The National Book Development Council of Singapore has just released more information on activities being held at this year’s Asian Festival of Children’s Content. You will see that the first item noted below is a pre-AFCC panel discussion that I will be doing with Tarie Sabido and Dr. Myra Garces-Bacsal on May 25th! For those of you attending the 2011 AFCC, plan on kick-starting the event by attending our free discussion. We would love to meet you and have you join! Plus, if you are already registered for the AFCC, you can officially sign in during our event and avoid the hassle of potential line-ups at the sign-in table on opening day.

Highlights at the Asian Festival of Children’s Content 2011, Sign Up Now!

As part of this exciting festival’s aims to engage, educate and empower children on a global stage through uniquely Asian content, we are offering a Free Panel Discussion on Building a Nation of Readers via Web 2.0, Specialised Workshops on writing and illustrating, and a Masterclass on Picture Books, led by some of the most accomplished children’s books creators around.

25 May, 5.30pm – 7.00pm
Free Panel Discussion: Building a Nation of Readers via Web 2.0
An Introduction to Kidlitosphere and the YA Blogosphere
by Corinne Robson, Canada (www.papertigers.org), Tarie Sabido, Philippines (http://asiaintheheart.blogspot.com) and Dr. Myra Garces-Bacsal, Singapore (www.gatheringbooks.org)

We know that blogging is the 21st century’s “word-of-mouth marketing”, and it is presently one of the most popular ways to promote a product, but what is Kidlitosphere?

Let us show you how to reach out to your current and prospective readers who are on the Internet. Download event flyer here. Admission is free. To register, email to info@bookcouncil.sg with your name and contact number.

28 May, 9.30am – 12.30pm
Writing Stories for Picture Books (in Mandarin)
by Chen Chih-Yuan, Taiwan

So you want to write a picture book. Stories for young children are usually short and that leads many to think that writing for them is easy. You’ll be in for a surprise as it is even more difficult than writing for adults. Join Chen Chih-Yuan, three-time winner of the prestigious Hsin Yi Picture Book Award, as he shows you how he writes stories for picture books. Download brochure here.

28 May, 1.30pm – 4.30pm
Picture Book Production Workshop (in Malay); Bengkel Menghasilkan Buku Bergambar
by Yusof Gajah, Malaysia & Murti Bunanta, Indonesia

In this workshop, you will have a better idea on producing picture books. Come, learn and expand on your initial efforts into a publishable picture book.Yusof Gajah is a much loved artist from Malaysia who is well known for his iconic elephant paintings, and Dr. Murti Bunanta is children’s literature specialist from Indonesia who has written 50 books for children. Download brochure here.

29 May, 10.00am – 1.00pm
Illustrating Picture Books (in Mandarin)
by Chen Chih-Yuan, Taiwan

Chen Chih-Yuan, renowned picture book writer and illustrator who has books published in various countries; the US, France, Germany, Netherlands, Japan, and Korea, will show you practical, creative techniques and solutions to different types of picture books, from wordless to those heavy on text.
Download brochure here.

29 – 30 May, 10.00am – 6.00pm
Masterclass on Picture Books

Join the AFCC 2011’s Masterclass on Picture Books and get this fantastic opportunity to meet Anushka Ravishankar, one of India’s most celebrated children’s authors, Gavin Bishop, New Zealand’s multiple award-winning author and illustrator, and John Mckenzie, the guru in Children’s Literature at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand.

The Masterclass will take you inside the minds and creative processes of these renowned experts in children’s literature today. Whether you are just beginning the path towards publication, or are already well-established, this Masterclass offers an invaluable guide to the craft of writing and illustrating picture books. Download brochure here.

Sign up early as seats are limited! Also visit www.afcc.com.sg for more information on the Asian Festival of Children’s Content 2011. We hope to see you in May!

After a busy day of presentations on Day 2, Day 3 of the Bologna Book Fair was spent meeting people and absorbing the different books on offer.

