(Click on event name for more information)

National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month~ USA

Book Week~ ongoing until Nov 9, Japan

28th Santiago International Book Fair~ ongoing until Nov 15, Santiago, Chile

The Once Upon a World Children’s Book Award Festival~ Nov 1, Los Angeles, CA, USA

Exhibition by Illustrators and Writers of Children’s Books~ Nov 3 – 27, Pretoria, South Africa

3rd Triennial of Estonian illustrations: The Power of Pictures~ Nov 3 – 30, Tallinn, Estonia

29th Indonesia Book Fair~ Nov 4 – 8, Jakarta, Indonesia

American Association of School Librarians National Conference~ Nov 5 – 8, Charlotte, NC, USA

2009 Bologna Illustrators Exhibition of Children’s Books~ Nov 6 – Dec 6, Ishikawa, Japan

13th Annual Rochester Children’s Book Festival~ Nov 7, Rochester, NY, USA

National Young Readers Week~ Nov 9 – 13, USA

Northern Children’s Book Festival~ Nov 9 – 21, United Kingdom

27th Annual National Black Storytelling Festival and Conference~ Nov 11 – 15, Little Rock, AR, USA

TD National Reading Summit: Reading & Democracy~ Nov 12 – 13, Toronto, ON, Canada

International Conference on Children and Young Adults Literature: Postacards from no man’s land. Promoting teen literature~ Nov 13 – 14, Cagliari, Italy

The World of Children’s Book Publishing with Alvina Ling, Senior Editor Little, Brown Books for Young Readers~ Nov 14, Yokohama, Japan

The 16th Annual British IBBY/NCRCL MA Children’s Literature Conference: Going Graphic – Comics and Graphic Novels for Young People~ Nov 14, London, United Kingdom

Calgary Children’s Book Fair and Conference~ Nov 14, Calgary, AB, Canada

18th Annual Connecticut Children’s Book Fair~ Nov 14 – 15, Storrs, CT, USA

Children’s Book Week: Classic Canadian Reading~ Nov 14 – 21, Canada

Take Home an Original: The Art of the Picture Book~ Nov 14 – 24, Ottawa, ON, Canada

Govenor General’s Literary Award Winners Announced~ Nov 17, Montreal, QC, Canada

TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award Winners Announced~ Nov 17, Toronto, ON, Canada

Children’s Literature Assembly Events at the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Annual Convention~ Nov 19 – 24, Philadelphia, PA, USA

8th Annual International Children’s and Young Adult Literature Celebration~ Nov 21, Madison, WI, USA

National Library Board’s Asian Children’s Festival~ Nov 21 – 29, Singapore

Heart and Soul: Art from Coretta Scott King Award Books, 2006–2009~ Nov 21 – Apr 18, 2010, Chicago, IL, USA

USBBY Co-Sponsored Session at the NCTE Convention~ Nov 22, Philadelphia, PA, USA

CJ Picture Book Festival~ Nov 23- Dec 24, Seoul, Korea

CJ Picture Book Forum~ Nov 24, Seoul, Korea

Golden Legacy: Original Art from 65 Years of Golden Books Featuring Artwork from Iconic Children’s Books~ Nov 24 – Feb 28, 2010, Amherst, MA, USA

Mother Goose in an Air-Ship: McLoughlin Bros. 19th Century Children’s Books from the Liman Collection~ Nov 24 – Apr 18, 2010, Amherst, MA, USA

Salon du Livre et de la Presse Jeunesse: Children’s Books & Magazines~ Nov 25 – 30, France

The Children’s Literature Fair of Seine-Saint-Denis~ Nov 26 – Dec 1, Montreuil, France

Inky Awards Ceremony~ Nov 26, Melbourne, Australia

Bookaroo Children’s Literature Festival~ Nov 28 – 29, New Delhi, India

Guadalajara Book Fair~ Nov 28 – Dec 6, Guadalajara, Mexico

Bookaroo, India’s first ever festival of children’s literature took place November 22 and 23rd in New Delhi. Journalist Jai Arjun Singh attended the event and wrote an article about it in the Business Standard. He states:

“India’s first literature festival for children is a reminder of the expanding market in kids’ writing.

