USA

57th Jane Addams Children’s Book Awards Ceremony~ Oct 21, New York, NY, USA

9th IBBY Regional Conference: Peace the World Together With Children´s Books~ Oct 21 – 23, Fresno, CA, USA

SCBWI South Africa Spring Event~ Oct 21 – 27, Cape Town, South Africa

Scottish Storytelling Festival~ Oct 21 – 30, Scotland

Children’s Literature Festival~ Oct 22, Keene, NH, USA

Fall Festival of Children’s Books- Oct 22, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

Singapore Writers Festival~ Oct 23 – 30, Singapore

GobbleDEEbook Literature Festival for Children and Teens~ Oct 23 – 30, Chester, United Kingdom

Northwards. Festival for Scandinavian Children’s and Youth Literature~ Oct 25 – 28, Munich, Germany

The Original Art: Celebrating the Fine Art of Children’s Book Illustration~ Oct 26 – Dec 29, New York, NY, USA

Diversity in YA Fiction Tour~ Oct 27, San Diego, CA, USA

Kuala Lumpur Children’s Book Festival~ Oct 27 – Nov 4, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Tell-a-Story Day~ Oct 28, Scotland

BookFest @ Bank Street~ Oct 29, Manhattan, NY, USA

31st Santiago International Book Fair~ Oct 28 – Nov 13, Santiago, Chile

Fremantle Children’s Literature Centre Exhibits and Programs~ Fremantle, Australia

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

Books Illustrated Events and Exhibitions~ Middle Park, Australia

Screenings for Library of the Early Mind: a documentary film exploring childrens literature~ Canada and USA

International Youth Library Exhibits~ Munich, Germany

Seven Stories (the National Home of Children’s Books in Britain) Events~ Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom

Discover Children’s Story Centre~ London, United Kingdom

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

Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Events

Looking for a lovely calendar for 2012? Be sure to check out award winning author/illustrator Grace Lin‘s Red Threads Calendar, the sales of which will go to assist orphans in China.

Grace Lin is the author and illustrator of picture books, early readers and middle grade novels. Her book Where the Mountain Meets the Moon was a huge success and won many awards including the prestigious Newbery Honor.  It was chosen as one of seven books in our Spirit of Paper Tigers Book Set and Grace was one of our nominations for the  2011 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. Don’t miss our interview with Grace or her two Gallery features here and here.

Saturday was the deadline for nominations for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (ALMA) 2011. Having barely caught our breath from this year’s announcement of Kitty Crowther as the ALMA winner for 2010, we found ourselves working right up to the mark to get our nominations submitted in time, but in they are and it’s very exciting to be able to share them with you all now, along with our 500-character nomination statements:

Author and illustrator, Allen Say, whom we also nominated last year (and if you haven’t already, do read our interview with Allen and enjoy our Gallery of his work):

Often drawing on his own background, Allen Say captivates his readers through beautifully honed prose and luminous watercolors. He embraces a striving for happiness with a blend of gentle humor and realism, and touches on many aspects of being human, such as race, migration, disability and age. Even young children can empathize with and find echoes in many of his stories. Say opens young hearts and minds both to new cultures and to their own potential; and his portrayal of the human condition provides a forum for children to recognize their own value and to dream.

Author and illustrator, Grace Lin (and don’t miss our interview with Grace, either, or her two Gallery features here and here; and do visit her blog):

Grace Lin is passionate about writing for children. Her child-centred creativity is filled with energy and imbued with core values such as family, friendship, loyalty and love. Her readers respond to the warmth of her stories, whether founded on reality or imagination, and to the charm of her illustrations, which demonstrate a commitment to unobtrusive detail. Often drawing on her Asian American heritage, and with a gift for interweaving old and contemporary elements in her work, Grace is not afraid to step away from tradition to create new, meaningful narrative for today’s children.

And Katha, a “profit-for-all”organisation based in India:

Katha is an Indian non-profit organization working in the areas of literacy and education. Since 1988, it has been successfully promoting the literacy to literature continuum in urban disadvantaged communities across India. Its multi-faceted school and community-based outreach approach, including reading campaigns, the supporting of pavement schools in slum clusters and the translation and publishing of Indian literature, among other initiatives, are playing an essential role in helping create a more literate, less divisive India.