First up was a lovely chat with poet Jorge Luján, whom we’d caught up with on the Tuesday evening… He shared his brand new book with us and I will share some photos with you when I work out how to get them off the camera (as opposed to a storage disc)… but in the meantime, enjoy this gorgeous poster for the exhibition of Isol’s illustrations from his recently published Pantuflas de perrito which is on-going until 25th April, if you happen to be in Bologna…

Other highlights included:

The presentation of the International Youth Library‘s newly announced 2010 White Ravens Catalogue:

I had a great discussion with Janet Evans from Liverpool Hope University, UK, who is currently spending some time with the Library in Munich

while…

next door at the IBBY stand, Corinne and Aline had a good chat with Sylvia Vardell, editor of IBBY magazine Bookbird and host of the wonderful Poetry for Children blog (Don’t miss out on her current game of Poetry Tag for National Poetry Month in the US).

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Meeting Danilla Marii, an Australian writer based in Rome, who had come to the Fair to seek out a publisher for her beautiful and vibrant book The Rainbow Tree – it was a real privilege to be able to see the original draft that includes some intricate collage work. We loved the story too.

Catching up with Antoinette Correa from B.L.D. – Bibliothèque Lecture Développement (Senegal)

and Pilli Hamidu Dumea of the Children’s Book Project for Tanzania.

Meeting author/illustrator/stroyteller John Kilaka, an erstwhile winner of the BolognaRagazzi New Horizons Award (for New Friends in 2005), and seeing his new book, The Amazing Tree.

…And of course, the books…

A display of Mitsumasa Anno’s books at Fukuinkan Shoten Publishers‘ stand, including his new Anno’s Journey across Asia – and if you look at the first photograph for this post you should be able to spot it among the White Ravens 2010 selection too…

A display devoted to Jimmy Liao’s books – what a feast of color and imagination they are. Wouldn’t it be great to have more of his books available in English!

And the much-loved Guji Guji by Chih-Yuan Chen in lots of different languages – interesting, also, to see the different illustrations chosen for the covers.

You can see these and more photos from Day 3 here…

Characters who don’t quite fit in with their surroundings are often the stuff of good narrative tension and timeless stories – Hans Christian Andersen’s The Ugly Duckling comes to mind… Two beautiful picture books which seem to follow on along that theme, not least through the fact of their protagonists being white water birds (or not), are Borka: The Adventures of a Goose with no Feathers by John Burningham and Guji Guji by Chih-Yuan Chen.

Borka was republished recently in a special 40th anniversary edition. It has lost none of its appeal in the intervening years and the fabulous, witty artwork has not dated. Borka’s parents are told by the doctor goose that they must knit some feathers for Borka(!)– but the other young geese still laugh at her and she spends most of her time keeping out of the way. She can’t fly and isn’t even missed when all the other birds set off on their flight south for the winter. That’s when Borka’s adventures really begin; and the unexpected broadening of her horizons brings new friendships and happiness at last…

Meanwhile, our copy of Guji Guji was given to the whole family with the inscription “I hope you ALL enjoy this charming book” and indeed, there really is something in it for readers of all ages. Above all, there is a bubbly humor and an all-round, gleeful delight in the dénouement. Guji Guji started life as an egg which rolled into a duck’s nest. At this point we see a nest with three smallish white eggs and an ENORMOUS brown one. The next page:

Mother Duck didn’t notice.
(She was reading.)

Of course she was! What a glorious way for young readers / listeners to be introduced to reading as a way of life! Mother Duck treats all four of her children the same and Guji Guji has no questions even, until the “terrible” day three crocodiles arrive on the scene and assure him he’s one of them and should behave likewise. What follows is a story of temptation and wiliness overcome by love. For children who have always been fully secure in where they fit in to their families and communities, that is the straightforward unfolding of the tale: but for those who have felt out of place or exposed because they are physically different, perhaps through adoption, this is a very special story. Here’s a full review from Book Carousel; and Books for Kids has some ideas about how to use the story in class to talk about peer pressure. You can also listen to the story here, read by Scott Simon and Daniel Pinkwater on a National Public Radio broadcast, with interjections to highlight the delightful, so integral illustrations – it does just make you want to have the book open before you! I particularly loved this:

Here’s a picture I’d have on my wall and look at every day for the rest of my life and not mind it a bit, of Mother Duck reading to her little brood: they’re all in a big pile, falling asleep, sort of draped over Guji Guji.

How’s that for a blissful picture of a bedtime story?