Grace Lin is the author and illustrator of picture books, early readers and middle grade novels. Her book Where the Mountain Meets the Moon was a huge success and won many awards including the prestigious Newbery Honor.  It was chosen as one of seven books in our Spirit of Paper Tigers Book Set and Grace was one of our nominations for the  2011 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. Don’t miss our interview with Grace or her two Gallery features here and here.

“Peace the World Together with Children’s Books” is the theme of the International Board on Books for Young People regional conference hosted by California State University, Fresno this fall.

Co-sponsored by the Arne Nixon Center at Fresno State, IBBY’s 9^th United States Regional Conference will be held at Fresno State on Oct. 21-23.

Conference chair Ellis Vance of Fresno said about 250 people – professors, librarians, teachers, authors, illustrators, publishers, collectors and fans – are expected. Registration so far includes participants from 48 states and every continent except Antarctica, Vance said.

The conference offers an opportunity to interact with authors and illustrators around the world, including Alma Flor Ada, Shirin Yim Bridges, F. Isabel Campoy, David Diaz, Margarita Engle, Kathleen Krull, Grace Lin, Roger Mello, Beverly Naidoo, Pam Muñoz Ryan and Peter Sis. Petunia’s Place Bookstore will sell books.

Activities will include exhibitions (including one by the International Youth Library), book discussion groups and tours. Optional activities are available to those who stay on beyond the conference closing at noon on Oct. 23. They include a tour of the Shinzen Japanese Garden in Fresno and a one-day bus trip to Yosemite National Park.

For information on the conference and registration visit www.usbby.org/conf_home.htm.

Auction #121: A Spirit of PaperTigers 2010 Book Set of Seven Picture books, some signed. From PaperTigers.org

Description: You are bidding for a set of seven high-quality picture books (all hardcover) which were selected as the Spirit of PaperTigers book set for 2010 to be sent to different schools and libraries around the world.

The Book Set comprises the following titles with some, as indicated, containing book plates signed by the author/illustrator:

First Come the Zebra – SIGNED
Written and illustrated by Lynne Barasch
Lee & Low, 2009. Ages 4-8

Little Leap Forward: A Boy in Beijing – SIGNED BY THE AUTHORS
Written by Guo Yue and Clare Farrow, illustrated by Helen Cann
Barefoot Books, 2008. Ages 9-12

My Little Round House - SIGNED
Written and illustrated by Bolormaa Baasansuren
Groundwood Books / House of Anansi Press, 2009. Ages 4-8

One Hen: How One Small Loan Made a Big Difference – SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR
Written by Katie Smith Milway, illustrated by Eugenie Fernandes
Kids Can Press, 2008. Ages 7+

Planting the Trees of Kenya: The Story of Wangari Maathai – SIGNED
Written and illustrated by Claire A. Nivola
Frances Foster Books/Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2009. Ages 5-8

The Storyteller’s Candle / La velita de los cuentos – SIGNED BY THE ILLUSTRATOR
Written by Lucia Gonzalez, illustrated by Lulu Delacre
Children’s Book Press, 2008. Ages 4-8

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon – SIGNED
Written and illustrated by Grace Lin
Little Brown Books for Young Readers, 2009. Ages 9-12

Estimated Value: $150

Bio: PaperTigers.org is a colorful website devoted to multicultural books from around the world for children and young adults, with a particular focus on the Pacific Rim and South Asia. We seek to promote the celebration and tolerance of diversity, and to nurture literacy and a love of reading. As well as highlighting the world of multicultural children’s and ya literature on our website and blog, we work to reinforce our goal of promoting cross-cultural understanding via our Spirit of PaperTigers Outreach, under the banner Books and Water: Nourishing the Mind and Body.

PaperTigers’ website: www.papertigers.org

Ages: 4-8

Ling & Ting by Grace Lin (Where the Mountain Meets the Moon) is a story about twins.  Drawn to look identical, Ling and Ting are nonetheless, as the title indicates “not exactly the same.”  The difference is established early with the first story in the book called “The Haircuts.”  The girls’ personalities come through in the way they handle their haircuts, and the results will mark them throughout the rest of the book. Readers will learn how to identify the girls despite their matching dresses and similar names.

Lin has arranged this book as a series of tales about the girls that build on each other.  Starting with “Haircuts,” there are six stories altogether that work not only to establish the difference between the girls but also to illustrate their friendship and sisterly affection.  Among my favorites was “Chopsticks” and “The Library Book.”  In “Chopsticks,” Ting prefers to use chopsticks while Ling does not.  Although Ting tries to help Ling use them, in the end Ling comes up with her own solution which, predictably enough, is to use a fork!  In “The Library Book,” the girls’ different tastes in reading are revealed: Ting prefers fairy tales while Ling wants a book about dogs…

Lin has created a delightful and playful collection of stories here that is engaging to read.  It is perfect for anyone looking for good books for children about twins or indeed sisters.  Her colorful and distinctive illustrations make the book a visual delight as well; Ling and Ting are vibrantly and expressively depicted in the pictures.  Of particular appeal to a young reader  – as I discovered in reading this book with my daughter – was distinguishing between the two girls  since they look so much alike with such similar names and are always dressed the same.

