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National Year of Reading~ Australia

Américas Book Award for Children’s and Young Adult Literature Award Presentation~ Washington, D.C., USA

Beijing International Book Fair (BIBF)~ ongoing until Sep 2, Beijing, China

The Word on the Street National Book and Magazine Festival: Celebrating Reading. Advocating Literacy ~ (September dates vary by location), Canada

Frances Lincoln Diverse Voices Children’s Book Award 2013~ submissions accepted until Dec 31, 2012, United Kingdom

2012 South Asia Book Award~ submissions accepted until Dec 31, 2012

SingTel Asian Picture Book Award 2013~ submissions accepted until Dec 31, 1012, Singapore

Exhibits of Winning Entries from the 2012 Growing Up Asian in America Contest~ ongoing until Feb 2013, USA

Skipping Stones Youth Honor Awards Celebrating Multicultural Awareness, International Understanding and Nature Appreciation~ submissions accepted until June 25, 2013, USA

Singapore International Storytelling Festival (SISF)~ Sep 1 – 5, Singapore

Delhi Book Fair~ Sep 1 – 9, Delhi, India

Ghummakkad Narain – the Traveling Literature Festival~ Sep 1 – 30, New Delhi, India

¡Cuéntame un cuento! : Latino Cultural Inclusion in Juvenile Collections Webinar~ Sep 4

Nairn Book & Arts Festival~ Sep 4 – 9, Nairn, United Kingdom

International Children’s and Youth Literature Festival~ Sep 4 – 16, Berlin, Germany

Brisbane Writers Festival~ Sep 5 – 9, Brisbane, Australia

Moscow International Book Fair~ Sep 5 – 10, Moscow, Russia

International Literacy Day~ Sep 8

UNESCO Literary Prize Awards Presentation~ Sep 8, Paris, France

Book Blogger Appreciation Week~ Sep 10 – 14

Fairytale Town’s Giving Voice to Children’s Literature: Parent  Workshop~ Sept 12, Sacramento, CA, USA

The Manila International Book Fair: Words Without Borders~ Sep 12 – 16, Manila, Philippines

Ethics and Children’s Literature Symposium~ Sep 13 – 16, Greencastle IN, USA

The Canadian Children’s Book Centre Presents: The Art of the Picture Book Exhibition~ Sep 14 – Oct 14, Montreal, QC, Canada

Flor y Canto Children’s Poetry Festival~ Sep 15, San Francisco, CA, USA

Hispanic Heritage Month~ Sep 15 – Oct 15, USA

Telling Tales: A Family Festival of Stories~ Sep 16, Rockton, ON, Canada

BANNED! [The Title of This Event Has Been Censored]- a lively panel discussion of literature and censorship with authors, educators, and librarians~ Sep 16, Minneapolis, MN, USA

5th Conference on South African Children’s and Youth Literature~ Sep 18 – 20, Potchefstroom, South Africa

Joint Conference of Librarians of Color (JCLC)~ Sep 19 – 23, Kansas City, MO, USA

Chapter & Verse, a book club for adults discussing children’s lit~ Sep 20, USA

The Carle Honors 2012 Annual Gala and Art Auction~ Sep 20, New York, NY, USA

International Day of Peace~ Sep 21

Thin Air – Winnipeg International Writers Festival~ Sep 21 – 29, Winnipeg, MB, Canada

International Day of Peace~ Sep 21

4th Annual Elizabeth York Children’s Literature Festival~ Sep 22 Anderson, IN, USA

National Book Festival~ Sep 24 – 25, Washington, D.C., USA

Appeldore Book Festival Family Day~ Sep 26, Appledore, United Kingdom

Reading Association of Ireland Annual Conference: From Literacy Research to Classroom Practice: Insights and Inspiration~ Sep 27 – 29, Dublin, Ireland

National Young Writers Festival~ Sept 27 – 30, Australia

The Boston Globe–Horn (Children’s) Book Awards Ceremony~ Sep 28, Boston, MA, USA

6th Annual KidlitCon~ Sep 28 – 29, New York, NY, USA

Bath Festival of Children’s Literature~Sep 28 – Oct 7, Bath, United Kingdom

Wigtown Book Festival~ Sep 28 – Oct 7, Wigtown, United Kingdom

The Children’s Bookshow: Stories From Around The World~ Sep 28 – Nov 8, United Kingdom

