Click on event name for more information

Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival~ ongoing until May 4, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

afccSKETCH: Illustrate your interpretation of what One Big Story means in the context of children’s literary content ~ submissions accepted until May 13

6th Nami Island International Children’s Book Festival~ ongoing until May 31, Nami Island, Korea

Mitali Perkins’ Fire Escape Writing Contest~ submissions accepted until June 1, Canada and USA

Children’s Books Ireland Poetry Tree Exhibition~ ongoing until June 8, Dublin, Ireland

Latino Folk Tales: Cuentos Populares Art Exhibition at the Carle Museum~ ongoing until June 9, Amherst, MA, USA

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

Carle Museum Exhibition: The Caldecott Medal: 75 Years of Distinguished Illustration~ ongoing until June 30, Amherst, MA, USA

Write Up a Storm: Foyle Young Poets Competition~ submissions accepted until July 31

The Scholastic Asian Book Award (SABA)~ submissions accepted until Oct 21

National Share-a-Story Month~ United Kingdom

Get Caught Reading Month~ USA

Asian Pacific American Heritage Month~ USA

Asian Heritage Month~ Canada

BOOKtopia, the West Vancouver Children’s Literature Festival~ West Vancouver, BC, Canada

Paula Yoo’s Annual NaPiBoWriWee (National Picture Book Writing Week)~ May 1 – 7

Linda Sue Park to Give the 31st Annual Zena Sutherland Lecture~ May 3, Chicago, IL, USA

27th Annual Vancouver Island Children’s Book Festival~ May 4, Nanaimo, BC, Canada

Hudson Children’s Book Festival  May 4, Hudson, NY, USA

The PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature Presents — Children’s Literature: Braving Our Endangered World~ May 4, New York, NY, USA

TD Canadian Children’s Book Week~ May 4 – 11, Canada (more…)

Click on event name for more details

National Year of Reading~ Australia

Salon du livre et de la presse jeunesse~ ongoing until Dec 3, Montreuil, France

A Journey Without End: Ed Young~ongoing until Dec 30, Omaha, NE, USA

The Illustrators’ Journey Art Exhibition Featuring Art by Shaun Tan, Matt Ottley and More!~ ongoing until Dec 31, Fremantle, Australia

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

2012 South Asia Book Award~ submissions accepted until Dec 31

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

Exhibition of Artworks from Jeannie Baker’s Innovative Picture Book, Mirror~ ongoing until Jan 2013, Blacktown, Australia

Reflections… On the Work of Jeannie Baker~ ongoing until Jan 2013, Blacktown, Australia

17th Annual Family Trees: A Celebration of Children’s Literature~ ongoing until Jan 1, 2013, Concord, MA, USA

23rd Annual Children’s Illustration Show~ ongoing until Jan 13, 2013 Northampton, MA, USA

Appleton Museum of Art Exhibit: Sendak & Co: Children’s Book Illustrations Since Where the Wild Things Are~ ongoing until Jan 20, 2013, Ocala, FL, USA

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

Nami Island International Illustration Concours for Picture Book Illustrations~ submissions accepted until Feb 15, 2013, Korea

Tall Tales & Huge Hearts: Raúl Colón~ ongoing until Mar 29, 2013, Abilene, TX, USA

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

The Children’s Literature Centre at Frostburg State University Presents Storybook Holiday~ Dec 1, Frostburg, MD, USA

The 92Y’s Children’s Reading Series Presents: An Evening with  National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Walter Dean Myers~ Dec 1, New York. NY, USA

The Foundation of Children’s Books Presents a Special Book Group Party with Grace Lin~ Dec 1, Brookline, MA, USA

“Dreams of a City” SCBWI Greece Illustrator Exhibition and Book Event~ Dec 1 – 22, Athens, Greece

Iconic Images: Ten Years of Collecting for The Carle. Gallery Tour with Curator, Nick Clark~ Dec 2, Amherst, MA, USA

Asian Festival of Children’s Content Book Club Presents the Singapore Launch of If I Were A Blue Kangaroo by Dave Seow~ Dec 5, Singapore

Bangalore Literature Festival~ Dec 7 – 9, Bangalore, India

Puppet Show and Book Presentation at the SCBWI Greece Illustrator/Author exhibition~ Dec 8, Athens, Greece

So You Want to Choose the 2013 Caldecott?~ Dec 9, Amherst, MA, USA

Summertime Stories Family Event~ Dec 10, Blacktown, Australia

Bengaluru Sahityotsava~ Dec 14 – 16, Bangalore, India

The Best of the Best in 2012 with Susan Bloom~ Dec 15, Amherst, MA, USA

Children’s book reading of “The Giant’s Star” by Marivita Grammatikaki. Music by Nikos Xanthoulis~ Dec 16, Athens, Greece

