The 2nd Children’s Poetry Festival was celebrated in El Salvador, November 16 – 18, 2011. Talleres de Poesia hosted the event at the National Library in San Salvador where a number off well-known poets including Jorge Tetl Argueta, Francisco X. Alarcon,  Maria Guadalupe Castellanos, Jorgelina Cerritos and Manlio Argueta worked with Salvadoran children, youth and teachers in a blend of poetry readings and workshop presentations. The  theme of the workshops this year was the importance of reading and significance of peace for Salvadoran children and youth. The event was a resounding success; check out the smiles on the participants’ faces and the video of the event.

Edited by Debjani Chatterjee and Brian D’Arcy, illustrated by Shirin Adl,
Let’s Celebrate! Festival Poems from Around the World
Frances Lincoln, 2011.

Ages 5-11

Let’s Celebrate is an effervescent anthology of diverse poetry put together by poets Debjani Chatterjee and Brian D’Arcy. It invites young readers to share in the exuberance of a wide array of festivals celebrated around the world. Starting with “The Chinese Dragon” bringing in the Chinese New Year, ending with “Kwanzaa” in December, and visiting different cultures, countries and religions in between, the book takes children on a journey whose unifying thread is the happiness that each of the festivals awakens. Children will likely find poems relating to festivals that are familiar to them, and their curiosity will be aroused to find out about the rest. Endnotes about each festival give relevant background; and again, children may want to know more after reading them.

The poems themselves come in a variety of forms – some with regular patterns of rhyme and meter, others in free verse. There are choruses that just have to be chanted aloud, like “Carnival! Carnival! Everybody shout out – Carnival!” in Valerie Bloom’s wonderful poem “Carnival”. There are also translations, like the selection of Japanese “Cherry Blossom” haiku; “Dance, Dance: A Poem for Rangali Bihu” from Assam; and extracts from Pablo Neruda’s “Ode to Tomatoes”, used to commemorate the Spanish Tomatina Festival. Illustrator Shirin Adl’s exuberant splashes of red paint certainly get the message across here!

In fact, the illustrations are a joy throughout. Adl uses an effective blend of painting and paper/fabric/photographic collage (I especially love the seeds, pulses and herbs illustrating Chatterjee’s acrostic “Diwali”). Plenty of authentic contextual detail helps to bring the celebrating to life, and lots of happy children and their families are an open-armed invitation for young readers to join in the celebrations too, whether it’s helping to scrape pancakes off the ceiling while “Tossing Pancakes” (by Nick Toczek), running to “get your skates on” for the “Ice Festival” (by D’Arcy), or counting out the significance of each candle for “Hannukah” (by Andrea Shavick).

So yes, let us indeed celebrate – you can’t help but be caught up in the joyous spirit of this anthology. And with every day being a festival somewhere in the world, as Chatterjee and D’Arcy point out in their introduction, if there isn’t a poem for their particular festive day (or indeed, even if there is), Let’s Celebrate! will doubtless inspire young readers to compose one of their own.

Marjorie Coughlan
November 2011

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Reading Association of Ireland Annual Conference: Creating Multiple Pathways To Powerful Literacy In Challenging Times~ ongoing until Oct 1, Dublin, Ireland

Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read~ ongoing until Oct 1, USA

Appledore Book Festival (featuring Michael Rosen)~ ongoing until Oct 2, Appledore, United Kingdom

Wigtown Book Festival~ ongoing until Oct 2, Wigtown, United Kingdom

Bath Festival of Children’s Literature~ ongoing until Oct 2, Bath, United Kingdom

National Young Writers’ Festival~ ongoing until  Oct 3, Newcastle, Australia

Mirror, an Exhibition by Children’s Author and Artist Jeannie Baker~ ongoing until Oct 11, Ipswich City, Australia

Hispanic Heritage Month~ ongoing until Oct 15, USA

2012 Scholastic Asian Book Award~ entries accepted until Oct 17, Singapore

23rd Biennial of Illustrations Bratislava~ ongoing until Oct 26, Bratislava, Slovakia