Horn Book at Simmons One-Day Colloquium: Look Out!~ Sep 29, Boston, MA, USA

ScholarShare Children’s Book Festival~ Sep 29 – 30, Sacramento, Ca, USA

Banned Books Week: Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the Freedom to Read~ Sep 30 – Oct 6, USA

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

International Youth Library Exhibits~ Munich, Germany

Tulika Book Events~ India

International Library of Children’s Literature Events~ Tokyo, Japan

Newcastle University Programme of Talks on Children’s Books for 2011-2012~ Newcastle, United Kingdom

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

Arne Nixon Center’s Children’s Literature Book Clubs for Adults Events~ USA

Events Sponsored by The Center for the Book in the Library of Congress~ USA

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

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

Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Events

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Skipping Stones Youth Honor Award Winners Announced

Fremantle Children’s Literature Centre 2010 Exhibits~ Australia

Beijing International Book Fair~ ongoing until Sep 3, Beijing, China

Taranaki Children’s Book Festival~ ongoing until  Sep 4, Taranaki, New Zealand

Western Australia Spring Poetry Festival and National Poetry Week~ ongoing until  Sep 5, Australia

Melbourne Writers Festival: Stories From Every Angle~ ongoing until Sep 5, Melbourne, Australia

Singapore International Storytelling Festival~ ongoing until Sep 8, Singapore

Childrens Books Ireland and SCBWI Ireland Present: Between The Lines, an information seminar on writing and illustrating for children ~ Sep 11, Dublin, Ireland

Dromkeen Exhibitions: Mbobo Tree, The Race for the Chinese Zodiac, and Stranded~ ongoing until Sep 17, Dromkeen, Australia

2010 Bologna Illustrators Exhibition of Children’s Books~ ongoing until  Sep 26, Nishinomiya, Japan

An Exquisite Vision: The Art of Lisbeth Zwerger~ongoing until Sep 26, Amherst, MA, USA

Lee and Low’s Books New Voices Award Entry Submissions~ ongoing until Sep 30, USA

The National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature Exhibit: Golden Kite, Golden Dreams: the SCBWI Awards~ ongoing until Oct 1, Abilene, TX, USA

International Youth Library Exhibition: The Treasury of Binette Schroeder~ ongoing until Oct  1, Munich, Germany

Words+Pictures=Book, Contemporary Malaysian Picture Book Illustration~ ongoing until Oct 3, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Mirror, an Exhibition by Children’s Author and Artist Jeannie Baker~ ongoing until Oct 10, Australia

Dromkeen National Centre for Picture Book Art Exhibit: From the Collection~ ongoing until Oct 24, Riddells Creek, Australia

International Youth Library Exhibit: Shaun Tan, Pictures and Books~ ongoing until Oct 31, Munich, Germany

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

Hedwig Anuar Children’s Book Award 2011~ entries accepted until Dec 31, Singapore

Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) Annual Conference~ Sep 1 – 3, Brisbane, Australia

Brisbane Writers Festival~ Sep 1 – 5, Brisbane, Australia

Moscow International Book Fair~ Sep 1 – 6, Moscow, Russia

Writers’ and Literary Translators’ International Congress ~ Sep 2 – 5, Istanbul, Turkey

Bendigo Children’s Literature Conference: Texts Mark the Spot – Getting Real: Debating the what, why and how of realism in children’s and YA texts~ Sep 3 – 4, Bendigo, Australia

Asian Digital Storytelling Congress: Beyond Words ~ Sep 4, Singapore

CYA Later, Alligator – Children’s and Young Adult Writers And Illustrators Conference~ Sep 4, Brisbane, Australia

KATHA’s I Love Reading! Week~ Sep 4 – 10, Delhi, India

International Literacy Day~ Sep 8

UNESCO Literary Prize Awards Presentation~ Sep 8, Paris, France

IBBY’s Biennial Congress: The Strength of Minorities~ Sep 8 – 12, Santiago de Compostela, Spain