Chapter & Verse’s (A Book Club for Adults Discussing Children’s Lit) Mock Newbery and Caldecott Discussions~ Dec 20, USA

The Literature Centre (formerly 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

Click on event name for more information

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

The American Library Association’s 2010 Annual Conference was held last month in Washington, D.C. and was well attended by librarians, publishers, authors, illustrators and others interested in literature. For those of us that weren’t able to attend we can still get a feel for what took place! Click here to watch Publisher Weekly’s photo essay “Children’s Books at ALA” and click here to read the past issues of Cognotes, the daily newspaper of the conference.

(Click on event name for more information)

Exhibition of Prize-Winning Works of 16th Noma Concours (2008) “Palette of Dream Colours IV”~ ongoing until Jul 5, Tokyo, Japan

The Nye Memorial Children’s Literature Tour of the Ukraine~ ongoing until Jul 10, Ukraine

READ!Singapore 2009 – Dreaming A Good Read~ ongoing until Aug 31, Singapore

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

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

Exhibition – Drawings from the Heart: Tomie de Paola Turns 75 ~ Jul 3 – Nov 1, Amherst, MA, USA

Kids and Young Adult Literature Festival~ Jul 4 – 5, Rozelle, Australia

West Cork Literary Festival~ Jul 5 – 11, Bantry, Ireland

NAIDOC Week~ Jul 5 – 12, Australia

Asterisks and Obelisks: Classical Receptions in Children’s Literature~ Jul 6 – 10, Lampeter, United Kingdom

Worlds in Dialogue Conference~ Jul 8 – 11, Potchefstroom, South Africa

Storytellers of Canada Annual Conference~ Jul 8 – 12, Victoria, BC, Canada

SCBWI British Isles Hosts an Evening with Tamarind Books Founder Verna Wilkins~ Jul 9, London, United Kingdom

Tokyo International Book Fair~ Jul 9 – 12, Tokyo, Japan

American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference~ Jul 9 – 15, Chicago, IL, USA

Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) Program and Meeting Schedule at the ALA Annual Conference~ Jul 9 – 15, Chicago, IL, USA

Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) Program and Meeting Schedule at the ALA Annual Conference~ July 9 – 15, Chicago, IL, USA

National Conference for Teachers of English and Literacy~ Jul 9 – 12, Hobart, Australia

SHCY Biennial Conference: Children and Youth at Risk and Taking Risks: Historical Inquiries in International Perspective~ Jul 10-12, Berkeley, CA, USA

The 45th UKLA International Conference Making Connections: Building Literate Communities in and Beyond Classrooms~ Jul 10 – 12, London, United Kingdom

USBBY/YALSA Present Mixing it Up: The Process of Bringing International Children’s Books to the US~ Jul 11, Chicago, IL, USA

Creative Exchange: The Bologna Experience with Ayano Imai, Kiyo Tanaka and Shimako Okamura~ Jul 11, Tokyo, Japan

2009 Bologna Illustrators Exhibition of Children’s Books~ Jul 11 – Aug 16, Tokyo, Japan

Children’s Books Ireland Wild About Books Day~ Jul 12, Dublin, Ireland

10th Annual Pacific Northwest Children’s Book Conference~ Jul 13 – 17, Portland, OR, USA

20th Annual Children’s Book Fair~ Jul 13 – Aug 1, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Voices on the Coast, A Youth Literature Festival~ Jul 14 – 18, Sunshine Coast, Australia

2nd National Conference on Children’s Literature~ Jul 16 – 17, Diliman, Philippines

Harlem Book Fair~ Jul 17 – 19, Harlem, NY, USA

18th Storytelling Festival at the Edge~ Jul 17 – 19, Stokes Barn, United Kingdom

Kathalaya’s Intensive Course on Art of Storytelling~ Jul 20 – 25, Bangalore, India

16th European Conference on Reading and 1st Ibero-American Forum on Literacies: Discovering Worlds of Literacy~ Jul 19 – 22, Braga, Portugal

Racial Harmony Day~ Jul 21, Singapore

National Children’s Book Day~ Jul 21, Philippines

20th Annual Hong Kong Book Fair~ Jul 22 – 28, Hong Kong

Lima International Book Fair~ Jul 23 – Aug 5, Lima, Peru

Montana Poetry Day~ Jul 24, New Zealand

Latin American Regional Conference/Congreso Latinoamericano~ Jul 30 – Aug 1, Lima, Peru

Spring is in the air which means it’s time for the Bologna Children’s Book Fair – the world’s leading publishing fair covering all genres for infants, children and young adults. This year’s fair, the 46th edition, will take place at the Bologna Exhibition Centre from March 23rd to 26th and will feature: 1300 exhibitors, 20,0000 square metres, 69 countries, 55 languages and over 4,800 foreign visitors. The exhibitors will include publishers, literary agents, packagers, printers, international organizations, TV and film producers, licensor and licensees, and service companies linked to the publishing world.