You can explore Katha further via their website and we are looking forward to featuring them on PaperTigers in the not too distant future.

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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

The Bologna Children’s Book fair is set to begin Tuesday, March 23rd in Bologna, Italy.  As all of us children and young adult lit fans know, the Bologna Children’s Book Fair is the most important international event dedicated to children’s publishing.  2010 will be the 47^th edition of the fair and is expected to be a great one: over 20,000 square meters of exhibition space have been booked,  over 1,200 exhibitors from over 60 countries are confirmed, and  a jam-packed programme of events has been released. A small sampling of the highlights:

The 2010 Guest of Honor at the Illustrators Exhibition will be Slovakia, presenting a selected exhibition of it’s best illustrators. A cultural programme featuring Slovakia will be taking place at various locations throughout Bologna during the fair.

Bologna Children’s Book Fair – SM Foundation International Award for Illustration. This winner of this  new award, reserved to young illustrators (under 35) selected for the 2010 Illustrators Exhibition, will be announced on March 25.

Illustrators Exhibition. Once again, a wealth of works by illustrators (well-known professionals and emerging talents) will  be on display. The 2010 international jury has selected 87 artists for the 2010 Exhibition from 2,456 candidates from 58 countries.

BolognaRagazzi Awards 2010. Check out Marj’s recent post on these awards.

Authors Cafe. A new feature for 2010, the Authors Cafe is the place to be to meet authors and talk books. Discussions will include: prospects for the literary scene, reading experiences in troubled areas, and debuting authors in Bologna.  To meet illustrators and get involved in their discussions, head on over to the Illustrators Cafe.

The Astrid Lindgren Award announcement will be broadcast live to Bologna from Sweden on March 24th. This is especially exciting for us as  PaperTigers was invited to submit nominations for the award!

Also exciting for us is that three members from our team will be in attendance at this year’s Fair: Aline, Marj and myself.  If you are going to be there too let us know as we would love to meet up with you. If you can’t be there, keep an eye here on our PaperTigers’ blog as we will be posting regularly to share some of our highlights with you! We’ll also be uploading  our photos to this Flikr account.

Greg Mortenson, author of Three Cups of Tea and Stones Into Schools, recently held 3 speaking engagements in Vancouver, BC.  Reporter Rebecca Wigod’s claim that Greg draws crowds like a rock star is definitely true as the 4,000 available tickets sold out in record time! I was one of the many disappointed ones to not get a ticket but several of my friends attended and all raved about their experiences. Children’s author Margriet Ruurs was also lucky enough to get a ticket and had this photo to share along with these thoughts:

Last night we listened to Greg Mortenson, author of Three Cups of Tea, as he shared his experiences of building schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Did you know that the book is now mandatory reading for high ranking officials in the US army? It makes me feel hopeful to know that they might be listening to such a wise peacemaker. I felt honored to meet Greg and exchange books with him.

Check out Margriet’s blog to read more about her evening.

Greg Mortenson, author of Three Cups of Tea, is coming to Vancouver for 3 days in January. Organised by Kidsbooks, Vancouver’s premier children’s bookstore, adults and students are invited to attend one of three presentations, signings and fund-raisers to show their support for Greg’s remarkable achievements in making education a reality for so many children in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Although the session on Friday January 14 is sold-out, there is still space available to attend the January 15th or 16th sessions. Ticket prices include a $10 donation to Greg’s non-profit charity Central Asia Institute, and, for adults, a copy of his new adult book Stones Into Schools. Stones into Schools continues the remarkable story of Greg’s international bestseller Three Cups of Tea and brings to life both the heroic humanitarian efforts on the ground and the triumphs of the young women who are now graduating from schools built by Pennies for Peace.

Greg’s book Three Cups of Tea is a favorite in our house: we have all three versions – adult, young adult and children’s!  I’m looking forward to attending one of the sessions along with my two children who will be receiving their tickets as a Christmas gift and I’m sure they will be thrilled as well!