Nu Wa International Storytelling Tour of China~ Sep 10 – 26, China

The Kennedy Center’s 15th Annual Multicultural Children’s Book Festival~ Sep 11, Washington, D.C., USA

African Library Project’s 5th Anniversary Celebration and Fundraiser~ Sep 11, Menlo Park, CA, USA

SCBWI Ireland Conference~ Sep 11, Dublin, Ireland

First International Conference on Language, Literature and Cultural Studies~ Sep 11 – 13, Skele, Albania

Book Blogger Appreciation Week~ Sep 13 – 17

The Manila International Book Fair: Words Without Borders~ Sep 15 – 19, Manila, Philippines

International Children’s and Youth Literature Festival~ Sep 15 – 25, Berlin, Germany

Hispanic Heritage Month~ Sep 15 – Oct 15, USA

Chapter & Verse, a Book Club for Adults Discussing Children’s Lit~ Sep 16, USA

Children’s Author Virginia Pilegard to Speak at Arne Nixon Center for the Study of Children’s Literature~ Sep 17, Fresno, CA, USA

Eden Mills Writers’ Festival~ Sep 17 – 19, Eden Mills, ON, Canada

3rd International Biennial SCBWI Australia and New Zealand Conference~ Sep 17 – 19, Sydney, Australia

SCBWI Children’s Book Seminar~ Sep 18, Iloilo City, Philippines

Adarna House’s 30th Anniversary Celebration and Storybook Launch~ Sep 18, Pasay City, Philippines

PINKS Festival – Penang International Kids Storytelling Festival~ Sep 18, George Town, Malaysia

57th St. Children’s Book Fair~ Sep 19, Chicago, IL, USA

Telling Tales: A Family Festival of Stories~ Sep 19, Rockton, ON, Canada

Thin Air – Winnipeg International Writers Festival~ Sep 19 – 26, Winnipeg, MB, Canada

International Day of Peace~ Sep 21

What Children’s Literature Tells Us~ Sep 21, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Eric Carle: A Feast for the Eyes~ Sep 21 – Mar 20, Amherst, MA, USA

Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) Biennial Institute~ Sep 23 – 25, Atlanta, GA, USA

Göteborg Book Fair~ Sep 23 – 26, Göteborg, Sweden

Wigtown Book Festival~ Sep 24 – Oct 3, Wigtown, United Kingdom

Bath Festival of Children’s Literature~ Sep 24 – Oct 3, Bath, United Kingdom

Once Upon a Time: Fairy Tales and Childhood~ Sep 25, Amherst, MA, USA

National Book Festival~ Sep 25, Washington, D.C., USA

Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read~ Sep 25 – Oct 2, USA

The Word on the Street National Book and Magazine Festival: Celebrating Reading. Advocating Literacy. ~ Sep 26, Canada

School Library Association of Queensland / International Association of School Librarianship Joint Conference~ Sep 27 – Oct 2, Brisbane, Australia

Canwest Raise-a-Reader Day~ Sep 29, Canada

The Carle Honors 2010~ Sep 30, Amherst, MA, USA

Northwoods Children’s Book Conference~ Sep 30 – Oct 1, Cable, WI, USA

Reading Association of Ireland Annual Conference~ Sep 30 – Oct 2, Dublin, Ireland

The Children’s Bookshow: Stories From Around The World~ Sep 22 – Nov 17, United Kingdom

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Canadian Library Month~ Canada

Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read~ ongoing until Oct 3, USA

Hispanic Heritage Month~ ongoing until Oct 15, USA

Entries Accepted for the 2010 PBBY-Salanga Prize~ ongoing until Oct 23, Philippines

22nd Biennial of Illustrations Bratislava~ ongoing until Oct 26, Bratislava, Slovakia

The Art of Allen Say: A Sense of Place~ ongoing until Oct 28, Exeter, NH, USA

Picture Perfect: Art from Caldecott Award Books, 2006-2009~ ongoing until Nov 8, Chicago, IL, USA