Along with the the exhibition of worldwide children’s publishing and fabulous Programme of Events, highlights will include:

The Bologna Illustrators Exhibition – an exceptional display of children’s book illustrations, selected by an international jury. The 2009 Guest of Honour of the Illustrators Exhibition will be Korea, a country with strong traditions in illustration, cartoons, and design. A special exhibit entitled “Round and Round in a Circle” will showcase the literature, history and customs of Korea through illustrations.

A special “show-in-show” dedicated to Roberto Innocenti, winner of the 2008 Hans Christian Andersen Prize for Illustration.

The Illustrators’ Cafe – the ideal place to meet illustrators, authors, and publishers, discuss the latest developments, talk about everything related to illustration and attend special events. This is the place to be on March 24th when the announcement ofThe Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award for Literature will be broadcast live from Vimmerby, Sweden.

BolognaRagazzi Award – one of the most coveted prizes in children’s publishing, this award is reserved for books with outstanding graphic and editorial design.

TV/Film & Licensing Centre, The Literary Agents Centre, and the World Directory of Children’s Book Translators and Translators Centre

Last year two members of our PaperTigers team, Aline and Marjorie, were thrilled to be able to attend the fair and shared their experiences on our blog. Unfortunately this year no one from the PT team will be able to attend, but we want to know everything that is happening there! So this is our shout-out to those of you that will be attending. Will you be blogging about the event, twittering or facebooking? Loading up photos, emailing? Let us know!

(Click on event name for more information)

The Art of Picture Books Exhibition~ ongoing until Mar 27, Bristol, United Kingdom

20th Annual Children’s Book Illustrator Exhibit~ ongoing until Apr 18, Hayward, CA, USA

Read Across America Day~ Mar 2, USA

Words on Wheels~ Mar 2 – 7, New Zealand

Papirolas Festival for Children and Youth~ Mar 3 – 8, Guadalajara, Mexico

World Book Day~ Mar 5, United Kingdom and Ireland

Growing Up Asian in America Art and Essay Contest~ entry deadline Mar 5, San Francisco, CA, USA

40th Annual Conference on Children’s Literature~ Mar 6 – 7, Athens, GA, USA

Asilomar Regional Reading Conference: Fired Up for Literacy~ Mar 6 – 8, Pacific Grove, CA, USA

Shanghai International Literary Festival~ Mar 6 -22, Shanghai, China

Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC)Choices Day and Charlotte Zolotow Award Event~ Mar 7, Madison, WI, USA

Man Hong Kong International Literary Festival~ Mar 8 – 18, Hong Kong

ALA’s Teen Tech Week~ Mar 8 – 14, USA

Share a Story – Shape a Future, A Blog Tour for Literacy~ Mar 9

12th Time of the Writer International Writers Festival~ Mar 9 – 14, Durban, South Africa

Rhinelander Children’s Book Fest~ Mar 10 -11, Rhinelander, WI, USA

Annual SCBWI (SA) Publishers Show & Tell Day~ Mar 11, Cape Town, South Africa

19th Abu Dhabi International Book Fair~ Mar 12 – 22, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Children’s Books in Asia, Africa and Latin America Symposium~ Mar 13, Tokyo, Japan

13th Annual Charlotte S. Huck Children’s Literature Festival~ Mar 13 – 14, Redlands, CA, USA

Salon du Livre Paris~ Mar 13 – 18, Paris, France

41st Annual Children’s Literature Festival~ Mar 15 – 17, Warrensburg, MO, USA

Exhibition of Prize Winning Works of 16th Noma Concours (2008) “Palette of Dream Colours IV”~ Mar 15 – Jul 5, Tokyo, Japan

Somerset Celebration of Literature~ Mar 16 – 20, Mudgeeraba, Australia

World Storytelling Day~ Mar 20

Harmony Day~ Mar 21, Australia

World Poetry Day~ Mar 21

Bologna Children’s Book Fair~ Mar 23 – 26, Bologna, Italy

Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award Winners Announced~ Mar 24, Vimmerby, Sweden