Once Upon A Wartime: Classic War Stories for Children~ ongoing until Oct 30, London, United Kingdom

4th CJ Picture Book Award~ entries accepted until Oct 31, Seoul, Korea

E-Mote Digital Storytelling Competition: When We Put Aside Our Differences~ entries accepted until Oct 31, Singapore

ALA Online Course: Introduction to Graphic Novels for Children~ongoing until Nov 4, USA

The Art Institute of Chicago Presents: Artful Alphabets: Five Picture Book Artists~ ongoing until Nov 6, Chicago, IL, USA

2012 PBBY-Salanga Prize~ entries accepted until Nov 11, Philippines

The Children’s Bookshow: Stories From Around The World~ ongoing until Dec 7, United Kingdom

2012 South Asia Book Award~ entries accepted until Dec 31

Budding Writers Project~ entries accepted until Jan 6, 2012, Singapore

Exhibits of Winning Entries from the 2011 Growing Up Asian in America Contest~ ongoing until Feb 2012, USA

Canadian Library Month: Your Library: A Place Unbound

International School Library Month

Children’s Month~ Philippines

Esquimalt Children’s Story Fest~ Oct 1, Esquimalt, BC, Canada

Horn Book at Simmons One-Day Colloquium~ Oct 1, Boston, MA, USA

Tulika Publishers’ Meet An Author Event: Alankrita Jain~ Oct 1, Bangalore, India

Filipino-American International Book Festival~ Oct 1 – 2, San Francisco, CA, USA

The Children’s Book Festival~ Oct 1 – 31, Ireland

Boys’ Pranks: An Exhibition about Ole Lund Kirkegaard~ Oct 1 – Feb 26, 2012, Kolding, Denmark

Orange County Children’s Book Festival~ Oct 2, Costa Mesa, CA, USA

5th World Summit on Arts and Culture~ Oct 3 – 6, Melbourne, Australia

Children’s Book Week~ Oct 3 – 9, United Kingdom

TaleBlazers Literary Arts Festival~ Oct 3 – 28, Province of Alberta, Canada

Ubud Writers and Readers Festival~ Oct 5 – 9, Ubud,  Indonesia

Children’s Book Week~ Oct 5 – 15, Netherlands

National Poetry Day and Announcement of The Foyle Young Poets of the Year Winners ~ Oct 6, London, United Kingdom

Children’s Illustrators Exhibit: Images Beyond Borders~ Oct 6 – 27, Dublin, Ireland

Benefit for the 2nd Annual Children’s Poetry Festival in El Salvador~ Oct 7, San Francisco, CA, USA

Spanish Language Arts Conference~ Oct 7 – 8, San Diego, CA, USA

Kidquake~ Oct 7 – 15, San Francisco, CA, USA

21st Annual Monterrey International Book Fair~ Oct 8 – 16, Monterrey, Mexico

Teachers 4 Social Justice 10th Annual Conference: Teaching for Social Justice – The Power of Community~ Oct 9, San Francisco, CA, USA

Frankfurt Book Fair~ Oct 12 – 16, Frankfurt, Germany

2011 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award Nominees Announced~ Oct 13, Frankfurt, Germany

Carthage Center for Children’s Literature Welcomes Book Illustrator David Diaz~ Oct 13 – 14, Kenosha, WI, USA

German Youth Literature Award Winner Announced~ Oct 14, Frankfurt, Germany

7th Annual World Matters Festival: Missing Peace~ Oct 14 – 16, Eltham, Australia

The Ninth International Conference on the Book~ Oct 14 – 16, Toronto, ON, Canada

3rd National Conference and Seminar-Workshop on Children’s Literature~ Oct 14 – 16, Quezon City, Philapinnes

Sheboygan Children’s Book Festival: Memory~ Oct 14 – 16, Sheboygan, WI, USA

Vancouver Children’s Literature Roundtable Fall Breakfast~ Oct 15, Vancouver, BC, Canada