National Young Writers’ Festival~ Oct 1 – 5, Newcastle, Australia

4th Annual Cybils (Children’s and Young Adult Bloggers’ Literary Awards) Nominations Open~ Oct 1 – 15

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

Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards for Excellence in Children’s Literature Awards Ceremony~ Oct 2, Boston, MA, USA

8th IBBY Regional Conference “Children´s Books: Where Worlds Meet”~ Oct 2 – 4, St. Charles, IL, USA

2009 Bologna Illustrators Exhibition of Children’s Books~ Oct 3 – Nov 1, Takahama City, Japan

Orange County Children’s Book Festival~ Oct 4, Costa Mesa, CA, USA

13th Poetry Africa~ Oct 5 – 10, Durban, South Africa

Children’s Book Week: Words and Pictures~ Oct 5 – 11, United Kingdom

TaleBlazers Festival~ Oct 5 – 30, Province of Alberta, Canada

6th International Literacy Conference~ Oct 7 – 9, Penang, Malaysia

Ubud Writers and Readers Festival~ Oct 7 – 11, Ubud, Bali, Indonesia

Inky Awards Shortlist Announced, On-line Voting Begins~ Oct 9, Australia

Latino Book and Book Festival~ Oct 10 – 11, Los Angeles, CA, USA

Monterrey International Book Fair~ Oct 10 – 18, Monterrey, Mexico

Frankfurt Book Fair~ Oct 14 – 18, Frankfurt, Germany

OGAMAS Aboriginal Literary Festival: What We Gather For Each Other~ Oct 15 – 17, Brandon, MB, Canada

56th Jane Addams Children’s Book Awards Ceremony~ Oct 16, New York, NY, USA

International Conference on the Book~ Oct 16 – 18, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Américas Book Award for Children’s and Young Adult Literature Winners Ceremony~ Oct 17, Washington, D.C., USA

SCBWI Tokyo Presents Writing for Children: The Picture Book with Author Holly Thompson~ Oct 17, Kyoto, Japan

CHARACTER COUNTS! Week~ Oct 18 – 24, USA

YALSA’s Teen Read Week: Read Beyond Reality~ Oct 18 – 24, USA

Vancouver International Writers and Readers Festival~ Oct 18 – 25, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Library Exhibition~ Oct 18 – 25, Jakarta, Indonesia

Utan Kayu International Literary Biennale~ Oct 20 – 24, Bogor and Jakarta, Indonesia

14th Annual New England Conference on Multicultural Education~ Oct 21, Hartford, CT, USA

Rabbit Hill Festival of Literature: Creative Approaches to Biography and Historical Fiction~ Oct 22 – 24, Westport, CT, USA

Finnish Reading Association Conference: New Literacies-Reading and Writing with New Technologies~ Oct 23 – 24, Jyväskylä, Finland

Children’s Literature Council Fall Gala~ Oct 24, Los Angeles, CA, USA

IBBY Congreso Internacional Lectura~ Oct 26 – 31, Havana, Cuba

Book Week~ Oct 27 – Nov 9, Japan

National Association for Multicultural Education (NAME) 19th International Conference~Oct 28 – Nov 1, Denver, CO, USA

Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Awards Ceremony~ Oct 30, San Marcos, TX, USA

Children’s Literature Festival~ Oct 31, Keene, NH, USA

It’s currently the American Library Association’s Banned Books Week, whose by-line is “celebrating the freedom to read”. Having the freedom to read is always cause for celebration (as is the freedom to write and we should bear in mind those who are persecuted for trying to exercise that freedom). However, having that freedom does not mean that we should advocate a blanket lack of discernment. And it would be naive to think that the reading choices available have not been subject to a selection process along the way: publishers, librarians, booksellers, teachers, parents.

Our Book of the Month back in August, Requiem for a Beast by Matt Ottley (Hachette Livre/ Lothian Books, 2007) caused a great deal of contoversy when it first hit the bookshops in Australia. The misunderstandings about this Australian Children’s Book Council Picture Book of the Year (2008) centered on the fact that this is a picture-book but is certainly not aimed at young readers.