All-Saints College Festival of Young Adult and Children’s Literature~ Mar 25 – 27, Bull Creek, Australia

7th Bangkok International Book Fair & 37th National Book Fair~ Mar 26 – Apr 6, Bangkok, Thailand

Oxford Children’s Literature and Youth Culture Colloquium Presents an International Conference: Place and Space in Children’s Literature~ Mar 27 – 28, Oxford, United Kingdom

Children’s Literature Council Spring Workshop: I Can Read It by Myself…But Do I Want To? Inspiring Emergent Readers~ Mar 28, Glendale, CA, USA

Margaret Mahy Day~ Mar 28, New Zealand

Reading the World: A Conference Celebrating Multicultural Literature for Children and Young Adults~ Mar 28 – 29, San Francisco, CA, USA

Norman Lindsay Festival of Children’s Literature~ Mar 28 – 29, Faulconbridge, Australia

Childhood in its Time Conference: The Child in British Literature~ Mar 28 – 29, Canterbury, United Kingdom

Latino Book & Family Festival~ Mar 28 – 29, Chicago, IL, USA

Last week I was lucky enough to spend some time in San Francisco where one of the highlights of the trip was a day spent sightseeing with PaperTigers’ managing editor and producer Aline Pereira. Our first stop was the outstanding Asian Art Museum, one of the largest museums in the Western world devoted exclusively to Asian Art. We wandered though the three floors of amazing exhibits and got to watch master Japanese bamboo artist Tanaka Kyokusho demonstrate his bamboo art. Tanaka mixes traditional bamboo techniques with a contemporary sensibility to create a unique style of his own. His bamboo baskets are amazing works of art. While the adults watched Tanaka’s demonstration, kids got to try weaving a pattern with various materials such as paper and raffia.

Our next stop was the San Francisco library to see an exhibit of artwork by author/illustrator Elisa Kleven. Elisa, currently featured in our PaperTigers’ illustrator gallery, is appropriately described by Aline as being a master of imaginary worlds. Her artwork is simply stunning with bright colors and so much detail that the illustrations feel as if they are moving and jumping off the pages at you.

Aline (l) and myself (r).

–

Click to enlarge the photos and you can see the original illustrator manuscript for Abuela plus a puzzle!
—–

–

I purchased a copy of The City by the Bay: A Magical Journey Around San Francisco (written by Tricia Brown, illustrated by Elisa) to bring home to my children. Here’s my daughter Emma reading it to our dog Riley and a close up of her favorite page – fireworks and the Golden Gate Bridge. Emma took this book to school for Show and Tell where it was quite the hit! The kids loved the illustrations and the challenge of finding the dog, cat and baby on each page. Check out our PaperTigers’ gallery to see more of Elisa’s work.
—- —-

(Click on event name for more information)

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

Our January calendar of book-related events (thanks, Corinne!) is chock-full of incredible happenings. Below are just a few more that shouldn’t go unnoticed. If these events are any indication—and I think they are—2009 is off to a great start!

—Author and illustrator Grace Lin‘s new charity project will have her auctioning an original painting per month this year, to benefit The Foundation of Children’s Books‘ program of bringing authors into low-income schools. Now you have a chance to bid on—and hopefully win—one or more of her “Small Graces” paintings while helping a very worthy cause. Doesn’t it sound like a great way to live up to your new year’s resolution of making a difference?

—On Jan 22, those in or around New York City will have a chance to listen to the wind. Yes, that’s right. The Young People’s Chorus of New York will be performing the world premiere of composer Victoria Bond’s piece written for the book Listen to the Wind, by Susan L. Roth’s and Greg Mortenson. The piece is to be performed at the Lincoln Center Barnes and Noble, at 7:30pm, at the official launch of the book. Listen to the Wind is featured on PaperTigers, along with an interview and e-gallery of Susan’s work. Prepare to be delighted!

—And last but not least… What started as a 140-character Twitter message by author Mitali Perkins (“Idea: Indies partner with authors for a ‘give a signed book’ day; all Kid/YA authors in area show up at stores to sign one afternoon”) is shaping up to be quite a literary love fest. Literally. Mitali joined forces with a group of book lovers to turn her idea into “Kids (Heart) Authors Day“, a multi-bookstore event to take place on Valentine’s Day all throughout New England. If you’re near one of them, don’t miss the chance to pick up a signed literary valentine—and to let them know why you love writers, illustrators and independent bookstores.

Did I say spread the word?…