A few years ago, it would have been packed, end to end, with Enid Blytons and perhaps the occasional Dr Seuss book (frowned upon by parents because it wasn’t “meaningful enough” for young children). But now there’s an abundance of titles by Indian writers… — all of whom are present at this festival, hosting interactive sessions and workshops, and having a rollicking good time by the looks of it. And all of whom are refreshingly open-minded about the possibilities of children’s literature.

“We’ve finally outgrown the patronising idea that a good children’s book must have an obvious moral attached to it,” says Sayoni Basu, publishing director, Scholastic India, pointing out that it’s possible now for children’s writing in India to be fantastical, silly, irreverent, even dark, as long as it doesn’t get too negative. “People are realising that kids are tougher than they get credit for.”

Scholastic India alone has published around a hundred original children’s titles this year, and other publishers such as Pratham Books (which co-organised Bookaroo), Tara, and Puffin are expanding their catalogues too. Another key development, says Basu, is that the quality of illustrations has vastly improved: “a children’s book now looks like something you might actually want to pick up”.

“The idea that children don’t read nowadays is a vastly overstated one,” says [Indian children's author Sampurna] Chattarji. Going by the enthusiastic response to Bookaroo, she’s right.”

Jai Arjun Singh welcomes our readers to visit his blog where he has posted additional information about Bookaroo as well as photos of the event. Click here and here. You can also visit Pratham Books’ blog to read more Bookaroo reviews.

This week we have watched with shock and horror the events unfold in Mumbai, India . Our sympathies go out to all those affected by the tragic events, especially the children. Last week I posted about Bookaroo – India’s first ever festival of children’s literature. The event was a huge success and organizers had hoped to take the event to Mumbai in the New Year. Now it remains to be seen if that will happen.

Our new issue of PaperTigers focuses on the timely themes of war, peace and social justice in relation to children’s books. How can we help children to cope with the divisiveness and contradictions at play in the world today? How can we help them to feel that they have the power to change things for the better? PaperTigers Managing Editor Aline points out “At no other time in recent history have these themes been more relevant or their challenges more urgent than they are now”. How true!

With the events in India fresh in my mind, I am reminded by a campaign to encourage reading that the Pakistan chapter of IBBY started following the assassination of Benazir Bhutto in 2007. As the country plunged into violence and civil unrest, IBBY Pakistan initiated a poster campaign in an attempt to “counteract the daily subjection of the children to images of terrorism, destruction and despair.” IBBY Pakistan states:

“The aim of the poster campaign is to encourage reading and school attendance, cut the drop-out rate and allow the next generation to move forward out of the current cycle of destruction.The organization is putting every effort into a nationwide poster campaign that will bring children and books together with information, knowledge, and awareness of peace and tolerance towards each other: issues that are often neglected in their lives today. IBBY Pakistan believes that with these methods they can begin to stop what they see as brain washing of the young by the virulent campaign of violence they see around them every day.”

Our November calendar is chock-full of events happening around the world. Each offers something for those interested in children’s literature and many highlight the multi-cultural aspects of children’s literature which we at PaperTigers love. A number of them take place annually; both the Santiago and Indonesia Book Fairs are celebrating their 28th year.