Here’s an extract from our recent interview with Matt:

Requiem for a Beast has now notoriously become the most complained about book for young people in Australian history! That’s because it contains one graphic illustration of a bloodied axe, as well as two vague references to suicide and five incidences of the “f” word. What a lot of commentators didn’t seem to take on board when the book first came to public notice, is that this is a picture book for young adults, not for little children.

My young adult audience has been unfalteringly supportive, and I’ve received the most amazing feedback from them.

The whole ensemble of words, image and music is extremely powerful and the use of swearing in some of the written dialogue is certainly not gratuitous. On the contrary: I cannot imagine that Australian stockmen do not resort to colorful language from time to time. However, this is a book for young adults and indeed adults. It is not for young children – and it was never intended to be.

One of the responsibilities of being a parent or a teacher is to provide young people with the tools to discern and to think for themselves. It can be scary to see where that thinking takes them but we have to trust them to make their choices…

Natasha over at Maw Books has a thought-provoking post with a list of books that have been banned at some point – some of them may surprise you; and she has lots of links to other blogs discussing Banned Books…

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Skipping Stones Youth Honor Award Winners Announced

Western Australia Spring Poetry Festival and National Poetry Week~ ongoing until Sep 4, Australia

Taranaki Children’s Book Festival~ ongoing until Sep 5, Taranaki, New Zealand

Enchanted Worlds – Art of Fairy Stories & Mermaid Tales exhibition~ ongoing until Sep 5, Lancashire, United Kingdom

National Literacy and Numeracy Week~ ongoing until Sep 6, Australia

Singapore International Storytelling Festival~ ongoing until Sep 12, Singapore

2009 Bologna Illustrators Exhibition of Children’s Books~ ongoing until Sep 27, Nishinomiya City, Japan

Entries Accepted for the 2010 PBBY-Salanga Prize~ ongoing until Oct 23, Philippines

Exhibition – Drawings from the Heart: Tomie de Paola Turns 75 ~ ongoing until Nov 1, Amherst, MA, USA

Picture Perfect: Art from Caldecott Award Books, 2006-2009~ ongoing until Nov 8, 2010, Chicago, IL, USA

Moscow International Book Fair~ Sep 2 – 7, Moscow, Russia

Their Magical Years: a National Workshop on Early Childhood Learning and Development~ Sep 3 – 5, New Delhi, India

Beijing International Book Fair~ Sep 3 – 7, Beijing, China

Munsch a Bunch of Miles for Literacy~ Sep 3 – 11, Canmore, AB, Canada

Decatur Book Festival~ Sep 4 – 6, Decatur, GA, USA

heARTlines: Children’s Literature and Book Illustration Festival ~ Sep 4 – Oct 4, Mundaring, Australia

22nd Biennial of Illustrations Bratislava~ Sep 4 – Oct 26, Bratislava, Slovakia

International Literacy Day~ Sep 8

UNESCO Literary Prize Awards Presentation~ Sep 8, Paris, France

Brisbane Writers Festival~ Sep 9 – 13, Brisbane, Australia

International Children’s and Youth Literature Festival~ Sep 9 – 13, Berlin, Germany

The Kennedy Center’s 13th Annual Multicultural Children’s Book Festival~ Sep 12, Washington, D.C., USA

CYA later, Alligator – Children’s and Young Adult Writers And Illustrators Conference~ Sep 12, Brisbane, Australia

57th St. Children’s Book Fair~ Sep 13, Chicago, IL, USA

10th Annual Hog Wild About Reading: A Motorcycle Ride For Literacy~ Sep 13, Port Moody, BC, Canada

Book Blogger Appreciation Week~ Sep 14 – 18

Hispanic Heritage Month~ Sep 15 – Oct 15, USA

The Manila International Book Fair: Words Without Borders~ Sep 16 – 20, Manila, Philippines

The Art of Allen Say: A Sense of Place~ Sep 16 – Oct 28, Exeter, NH, USA

2010 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award Nominees Announced~ Sep 17, Sweden

International Symposium: Beyond Borders: Art, Narrative and Culture in Picturebooks~ Sep 18 – 20, Glasgow, United Kingdom