CHARACTER COUNTS! Week~ Oct 16 – 22

YALSA’s Teen Read Week: Picture It @ your library~ Oct 16 – 22, USA

Mix It Up at Lunch Day~ Oct 18, USA

Vancouver International Writers and Readers Festival~ Oct 18 – 23, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Chapter & Verse Meeting (a Book Club for Adults Discussing Children’s Lit)~ Oct 20, USA

Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Awards Ceremony~ Oct 20, San Marcos, TX, USA

57th Jane Addams Children’s Book Awards Ceremony~ Oct 21, New York, NY, USA

9th IBBY Regional Conference: Peace the World Together With Children´s Books~ Oct 21 – 23, Fresno, CA, USA

SCBWI South Africa Spring Event~ Oct 21 – 27, Cape Town, South Africa

Scottish Storytelling Festival~ Oct 21 – 30, Scotland

Children’s Literature Festival~ Oct 22, Keene, NH, USA

Fall Festival of Children’s Books- Oct 22, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

Singapore Writers Festival~ Oct 23 – 30, Singapore

GobbleDEEbook Literature Festival for Children and Teens~ Oct 23 – 30, Chester, United Kingdom

Northwards. Festival for Scandinavian Children’s and Youth Literature~ Oct 25 – 28, Munich, Germany

The Original Art: Celebrating the Fine Art of Children’s Book Illustration~ Oct 26 – Dec 29, New York, NY, USA

Diversity in YA Fiction Tour~ Oct 27, San Diego, CA, USA

Kuala Lumpur Children’s Book Festival~ Oct 27 – Nov 4, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Tell-a-Story Day~ Oct 28, Scotland

BookFest @ Bank Street~ Oct 29, Manhattan, NY, USA

31st Santiago International Book Fair~ Oct 28 – Nov 13, Santiago, Chile

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

Screenings for Library of the Early Mind: a documentary film exploring childrens literature~ Canada and USA

International Youth Library Exhibits~ Munich, Germany

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

The National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature Exhibits~ Abilene, TX, USA

Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Events

To kick off the Merced County Arts Council’s Demand the Arts campaign author Francisco X. Alarcón will host a book reading on Saturday, July 30th from 11am – noon. The event will take place at the Merced Multicultural Arts Center 645 W. Main Street, Merced, CA, USA. Mr. Alarcón will read from his bilingual book for children Laughing Tomatoes and Other Spring Poems / Jitomates risueños y otros poemas de primavera. Publisher Children’s Book Press’ overview of Laughing Tomatoes and Other Spring Poems reads:

From the imagination of poet Francisco X. Alarcón comes this playful and moving collection of twenty poems about spring in English and Spanish. Tomatoes laugh, chiles explode, and tortillas applaud the sun! With joy and tenderness, delight and sadness, Francisco’s poems honor the wonders of life and nature: welcoming the morning sun, remembering his grandmother’s songs, paying tribute to children working in the fields, and sharing his dream of a world filled with gardens. Artist Maya Christina Gonzalez invites us to experience the poems with her lively cast of characters—including a spirited grandmother, four vivacious children, and playful pets who tease and delight. Follow them from page to page as they bring the spring season to colorful life.

Alarcón is an award-winning poet, educator and author of 12 volumes of poetry.  Raised in Mexico and California, he refers to himself  as a “bi-national, bicultural, bilingual poet” and writes for children and adults in English and Spanish. His children’s books vividly paint pictures of Latino culture, family, fun, and flavor and have won such prestigious awards as the American Library Association’s Pura Belpré Honor Award and the Américas Award Commended Title. Alarcón was a featured speaker at Talleres de Poesia’s inaugural  Children’s Poetry Festival held last November in El Salvador

Merced Arts Council Executive Director Staci Santa encourages children and their families to come down and enjoy the event. She says “Francisco seamlessly weaves language, art and diversity in an accessible and joyful way that makes everyone who meets him happier. The arts council is excited to bring Mr. Alarcón to Merced to share the beautiful languages and images in his children’s books to kids young and young at heart.”

To download the event poster click here.

*****

This week’s Poetry Friday is hosted at Book Aunt  – head on over.