New to our calendar is a festival that I am sure will be a success – Bookaroo, India’s first- ever festival of children’s literature! Held in New Delhi on November 22 and 23rd, more than thirty-five children’s authors, illustrators and graphic artists from India, Australia, the UK and the USA will be involved. In an interview with journalist Seema Chowdhry, organizing members Anita Roy, Swati Roy and Jo Williams say:

“Unlike most children’s book fairs in India, we are not focusing solely on book sales. This festival will be a platform where children’s books will be viewed not just as objects, but as gorgeous, bouncy trampolines which will encourage their imagination and creativity. Since our aim is to present books and reading as a fun activity and not as a chore, we are keen that this festival be more of a family event rather than schools booking slots for the sessions. A good literature festival for children usually offers a wonderful day out for child and adult alike. And because it is all about books, it can help to encourage the reading habit. Bookaroo has put together a series of activities so that children are excited by books and get interested in them.”

The program events have been broken down into age- appropriate sessions, targeting kids from 4 – 14. Although all the events are free, pre-registration is required, with many of the programs already full. Organizers hope that Bookaroo is so successful that they will be able to offer it in Mumbai in January.

(Click on event name for more information)

Children’s Book Holiday~ Mongolia

Grimm Stuff: Folktales and Fairy Stories Exhibition~ ongoing until Nov 8, Wellington, New Zealand

Book Week~ ongoing until Nov 9, Japan

28th Santiago International Book Fair~ ongoing until Nov 16, Santiago, Chile

The Heart of Innocence: Exhibition of Works for Children by Czech Illustrators~ ongoing until Nov 23, Macau

Children’s Literature Festival~ Nov 1, Keene, NH, USA

The Kennedy Center’s 13th Annual Multicultural Children’s Book Festival~ Nov 1, Washington, D.C., USA

The Once Upon a World Children’s Book Award Festival~ Nov 2, Los Angeles, CA, USA

TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award Winners Announced~ Nov 6, Toronto, ON, Canada

Kaleidoscope Children’s Literature Conference: Bridging Worlds ~ Nov 6 – 8, Calgary, AB, Canada

YALSA’s Young Adult Literature Symposium: How We Read Now~ Nov 7 – 9, Nashville, TN, USA

12th Annual Rochester Children’s Book Festival~ Nov 8, Rochester, NY, USA

17th Annual Connecticut Children’s Book Fair~ Nov 8 – 9, Storrs, CT, USA

National Young Reader’s Day~ Nov 10 – 14, USA

Over Rainbows and Down Rabbit Holes: The Art of Children’s Books Exhibition~ Nov 11 – Mar 8/09, Amherst, MA, USA

28th Indonesia Book Fair~ Nov 12 – 16, Jakarta, Indonesia

National Association for Multicultural Education (NAME) 18th International Conference~ Nov 12 – 16, New Orleans, LA, USA

National Book Week~ Nov 14 – 20, India

IBBY/NCRCL Conference: Ecology, Environment and Children’s Literature~ Nov 15, London, United Kingdom

7th Annual National Pacific Islander Educator Network (NPIEN) Conference~ Nov 15, Paramount, CA, USA

Children’s Book Week: Classic Canadian Reading~ Nov 15 – 22, Canada

National Library Board’s 9th Asian Children’s Festival~ Nov 15 – 23, Singapore

Govenor General’s Literary Award Winners Announced~ Nov 18, Montreal, QC, Canada

26th Annual National Black Storytelling Festival and Conference~ Nov 19 – 23, Cincinnati, OH, USA

Children’s Literature Assembly Events at the National Council of Teachers of English Annual Convention~ Nov 20 – 23, San Antonio, TX, USA

7th Annual International Children’s and Young Adult Literature Celebration~ Nov 22, Madison, WI, USA

Bookaroo: India’s First Ever Festival of Children’s Literature~ Nov 22 – 23, New Delhi, India

Assembly on Literature for Adolescents (ALAN) Workshop: Negotiations & Love Songs:The Literature of Young Adults~ Nov 24 – 25, San Antonio, TX, USA

Salon du Livre et de la Presse Jeunesse: Children’s Books & Magazines~ Nov 26 – Dec 1, France

Guadalajara Book Fair~ Nov 29 – Dec 7, Guadalajara, Mexico