The recent issue of PaperTigers focuses on the power of children to change the world.  As I read it, I thought of a  book my sister gave me called The Umbrella Girl.  My sister works for The Leprosy Mission, an organization dedicated to treating leprosy victims and assisting those who suffer from its after effects.  The Umbrella Girl is the story of Mali.  Mali lives in Chiang Mai, Thailand.  While still young, she is struck down with leprosy and can no longer help with the family business of making umbrellas.  What will Mali do?  Where will she go?  How can she help the family when she is becoming sick?

The Umbrella Girl recounts the plight of many children in the world who are struck down by disease.  Innocent and vulnerable, often without access to medical care, they have little recourse in life to alter their circumstances.  Their mere survival is itself heroic.  In Mali’s case, The Leprosy Mission diagnosed and treated the disease.  After spending time in hospital, Mali returned home and according to reports from my sister who visited Chiang Mai recently, is now a healthy young woman.  Books like The Umbrella Girl are of two-fold purpose — to make children aware of the plight of other less fortunate children, and to enable them to make a difference to children like Mali by praying for them and/or by donating to these organizations.  The Umbrella Girl fell into my hands when my son needed a cause for which to be a ‘superhero’ for his class’ SuperHeroes project.  In reading The Umbrella Girl, he came to know more about leprosy and the people it affects, and was able to transmit this information to his class.

The Umbrella Girl can be obtained by requesting it from The Leprosy Mission or the story can be found here in PDF format.

Some children’s bookstores are legendary–and one of them is Saint Paul, Minnesota’s Red Balloon Book Shop which recently began an instore book group (called Chapter and Verse) that would be worth moving to Minnesota for!

Perhaps the only thing more fun than reading a good book is reading a good book that transcends all age categories–and then talking about it. It has always seemed peculiar that more book groups have not been formed for adults who love children’s literature–we at PaperTigers hosted an online bookgroup, The Tiger’s Choice, during 2008 for just that purpose, but the intimacy of a book group does not translate quite so effectively to cyberspace.

On the other hand, bookstores are the perfect venue for book groups. You know, when you go to a book group at your favorite bookstore, that you will have something in common with the other participants–you all love to read and you all love the same bookstore!

When I was pregnant with my first son in Fairbanks, Alaska, I began to rediscover the delights of a well-written children’s book, and was sure that I was the only adult who still frequented the young readers’ bookshelves of my local library. One evening a friend and I were chatting about what we’d read when Georgianna lowered her voice and confessed, “I read children’s books.” Suddenly we were a two-person book group, happily discussing A Wrinkle in Time and Harriet the Spy.

It’s so wonderful to know that children’s literature readers no longer feel clandestine and have places as congenial as the Red Balloon Bookshop to host their discussions! If you’ve been lucky enough to be a member of this group, please tell us about it–if you have another favorite bookshop that provides this opportunity, do let us know. And to Chapter and Verse at the Red Balloon–we’re on our way!

Lee & Low Books, an independent children’s book publisher focused on diversity, has announced the winner of the New Voices Award Honor for 2008 – Hayan Charara of Houston, Texas- for his poignant story, The Three Lucys.

The Three Lucys explores the realities of war from the perspective of Luli, a young Lebanese boy whose most beloved possessions are his three cats, all named Lucy. Returning home with his parents after a visit with his aunt and uncle, Luli discovers that conflicts between people can change some things forever. But in the end, Luli also learns to hope for a future in which change is possible as differences are put aside. Mr. Charara’s writing is honest and lyrical and captures a strong sense of place. The Three Lucys is based on the experiences of the author’s younger brother during the month-long war in Lebanon in the summer of 2006.

A first-generation Arab American born in Michigan, Mr. Charara is a poet, editor, and teacher. While this is his first foray into writing for children, Mr. Charara’s work for adults has appeared in numerous literary journals and anthologies.

Lee & Low Books established the New Voices Award in 2000 to encourage writers of color to submit their work to a publisher that takes pride in nurturing new talent. The award reflects the company’s mission of meeting the need for stories that children of color can identify with and that all children can enjoy. “When we started the company, there was a lot of interest in books focused on diversity,” says co-founder Tom Low, “but most of the titles were folktales about exotic people from distant lands. We felt strongly that it was important to have books with a contemporary setting that reflect how we live today.”

Lee & Low has published over 200 books since 1991. A number of their titles have won major awards and honors, including the Coretta Scott King Award, the Pura Belpré Honor Award, and The Jane Addams Peace Award.