 

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2011 Frances Lincoln Diverse Voices Children’s Book Award Winner Announces~ Newcastle, United Kingdom

Book Launch and Signings: The Grand Plan to Fix Everything by Uma Krishnaswami~ USA

Fremantle Children’s Literature Centre Exhibits and Programs~ Fremantle, Australia

Dromkeen National Centre for Picture Book Art Exhibits~ Riddells Creek, Australia

Screenings for Library of the Early Mind: a documentary film exploring childrens literature~ Canada and USA

International Youth Library Exhibits~ Munich, Germany

Seven Stories (the National Home of Children’s Books in Britain) Events~ Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom

The National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature Exhibits~ Abilene, TX, USA

Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Events

Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences 2011: Coasts and Continents: Exploring Peoples and Places~ ongoing until  June 4, Fredericton, NB, Canada

The Guardian Hay Festival: A Festival for Tots, Teens and In-Betweens~ ongoing until June 5, United Kingdom

Singapore Book Fair~ ongoing until June 5, Singapore

Skipping Stones Magazine’s Youth Honor Award Program – Multicultural Awareness and Nature Appreciation~ entries accepted until June 25

Golden Kite, Golden Dreams: The SCBWI Awards Exhibit~ ongoing until June 24, Hattiesburg, MS, USA

Museum of Childhood Exhibit: Author and Illustrator Judith Kerr~ ongoing until Sep 4, London, United Kingdom

Meet Your Friends From Japan! An Exhibit at The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art~ ongoing until Sep 20 Amherst, MA, USA

Mirror, an Exhibition by Children’s Author and Artist Jeannie Baker~ ongoing until Oct 11, Ipswich City, Australia

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

International Symposium: Literature. Children. Time~ June 1 – 5, Lviv, Ukraine

Children’s Literature Book Club for Adults Discusses Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan and Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman~ June 2, Fresno, CA, USA

SCBWI-CCP Children’s Book Conference~ June 4, Manila, Philppines

Voices on the Coast: a Youth Literature Festival~ June 4 – 8, Sunshine Coast, Australia

The Canadian Aboriginal Writing and Arts Challenge Reception and Exhibition~ June 6, Toronto, ON, Canada

Little Manfred: In Conversation with Michael Morpurgo and Michael Foreman~ June 6, London, United Kingdom

Librarian’s Day~ June 7, Cuba

International Conference: Picture & Text~ June 8 – 10, Tallinn, Estonia

Dancing By The Light Of The Moon: The Art Of Fred Marcellino~ June 9 – Oct 29, Abilene, TX, USA

Bridlington Poetry Festival~ June 10 – 11, Skirlaugh, United Kingdom

National Black Book Festival~ June 10 – 12, Houston, TX, USA

Red House Children’s Book Award Cereomny~ June 11, Birmingham, United Kingdom

Poet/Author John Hegley’s Book Launch at Discover Children’s Story Centre~ June 11, London, United Kingdom

Mixed Roots Film and Literary Festival~ June 11 – 12, Los Angeles, CA, USA

4th Annual Children’s Literature Conference And Horace Mann Upstanders Award~June 12, Los Angeles, CA, USA

The Canadian Children’s Book Centre‘s Annual General Meeting~ June 13, Toronto, ON, Canada

Seoul International Book Fair~ June 15 – 19, Seoul, South Korea

International Day of the African Child~ June 16

Borders Book Festival~ June 16 – 19, Melrose, United Kingdom

4th World Children’s Festival~ June 17 – 19, Washington, D.C., USA

The Torquay Froth and Bubble Literary Festival~ June 18 – 19, Torquay, Australia

Next Library Conference~ June 19 – 21, Aarhus, Denmark

World Refugee Day~ June 20

Refugee Week: Different Pasts, Shared Future~ June 20 – 26, United Kingdom

CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Children’s Book Awards Winners Announced~ June 23, London, United Kingdom

Children’s Literature Association Conference: Revolt, Rebellion, Protest: Change and Insurrection in Children’s Literature~ June 23 – 25, Roanoke, VA, USA