Bath Festival of Children’s Literature~ Sep 18 – 27, Bath, United Kingdom

Tamejavi – Our Voice, Our Stories: A Path to Inclusion~ Sep 19, Fresno, CA, USA

Eden Mills Writers’ Festival~ Sep 20, Eden Mills, ON, Canada

Thin Air – Winnipeg International Writers Festival~ Sep 20 – 27, Winnipeg, MB, Canada

International Day of Peace~ Sep 21

The 4th World Summit on Arts and Culture~ Sep 22 – 25, Johannesburg, South Africa

Canwest Raise-a-Reader Day~ Sep 23, Canada

25th Annual Göteborg Book Fair~ Sep 24 – 27, Göteborg, Sweden

Darling Children’s Book Fair~ Sep 24 – 26, Darling, South Africa

Reading Association of Ireland’s Annual International Conference: Literacy in the 21st Century: Perspectives, Challenges & Transformations~ Sep 24 – 26, Dublin, Ireland

Margarita Engle ~ Finding the Poetry in History~ Sep 25, Fresno, CA, USA

Wigtown Book Festival~ Sep 25 – Oct 4, Wigtown, United Kingdom

The Children’s Bookshow: Picture Books and Poetry ~Sep 25 – Nov 25, United Kingdom

National Book Festival~ Sep 26, Washington, D.C., USA

Children’s Book Seminar – SCBWI at UP Visayas 2009~ Sep 26, Iloilo City, Philippines

Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read~ Sep 26 – Oct 3, USA

The Word on the Street National Book and Magazine Festival: Celebrating Reading. Advocating Literacy. ~ Sep 27, Canada

New Zealand Reading Association 2009 Conference~ Sep 27 – 30, Queenstown, New Zealand

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African-American History Month~ USA

3rd International Galle Literary Festival~ ongoing until Feb 1, Galle, Sri Lanka

SCBWI Annual Winter Meeting~ ongoing until Feb 1, New York, NY, USA

6th International Indigenous Librarians’ Forum~ongoing until Feb 4, Aotearoa, New Zealand

Bermuda Reading Association’s Literacy Week and 25th Annual Conference~ ongoing until Feb 7, Bermuda

Kolkata Book Fair~ ongoing until Feb 8, Kolkata, India

Scraps & Imagination – Elisa Kleven’s Mixed Media Picture Book Art Exhibition~ ongoing until Feb 27, San Francisco, CA, USA

20th Annual National African American Read-in~ ongoing until Feb 28, USA

Entries Accepted for the Growing Up Asian in America Contest~ ongoing until Mar 5, San Francisco, CA, USA

Taipei International Book Exhibition~ Feb 4 – 9, Taipei, Taiwan

National Launch: Initiative for Global Citizen Diplomacy~ Feb 5, Washington, DC, USA

The Irish Society for the Study of Children’s Literature 2009 Conference: Nation, Translation, Migration~ Feb 6 – 7, Drumcondra, Ireland

Kala Ghoda Arts Festival~ Feb 7 – 15, Bombay, India

Black History Month Family Day Celebration~ Feb 8, Washington, D.C., USA

First Nations Public Library Week~ Feb 9 – 14, Province of Ontario, Canada

Reading Crusade 2009~ Feb 9 – Mar 23, Christchurch City, New Zealand

Crossing Cultures, Changing Skins: Writing Across Race, Ethnicity, Class, and Culture~ Feb 10, New York City, NY, USA

Imagine 09: Children’s Literature Festival~ Feb 12 – 22, London, United Kingdom

The National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature Presents Rhythms of the Heart: The Illustration of Ashley Bryan~ Feb 12 – Apr 30, Abilene, TX, USA

Kids ♥ Authors Day~ Feb 14

24th Jerusalem International Book Fair~ Feb 15 – 20, Jerusalem, Israel

Words and Beyond: Exploring Illustrated Children’s Literature in the English Language Classroom~ Feb 17 – 20, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Read Today, Lead Tomorrow Speaker Series Featuring David Bouchard “Boys: Reading for Success”~ Feb 18, Port Moody, BC, Canada