Over a year ago now, I blogged about the beautiful poem Outback written by the then eight-year-old Annaliese Porter and published by Magabala Books in Australia, in a stunning edition illustrated by renowned artist Bronwyn Bancroft. I recently lent our copy of Outback to a friend to use with her class of eight-year-olds here in the UK, when they were learning about aboriginal art, and it was an eye-opening experience for them to work with a book written by someone their own age.

Now Magabala have done it again – they recently published Joshua and the Two Crabs by Joshua Button, “a young man with a keen interest in the saltwater country he has grown up in”.

It’s a delightful story, told with humour, as Joshua chases the two crabs around the beach, telling them,

‘I can see you two!’
‘Well, we can see you too,’ said the crabs.

The three-fold repetition of this satisfying formula perhaps lulls young readers/ listeners into a false sense of this being a wholly imaginary, anthropomorphised tale – so it comes as a bit of a shock when Joshua catches them and then throws them onto the fire to cook for lunch! However, Joshua’s matter-of-fact tone is quite in keeping with the descriptive narrative… I would say the story is a perfect example of a child’s ability to weave fact and fiction together in one breath. We adults sometimes walk a tightrope here. How often have you found yourself in a no-win situation? Either you go along with the imaginings and are berated for saying something which is obviously not true, or you are likewise reproached for throwing in the cold water of fact! Well, Joshua Button seems to have got the blend just right, judging by Little Brother’s reaction.

He was chuckling for a long time that Joshua carried a bucket and spear at the beach – and he loved the pictures – he liked the textures and layering. They are indeed stunning – the colors bring the sea and the creek alive; the crabs are wonderful, as are the vignettes of the waders – and I especially loved Joshua peering down at the crabs in his very goggly goggles!

A while after reading it together, it became apparent that Little Brother had been mulling it over:

“Joshua Button does exist.”
“Yes, he does.”
“Do you think this is a true story?
“Yes, I do.”
“But the bit about talking crabs is fiction.”
“Probably.”
“Well, it could say that”
“But it’s a story – fundamentally it’s a story, isn’t it?”
“Well, it did happen. It’s a story about two crabs.”

…and he is now thinking about writing his own book. In my post yesterday, I quoted Jarrett Krosoczka and the effect on him of a comment from a visiting author to his school – how much more aspirational then to read a book in print that is written by someone your own age! Not only has Joshua Button given children all over the world the opportunity to find out about a fun family day out in his corner of Australia, he has opened them to the possibility that they could do it too. Thank you, Magabala Books!

Little Elena’s papa is a glassblower.  Elena wants to be just like him.  But Elena is too little and moreover, a girl.  “Who ever heard of a girl glassblower? ” Papa says.  Little Elena gets mad.  She decides she will prove her father wrong.  And so begins the story of Elena’s Serenade by Campbell Geeslin.  Elena dresses up as a boy and heads off to Monterrey where all the great glassblowers are to learn the craft of her father.   Along the way, she meets some interesting characters — burro, coyote, and roadrunner — who encourage her in her quest.  Above her are the movements of  the heavens embodied in the beautifully illustrated figures of the sun, El Sol, and the moon, La Luna.

Elena’s Serenade is the story of a girl’s quest for a vocation.  A not atypical motif, the book however, stands out for its wonderful and evocative illustration, reminiscent of the work of Mexican artists such as Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera.  Illustrator Ana Juan depicts the Mexican landscape with startlingly vivid and colorful imagery.  The repeated reading of this story to my daughter — she liked this book and wanted it reread to her often — served to enhance my appreciation of this illustrator’s art.  Elena’s Serenade was published in 2004 and received a Parent’s Choice Recommended Award.  Judging from my own daughter’s reception of this book and my delight in repeated readings of it, I can see why this book has such appeal.  I hope you can find it in your local library for I, too, recommend it as a parent’s choice!  Incidentally, this book fits in well with other Hispanic-themed children’s books and if you are looking for more titles in this vein, please do check out PaperTiger’s Hispanic Heritage Month reading list for 2008.

Creating a more peaceful and compassionate world continues to be the most significant challenge of humankind. To acknowledge children as agents of positive change and to celebrate the ways in which they help create a better world, PaperTigers’ new issue offers interviews, articles, reviews and resources that point to their heart, determination and resolve to make a difference. We encourage you to take the time to explore these new offerings. And should you need further enticement, here’s an excerpt from author Mitali Perkins‘ article, “Books Can Shape A Child’s Heart:”

Stories are powerful allies as we seek to raise a generation of compassionate children. I distinctly remember the moment when I grasped the beauty of sacrificial giving. I was nine years old and befriending Sara Crewe in Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Little Princess (J. B. Lippincott) for the first time…

Ready to be moved, inspired and energized?… Just head on over to the website. Then check back here, as we post more about this theme in the coming weeks.