Fifth Biennial Conference of the Society for the History of Children and Youth~ June 23 – 25, New York City, NY, USA

American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference~ June 23 – 28, New Orleans, LA, USA

ALSC Activities During the ALA Annual Conference~ June 23 – 28, New Orleans, LA, USA

YALSA Activities During the ALA Annual Conference~ June 23 – 28, New Orleans, LA, USA

Kids and Young Adult Literature Festival~ June 25, Rozelle, Australia

Adarna House Summer Workshop for Teachers: Learning from the Past~ June 25, Quezon City, Philippines

USBBY Session at the ALA Annual Conference “International Children’s Book Publishing: A Small Press Perspective”~ June 25, New Orleans, LA, USA

Sunthorn Phu Day (celebrated poet)~ June 26, Thailand

Newbery-Caldecott-Wilder Banquet~ June 26, New Orleans, LA, USA

Canadian Multiculturalism Day~ Jun 27, Canada

International Reading Association Workshops~~ June 27 – 28, Washington, D.C. USA

An exciting event is being planned in San Salvador this coming November and celebrated Salvadorian poet and children’s author Jorge Argueta has kindly sent us the following details:

From November 8 -10, Talleres de Poesia and the National Library of El Salvador will be presenting the 1st Annual Children’s Poetry Festival at the National Library in San Salvador.

The theme of the festival will be the importance of reading and significance of peace for Salvadoran children and youth. Renowned poets will be conducting writing workshops to Salvadoran children and youth. Attendees will  also have the opportunity to enhance their writing skills and learn techniques on how to write their experiences through poetry. Confirmed poets include Jorge as well as Francisco X. Alarcon, Margarita Robleda, Rene Colato Lainez, Ana Ferrufino, Jackie Mendez, and Jeannette “Lil Milagro” Martinez-Cornejo

Jorge is co-organizing this wonderful project with Manlio Argueta, Director of the National Library of El Salvador, and two committees of volunteers from the San Francisco, USA and San Salvador areas. When I asked Jorge how the idea  for a children’s poetry festival in El Salvador came about, he replied:

I’ve been coming frequently to El Salvador for the last 2 years…I began to do school presentations as well as adult poetry readings where I had the opportunity to meet teachers, librarians and other writers. Having worked many Poetry Festivals in the USA, it occurred to me that a festival would be a positive, creative opportunity for the children in El Salvador. It is also my way to contribute back to my country. I was thrilled when many of my old and new friends supported this idea and project.

Producing a children’s poetry festival in El Salvador  has always been in my heart and mind. I grew up without books in El Salvador, however I always understood the beauty and the great success that comes from reading. Today, unfortunately there is a lot of violence in El Salvador – our hopes are that this festival will give children and young adults the opportunity to express themselves creatively on the issue of living in peace and their dreams for a positive future.

As you can imagine this is a huge undertaking and organizers are asking for help in making this event a success. Donations are greatly appreciated and can be made directly to:

Talleres de Poesia
Account # 0006696
Mission Federal Credit Union
3269 Mission St.
San Francisco, CA, USA 94110

or you can mail a check to:
Talleres de Poesia
90 Bepler St.
Daly City, CA, USA 94014

Fundraising events are underway in cities throughout the USA and well-known artists and children’s book authors have donated some amazing items to be used to raise funds.

For more information you can e-mail  talleresdepoesia(a)yahoo(dot)com or “friend” Talleres de Poesia on Facebook!