7th International Literacy Conference~ Feb 18 – 20, Guatemala City, Guatemala

International Reading Association’s 54th Annual Convention West: Beyond the Horizon~ Feb 21 – 25, Phoenix, AZ, USA

25th Annual Freedom to Read Week~ Feb 22 – 28, Canada

The Forbidden Bookshelf: Banned Children’s Books Week Writers Talks~ Feb 22 – Mar 1, Wellington, New Zealand

CABE’s 34th Annual Conference: Releasing Multilingual Dreams Today, Creating New Worlds Tomorrow~ Feb 25 – 28, Long Beach, CA, USA

Emirates Airlines International Festival of Literature~ Feb 26 – Mar 1, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Latvian Book Fair~ Feb 26 – Mar 1, Riga, Latvia

Seattle Rainbow Bookfest~ Feb 28, Seattle, WA, USA

The Vancouver Children’s Literature Roundtable Serendipity 2009: Telling Our Stories~ Feb 28, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Bath Literature Festival~ Feb 28 – Mar 8, Bath, United Kingdom

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Canadian Library Month~ Canada

National Reading Group Month~ USA

Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read~ ongoing until Oct 4, USA

International Children’s and Youth Literature Festival~ ongoing until Oct 4, Berlin, Germany

3rd Annual Cybils (Children’s and Young Adult Bloggers’ Literary Awards) Nominations Open~ Oct 1 – 15

National Young Writers’ Festival~ Oct 2-6, Newcastle, Australia

Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards Ceremony~ Oct 3, Boston, MA, USA

21st Yukon International Storytelling Festival~ Oct 3-5, Whitehorse, YK, Canada

2008 Ceremony of Best Books~ Oct 4, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Américas Book Award for Children’s and Young Adult Literature Winners Ceremony~ Oct 4, Washington, D.C., USA

Orange County Children’s Book Festival~ Oct 5, Costa Mesa, CA, USA

Children’s Book Week~ Oct 6-12, United Kingdom

13th Annual New England Conference on Multicultural Education~ Oct 8, Hartford, CT, USA

School Library Journal Webcast: Capturing Struggling Readers and Reluctant Readers~ Oct 8

Book It! Cheltenham’s Children’s Literature Festival~ Oct 10-19, Cheltenham, United Kingdom

18th Monterrey International Book Fair~ Oct 11-19, Monterrey, Mexico

YALSA’s Teen Read Week: Books With Bite @ Your Library~ Oct 12-18, USA

“Multicultural Bites” with authors Mitali Perkins, Coe Booth and An Na (part of ReaderGirlz’s celebration of Teen Read Week)~ Oct 13

Ubud Writers and Readers Festival~ Oct 14-19, Ubud, Bali, Indonesia

Frankfurt Book Fair~ Oct 15-19, Frankfurt, Germany

55th Jane Addams Children’s Book Awards Ceremony~ Oct 17, New York, NY, USA

IBBY Ireland Conference: Green Gables to Globalization: Crossover, Canada and Children’s Books~ Oct 18, Dublin, Ireland

SCBWI Tokyo Writers’ Day~ Oct 18, Tokyo, Japan

Children’s Literature Council Fall Gala~ Oct 18, Santa Ana, CA, USA

Vancouver International Writers Festival~ Oct 21-26, Vancouver, BC, Canada

The Big Picture Party: Celebrate the Power of Picture Books~ Oct 27, London, United Kingdom

Book Week~ Oct 27-Nov 9, Japan

Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Awards Ceremony~ Oct 30, San Marcos, TX, USA

28th Santiago International Book Fair~ Oct 31-Nov 16, Santiago, Chile

During “Banned Books Week” in the US (Sep 28-Oct 4) people across the country celebrate their freedom to read. They display banned books and publicize the absurdity of allowing some to dictate what others are or aren’t allowed to read. Once you ban one book, banning season is open.

Julia Alvarez‘s How the García Girls Lost Their Accents is an example of a book that was taken off the shelves for having “inappropriate language and sexual scenes. About a year ago it was banned from Johnston County’s libraries, in North Carolina, as a result of a formal complaint filed by the parents of a 15-year-old high school student. In García Girls, a semi-autobiographical novel for young adults, four sisters from a Dominican family recently arrived in New York face many challenges in adapting to American culture. The book is also the story of a family in search of freedom: they left their native Dominican Republic to escape a dictatorship.