This year for the first time, PaperTigers was invited to submit nominations for the prestigious Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (winner to be announced March 24th, 2010) and one of our nominees was Greg Mortenson. In our “Grounds for Nomination” statement we stated:

Greg Mortenson is a humanitarian whose motto is “Books, not Bombs.” Since 1993 he has been committed to promoting and supporting education and literacy (with an emphasis on girls’ education) in rural, underserved regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Through his work as co-founder/Executive Director of the Central Asia Institute, as of May 2009, he has established over 78 schools, supported the training of 600+ teachers and offered scholarships to hundreds of disadvantaged students, thus providing education to over 28,000 children (including 18,000 girls) who would otherwise have no opportunities.

Greg Mortenson is also founder of the Pennies For Peace program and author of the Kiriyama Prize-winning book Three Cups of Tea, which has been translated into 29 languages. It has been adapted into a version for young adults and a beautiful picture-book, Listen to the Wind, illustrated with wonderful collages by Susan L. Roth.

Today the organizers of The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, given annually to books and works that reflect the spirit of Astrid Lindgren, have announced the 168 candidates nominated for the 2010 award (to download the nomination list as a pdf, click here).

The list of writers, illustrators, oral storytellers and literacy-related organizations, working in various literary traditions and languages, represents more than 60 countries and is a treasure trove of talent and commitment to books and reading.

In addition to author Allen Say and author/promoter of literacy Greg Mortenson, proudly nominated by us, the list includes, among many others, New Zealander author Margaret Mahy; Australian Hazel Edwards; South African Niki Daly; Mongolian writer/poet/promoter of reading Dashdondog Jamba and Filipino illustrator Albert Gamos. And for organizations promoting reading and literacy, it lists IBBY International; Room to Read, in the U.S.; Filipino publishing house Adarna; La Fundación Riecken from Guatemala, and many more.

Considering all these strong candidates, it looks like the jury members have their work cut out for them. Their decision will be a hard one to reach—but reach it they will (and expertly so)! The winner or winners will be announced in Vimmerby, Sweden (the birthplace of Astrid Lindgren) on March 24, 2010, and the announcement will be broadcast live to the Bologna Children’s Book Fair, in Italy (which next year will take place March 23-25).

This year for the first time, PaperTigers was invited to submit nominations for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. We have just heard that the jury is now sifting through the nominations and that the complete list will be made public on 25 September at the Gothenburg Book Fair; it will also be on their website so we’ll let you know when it’s available.

In the meantime, here are our “Grounds for Nomination” statements for artist and author, Allen Say, and author and promoter of education in Pakistan and Afghanistan, Greg Mortenson.

Often drawing on his own background, Allen Say captivates his readers through beautifully honed prose and luminous watercolors. He embraces a striving for happiness with a blend of gentle humor and realism, and touches on many aspects of being human, such as race, migration, disability and age. Even young children can empathize with and find echoes in many of his stories. Say opens young hearts and minds both to new cultures and to their own potential; and his portrayal of the human condition provides a forum for children to recognize their own value and to dream.

Allen Say is featured in a Gallery in our current issue of PaperTigers, and offers some fascinating insight into his latest book, Erika-San. You can also read an interview with him, in which he talks about his semi-autobiographical book for young adults, The Ink-Keeper’s Apprentice, as well as some of his other picture-books. Sally recently chose his Music for Alice for a Books at Bedtime post.

Greg Mortenson is a humanitarian whose motto is “Books, not Bombs.” Since 1993 he has been committed to promoting and supporting education and literacy (with an emphasis on girls’ education) in rural, underserved regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Through his work as co-founder/Executive Director of the Central Asia Institute, as of May 2009, he has established over 78 schools, supported the training of 600+ teachers and offered scholarships to hundreds of disadvantaged students, thus providing education to over 28,000 children (including 18,000 girls) who would otherwise have no opportunities.

Greg Mortenson is also founder of the Pennies For Peace program and author of the Kiriyama Prize-winning book Three Cups of Tea, which has been translated into 29 languages. It has been adapted into a version for young adults and a beautiful picture-book, Listen to the Wind, illustrated with wonderful collages by Susan L. Roth.

Please do share with us your thoughts and comments about our two nominations – we’d love to hear from you.