Lin is an accomplished writer of children’s books, and Ling & Ting, her first foray into Early Readers, is yet another example of her finely tuned skill.  She is PaperTigers’ nominee for the Astrid Lindgren award for 2011.

Sally Ito
March 2011

The Brown Bookshelf has launched 28 Days Later, a month-long showcase of the best in picture books, middle grade and young adult novels written and illustrated by African Americans.

Margo Tenenbaum’s blog The Fourth Musketeer specializes in historical fiction for children and teens, and throughout the month of February will focus on reviewing African American titles.

Reading Rockets.Org has just updated it’s Black History Month section where you’ll discover great online resources for the classroom and for family discussions. I’ve just spent the morning watching the video interviews with award-winning writers and illustrators.

The Canadian Children’s Book Centre has compiled a list of Canadian books that are recommended reads for Black History Month.

Check out School Library Journal‘s Places in the Heart: Celebrating Black History Month article in which top children’s authors were asked to choose their favorite children’s book about the black experience. Rick Margolis says “The title could be for kids of any age—from a picture book or graphic novel to a chapter book or collection of poems. We told them it could be new or old, fiction or nonfiction. The only requirement? It had to be a book that they truly loved—and, of course, it couldn’t be one of their own.”  Grace Lin, Mitali Perkins, Cynthia Kadohata,  Pam Muñoz Ryan, Pat Mora and others share their answers here,

If there is a website or blog that you’ve come across we would love to know about it. Please share it with us and our readers by leaving a comment.

Librarians, teachers, parents & kids–here’s a fun project! Take any Newbery award-winning story and make into 90 second movie. Then enter it into this contest to get it shown at the 90-second Newbery Film Festival at the New York Public Library!

I was particularly excited when I heard about this contest as I’ve dreamed for Where the Mountain Meets the Moon to be made into a movie. Unfortunately, so far, Hollywood has not called but if a reader makes a 90-second Where the Mountain Meets the Moon movie I think I would consider that a dream come true!

So much so, that if you do happen to make a 90-second Where the Mountain Meets the Moon movie for this film festival, I’ll send you a print from the Grace Lin Gallery (my etsy shop)! Is that bribery? So far, there’s nothing about that in the rules… Read all about the contest HERE.

Deadline for the contest is Sept. 15 2011 and if you do enter a 90-second Where the Mountain Meets the Moon movie, please send me the link too! Your Oscar awaits.

Big Red Lollipop, by Rukhsana Khan, illustrated by Sophie Blackall  (Viking).

Busing Brewster, by Richard Michelson, illustrated by R. G. Roth (Alfred A. Knopf).

It’s a Book, written and illustrated by Lane Smith (Roaring Brook).

Ling and Ting: Not Exactly the Same! written and illustrated by Grace Lin (Little, Brown & Company).

Today, the 2011 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award Nominees were revealed at the Frankfurt Book Fair by the Chairman of the Jury, Mr. Larry Lempert. 175 candidates representing 62 different countries are eligible for the world’s largest children’s and young adult literature award. We are so pleased to see PaperTigers’ three nominees on the list: author and illustrator Allen Say, author and illustrator Grace Lin, and Katha, a “profit-for-all” organization based in India. You can view the complete list of nominated candidates  here.

On March 29, 2011, the winner or winners of the 2011 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award will be announced at the birthplace of Astrid Lindgren in Vimmerby, Sweden. The announcement will be held simultaneously at Bologna Book Fair and will also be broadcast live on the award website.

To keep abreast of  today’s exciting announcement and to learn more about the nominated candidates, be sure to check out the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award blog.

It’s an exciting week for author Grace Lin and all her fans! She will be launching her book Thanking the Moon at the Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA)’s Mid-Autumn Moon Family Festival this coming Saturday.

Here are the details:

Mooncakes, lanterns and the Jade Rabbit in the moon! Join MOCA for a day-long series of activities in celebration of the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival (中秋节), including storytellings, drop-in arts and crafts activities, gallery tours and lantern making workshops with special readings by Asian American children’s book authors Grace Lin and  Lenore Look.

WHEN: September 19th, 12pm reading and signing (other activities will be going on all day from 10-5)

WHERE: Museum of Chinese in America, 215 Centre Street, New York, NY, USA 10013

To celebrate Thanking the Moon, Grace will be writing a little series of Moon Festival posts on her blog all week. Make sure you drop in everyday–you won’t want to miss it!