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).

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Click to enlarge the photos and you can see the original illustrator manuscript for Abuela plus a puzzle!
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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.
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(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?…

On Dec. 30, the Governor General of Canada announced 60 new appointments to the Order of Canada, Canada’s highest civilian honor. Established in 1967, the Order of Canada is the centrepiece of Canada’s honours system and recognizes a lifetime of outstanding achievement, dedication to the community and service to the nation. I was thrilled to hear that Canadian author and literacy advocate, David Bouchard was named as “Member of the Order of Canada for his contributions as an author of children’s books and an advocate who has championed the cause of reading and writing, and who has shared his pride as a member of the Métis community through his stories.”

A former teacher and principal, Bouchard is British Columbia’s best-selling author and single most sought-after public speaker. He has written over 25 best-selling children’s books which have won several prestigious awards, among them: the Governor General’s Award for The Song Within My Heart, the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award for Voices from the Wild, the Red Cedar Award for The Great Race and the Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Award for Illustration for The Dragon New Year. His books have also been short-listed many times for Canada’s most illustrious awards.

Each year David Bouchard travels extensively, championing the cause of literacy to students, parents and educators. During these events, Bouchard shares his perspective: “We do not need new curriculum or harder working teachers in order to get our students to read. We need parents, teachers and administrators who read. The key lies in modeling.” He outlines respective roles and responsibilities that will ensure that all children are given the gift of reading. He inspires and leaves his listeners with a concrete plan and the rejuvenation needed to face literacy issues head on.

“The greatest gift we can give our children is the gift of reading. There is no magic in giving it. There is no toy or program that will do the job for us. It takes time, commitment and most of all, fire. We cannot hope to light a fire in the hearts of others without a fire burning in our own. Light and stoke yours, then spread the flame fast and furious. Let literacy be your legacy.” says David.

On Jan. 21st David will be the keynote speaker for Literiffic Day at my son’s school, an event which I am looking forward to attending!

Award winning author Mitali Perkins is starting 2009 on an exciting note! Her newest book Secret Keeper, published by Random House, is being released on January 13th. (Watch a trailer for the book here on Mitali’s blog.) To celebrate, Mitali is inviting everyone in the San Francisco area to a Chai and Samosa Reception at Not Your Mother’s Book Club at the Town & Country Village in Palo Alto between 6 – 7pm Thursday, January 15th.

From 7-8 p.m that same evening, Mitali will lead a writing workshop entitled “MAGIC CARPET: Creating a Sense of Place in Story,” a fun, hands-on, stress-free event for writers of all stages and ages. The session will start with tips and techniques, continue with prompts to inspire a time of writing, and end with personalized feedback. This event will be a great shared memory for parents and teens, and a welcome escape for stressed-out students who want to relax with an ungraded creative exercise. No experience necessary, but to sign up for the workshop, you must send an email confirmation to NYMBC (at) booksinc (dot) net, as space is limited to twenty participants.

For those in the Seattle area, Barnes and Noble (Bellevue Downtown) will host a launch party for Secret Keeper on January 18 at 2pm. Mitali will be in attendance and looks forward to discussing and signing copies of her new book. Later that day, teens are invited to join Mitali for an Indian Dinner/Teen Writers Workshop at the Bellevue Regional Library. Again, pre-registration is required.

Mitali is a regularly featured author and contributor to the PaperTigers website. In 2007 she and her mother, award winning alpana painter Madhusree Bose, took part in our first PaperTigers Outreach Program at the San Francisco Waldorf School. Mitali will be contributing an article on “The Power of Children to Make a Difference” in our upcoming issue of PaperTigers due out February 1st.

(Click on event name for more information)

Golden Feather Literature Festival~ ongoing until Jan 31, Mongolia

5th Tales in the Park Festival~ ongoing until Feb 7, Bangkok, Thailand

Discovering Ethnic Minorities – Storytelling Workshops for Children~ ongoing until May 31, Hong Kong

2008 Cybils (the Children’s and Young Adult Bloggers’ Literary Awards) Finalists Announced~ Jan 1

Costa Book Awards Winners Announced~ Jan 6, London, United Kingdom

7th Annual Hawaii International Conference on Arts and Humanities~ Jan 9 – 12, Honolulu, HI, USA

Mitali Perkin’s Secret Keeper Book Launch Party and Writing Workshop~ Jan 15, Palo Alto, CA, USA

CISA World Symposium and Storytelling Festival: Indigenous Voices, Ancient Trade Routes~ Jan 15 – 17, San Leandro, CA, USA

Storytelling by Winners of the First Time Writers & Illustrators Publishing Initiative 2008~ Jan 17, Singapore

Newberry Library Lecture – Babes in the Wood: The Death of Childhood and the Birth of Modern Children’s Literature~ Jan 17, Chicago, IL, USA

Presentation Ceremony for the Marsh Award for Children’s Literature in Translation~ Jan 20, London, United Kingdom

20th Annual Zora Neale Hurston Festival of the Arts and Humanities~ Jan 20 – 25, Eatonville, FL, USA

Presentation by Award Winning Author and Literacy Advocate David Bouchard~ Jan 21, Port Moody, BC, Canada

Jaipur Literature Festival~ Jan 21 – 25, Jaipur, India

SCBWI Tokyo Presents Alison Lester: From Arnhem Land to Antarctica as a Children’s Author and Illustrator~ Jan 23, Tokyo, Japan

Deb Ellis and Groundwood Books Partnership with USBBY in a Fundraiser for IBBY’s Fund for Children in Crisis~ Jan 23, Denver, CO, USA

2nd Children’s & Young Adults’ Book Fair~ Jan 23 – 26, Marousi, Greece

American Library Association (ALA) 2009 Midwinter Meeting~ Jan 23 – 29, Denver, CO, USA

ALA Youth Media Awards Announcement~ Jan 26, Denver, CO, USA

Yabun 2009: Celebrating Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Cultures~ Jan 26, Sydney, Australia

No Name-Calling Week~ Jan 26 – 30, USA

Family Literacy Week~ Jan 26 – 31, Province of British Columbia, Canada

Family Literacy Day~ Jan 27, Canada

SCBWI South Africa – Cape Town Presents What’s Happening in the SA Educational Book World~ Jan 28 , Cape Town, South Africa

3rd International Galle Literary Festival~ Jan 28 – Feb 1, Galle, Sri Lanka

Kolkata Book Fair~ Jan 28 – Feb 8, Kolkata, India

Frances Lincoln Diverse Voices Children’s Book Award Entry Deadline~ Jan 30, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom

SCBWI Annual Winter Meeting~ Jan 30 – Feb 1, New York, NY, USA