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Adarna House’s Workshops for Literacy~ Philipinnes

Cape Town Book Fair~ ongoing until Aug  2, Cape Town, South Africa

The 39th Annual SCBWI International Summer Conference~ ongoing until Aug 2, Los Angeles, CA, USA

Lima International Book Fair~ ongoing until Aug 4, Lima, Peru

Simply Life, Simply Color: An Exhibit of Illustrator Ruben de Jesus’ Work~ ongoing until Aug 8, Makati City, Philippines

2010 Bologna Illustrators Exhibition of Children’s Books~ ongoing until Aug 16, Tokyo, Japan

Caroline Irby’s Exhibition: A Child From Everywhere~ ongoing until Aug 30, London, United Kingdom

An Exquisite Vision: The Art of Lisbeth Zwerger~ongoing until Sep 26, Amherst, MA, USA

Submissions Accepted for Lee & Low’s New Voices Writers Award~ ongoing until Sep 30, USA

The National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature Exhibit: Golden Kite, Golden Dreams: the SCBWI Awards~ ongoing until Oct 1, Abilene, TX, USA

Dromkeen National Centre for Picture Book Art Exhibit: From the Collection~ ongoing until Oct 24, Riddells Creek, Australia

Expo 2010~ ongoing until  Oct 31, Shanghai, China

International Youth Library Exhibit: Shaun Tan, Pictures and Books~ ongoing until Oct 31, Munich, Germany

Everyday Adventures Growing Up: Art from Picture Books~ ongoing until Nov 28, Chicago, IL, USA

Hedwig Anuar Children’s Book Award 2011~ entries accepted until Dec 31, Singapore

Seminar on Korean History & Culture for K – 12 Teachers and Administrators~ Aug 2  – 6, Los Angeles, CA, USA

Booktalkers: Girls Read Too~ Aug 2, Melbourne, Australia

International Youth Library Exhibition: The Treasury of Binette Schroeder~ Aug 4 – Oct 1, Munich, Germany

Kazakhstan Reading Association Conference~ Aug 5 – 7, Taraz, Kazakhstan

Books, Brushes, and Ashley Bryan~ Aug 8, Amherst, MA, USA

Landscapes of Literacy: From Library to Studio in the Early Childhood Centers of Pistoia, Italy~ Aug 8 – 9, Amherst, MA, USA

The Canadian Book Camp~ Aug 9 – 13, Vancouver, BC, Canada

World Library and Information Congress: 76th IFLA General Conference and Assembly~ Aug 10 – 15, Gothenburg, Sweden

FinRA Finnish Reading Association 2nd Baltic Sea Conference, 15th Nordic Reading Conference: Literacy Skills for Learning~ Aug 11 – 13, Åbo/Turku, Finland

Puffinalia: An Exhibition of Puffin Books 1940 – 2010~ Aug 11 – 31, Melbourne, Australia

21st International Book Biennial of São Paulo~ Aug 12 – 22, São Paulo, Brazil

SCBWI Austin Presents: Representing Diversity in Children’s Books~ Aug 14, Austin, TX, USA

Edinburgh International Book Festival~ Aug 14 – 30, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

The Storylines Festival of New Zealand Children’s Writers and Illustrators~ Aug 15 – 22, New Zealand

LIANZA Children’s Book Awards Ceremony~ Aug 16, Wellington, New Zealand

Library Week~ Aug 16 – 22, New Zealand

Reading Association of Nigeria Biennial Conference~ Aug 18 – 21, Makurdi, Nigeria

Chapter & Verse, a Book Club for Adults Discussing Children’s Lit~ Aug 19, USA

Children’s Book of the Year Awards Winners Announced~ Aug 20, Australia

The Crichton Award for New Illustrators Winner Announced~ Aug 21, Australia

Summer Dream Literary Arts Festival~ Aug 21, Vancouver, BC, Canada

CBCA’s Children’s Book Week: Across the Story Bridge~ Aug 21 – 27, Australia

2010 Bologna Illustrators Exhibition of Children’s Books~ Aug 21 – Sep 26, Nishinomiya, Japan

Indigenous Literacy Project’s I Heart Art – Art Auction~ Aug 25, Sydney, Australia

Western Australia Spring Poetry Festival and National Poetry Week~ Aug 27 – Sep 5, Australia

Melbourne Writers Festival: Stories From Every Angle~ Aug 27 – Sep 5, Melbourne, Australia

Singapore International Storytelling Festival~ Aug 30 – Sep 8, Singapore

Taranaki Children’s Book Festival~ Aug 31 – Sep 4, Taranaki, New Zealand