(image credit: “My World” by Esau Andrade Valencia)

Aki and the Fox by Akiko Hayashi is a delightful tale of travel and adventure set in Japan.  Little Aki is about to visit her grandmother in the countryside.  She will travel with Kon, her favorite stuffed fox.   Kon has been with Aki ever since she was born and knows her well.  Typical of much travel in Japan, the two board a train to get to their destination.  When it is lunch time, Kon goes out to buy box-lunch bentos for the two of them and doesn’t come back.  Poor Aki, what will she do?  This is but one of a series of adventures the two have together before they arrive at Aki’s grandmother’s house in the evening.

One of the pleasures of reading this book to my daughter was re-living the experience of train travel in Japan.  Hayashi’s colorful illustrations evoke well the experience of riding a train in the country, from the wobbling between the seats in the aisle while the train is moving, to watching the scenery go by, to buying and eating the bentos.  My daughter was struck also by how little Aki resembled her second cousin; it is always such a delight to see children identify something from their own life with a situation and characters in a book.

Akiko Hayashi is a well known children’s book writer and illustrator in Japan.  Aki and the Fox is the English translation of her Japanese book entitled Kon to Aki.  She has a deft and delightful touch; her illustrations do much to enhance the story as well as give scope to her wide-ranging talent as an artist.  The book has also been variously translated as Amy and Ken Visit Grandma and may also be searched under that title.

When the American Library Association recently presented its Youth Media Awards, an exciting announcement was the winner of the new William C. Morris Young Adult Debut Award.

The award’s namesake is William C. Morris, an influential innovator in the publishing world and an advocate for marketing books for children and young adults. Bill Morris left an impressive mark on the field of children’s and young adult literature. He was beloved in the publishing field and the library profession for his generosity and marvelous enthusiasm for promoting literature for children and teens.

The William C. Morris YA Debut Award celebrates the achievement of a previously unpublished author, or authors, who have made a strong literary debut in writing for young adult readers. The work cited will illuminate the teen experience and enrich the lives of its readers through its excellence, demonstrated by:

* Compelling, high quality writing and/or illustration
* The integrity of the work as a whole
* Its proven or potential appeal to a wide range of teen readers

PaperTigers is pleased to congratulate the first-ever winner of the William C. Morris Award:

A Curse Dark as Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce

At the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, Charlotte Miller strikes a bargain with the malevolent Jack Spinner, who can transform straw into gold, to save her family’s mill. With masterly writing and vivid characterization and setting, Bunce weaves a powerfully seductive tale of triumph over evil.

“Bunce has crafted a story that superbly embodies the criteria for this award. Her work is compelling and has broad teen appeal,” said Chair Bonnie Kunzel. “Thoughtful reflection and spirited discussion characterized this outstanding committee’s work as its members selected a shortlist that honors the influence of William C. Morris on the field of young adult publishing.”

“What do you all say to the idea of some sort of international campaign to encourage reading aloud to kids? A campaign for literacy, if you will, but one focused specifically on the benefits of parents and teachers reading aloud to kids.”

These are the words of Jen Robinson, from Jen Robinson’s Book Page, that I just read about five seconds ago and had to quote immediately. Please go to her blog and read this post for yourself–right now. Then let’s start talking about how this important work can begin.

This is the right time. In the United States, my home country, we have a president with two young daughters. In Thailand, my country of residence, we have a Prime Minister whose sister wrote the international best-selling children’s book, The Happiness of Kati. And in your corner of the world?

I’m sure there are events happening all over the globe that point to the Year of the Ox launching the Era of Reading Aloud to Children–let’s talk about this. Let’s make this happen.

Who knows better what young readers want than another young reader? Christopher Paolini goes to show that he certainly knows–his Inheritance cycle, consisting of Eragon, Eldest, and Brisinger, with a final installment in the works, has captured the imaginations of children, young adults, and adults too, all over the world.

The home-schooled son of parents who owned a small publishing business in rural Montana, Christopher Paolini found himself with time on his hands after graduating from high school when he was 15, and with a novel that he had begun the year before. He spent a year writing Eragon, his parents published it,  bestselling writer Carl Hiasson’s stepson read it and loved it, and suddenly Christopher was a Knopf author, published by Random House in the U.S. and the U.K.

A voracious bibliophile and devotee of libraries, Christopher was a reluctant reader as a child, and credits his mother for enticing him to love the printed word. Certainly she must be proud that her encouragement not only made her son a lover of books, but a writer whose goal was to write a book that other 15-year-olds would want to read.

He certainly has accomplished that–his first two books have sold over 15.5 million copies and are in print in 50 languages–a testimony to youthful talent and to parents who stressed the joy of reading!