The García Girls’ coming-of-age story was chosen by librarians as one of “21 classics for the 21st century.” It was also one of the four titles selected for “A Latino National Conversation,” a national project sponsored by the Great Books Foundation.

Alvarez, who received a Latina Leader Award in Literature in 2007 from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, remarked on the banning of her book: “This isn’t just an issue of my particular novel’s merit, but a bigger one about the curtailment of civil liberties.” Through her stories Julia Alvarez has quite masterfully created worlds that we all—but for a fearful few—cherish. In an essay titled “I, too, Sing América,” published before the ban on her book, she writes, “It was through the wide open doors of its literature that I truly entered this country, and that I began to dream that maybe I, too, could create worlds where no one would be barred.”

Check out The Kids’ Right to Read Project, a collaboration of the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression and the National Coalition Against Censorship which offers support, education, and advocacy to people facing book challenges or bans, and engages local activists in promoting the freedom to read. We must keep the doors of literature wide open, so that our children can enter whichever one is right for them.

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Library Card Sign-up Month~ USA

National Poetry Week~ ongoing until Sep 7, Australia

Singapore International Storytelling Festival~ ongoing until Sep 9, Singapore

Children Should Be Seen: The Image of the Child in American Picture-Book Art~ ongoing until Sep 14, Los Angeles, CA, USA

Beijing International Book Fair~ Sep 1 – 4, Tinjian, China

National Literacy and Numeracy Week~ Sep 1 – 7, Australia

New Zealand Book Month~ Sep 1 – 30, New Zealand

Christchurch Writers Festival: Getting Between the Covers~ Sep 4 – 7, Christchurch, New Zealand

Shanghai Conference On Children’s Publishing~ Sep 5 – 6, Shanghai, China

Cape Clear Island Storytellling Festival~ Sep 5 – 7, Cape Clear, Ireland

31st IBBY World Congress~ Sep 7 – 10, Copenhagen, Denmark

Hans Christian Anderson Awards Presentation~ Sep 7, Copenhagen, Denmark

International Literacy Day~ Sep 8

UNESCO Literary Prize Awards Presentation~ Sep 8, Paris, France

29th Manila International Book Fair: Words Without Borders~ Sep 12 – 16, Manila, Philippines

Bath Festival of Children’s Literature~ Sep 19 – 28, Bath, United Kingdom

Brisbane Writers Festival~ Sep 17 – 21, Brisbane, Australia

CYA later, Alligator – Children’s and Young Adult Writers And Illustrators Conference~ Sep 20, Brisbane, Australia

6th Annual Houston Latino Book and Family Festival~ Sep 20 – 21, Houston, TX, USA

International Day of Peace~ Sep 21

9th Annual Hog Wild About Reading: A Motorcycle Ride For Literacy~ Sep 21, Port Moody, BC, Canada

Raise-a-Reader Day~ Sep 24, Canada

International Children’s and Youth Literature Festival~ Sep 24 – Oct 4, Berlin, Germany

National Book Festival~ Sep 27, Washington, D.C., USA

Kidlit Bloggers Conference~ Sep 27, Portland, OR, USA

SCBWI Illustrator Day~ Sep 27, San Francisco, CA, USA

Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read~ Sep 27 – Oct 4, USA

Word on the Street Book and Magazine Festival ~ Sep 28, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Entry Deadline for the Noma Concours for Picture Book Illustrations~ Sep 30

Sep 29 through Oct 6 marks the 26th anniversary of Banned Books Week, a major event observed across the United States where libraries, schools, booksellers, and community organizations sponsor exhibits and present programs to shed light on the issue of censorship.

This years’ theme is – you guessed – “Aye mateys… celebrate your freedom t’ read!,” and the celebrations also happen at ALA’s InfoArts Island, in the virtual world of ‘Second Life.’ At the virtual island you will meet avatar volunteers that are ready to help you find your way through book events, discussions, and a cool exhibit that mirrors this year’s pirate theme.

I say: Wow!