Today is International Literacy Day, and this year the theme is “Literacy and Women’s Empowerment”—a reminder to us all of the need for increased commitment to literacy, especially for girls and women. This theme reinforces and adds a particular focus to the United Nation’s Literacy Decade efforts to encourage a world-wide commitment to issues of literacy.

One of the multitude of events happening around the world in celebration of the day is the award ceremony for UNESCO 2010 International Literacy Prizes, which recognize innovative approaches to literacy education and is taking place at the organization’s headquarters, in Paris. UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prize, sponsored by the Republic of Korea, will be given to projects in Cape Verde and Germany, and programs in Nepal and Egypt will be receiving the UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy, supported by the People’s Republic of China. You can find the complete list of winning projects and honorable mentions here.

Also happening today, following the awards ceremony, is the launch of a very welcome and potentially transformative initiative: the Knowledge and Innovations Network for Literacy (KINL). Created with support from Verizon Foundation and Microsoft, the Network, which will be operational beginning November 1, will work as a virtual workplace where literacy researchers and practitioners can share knowledge and debate literacy topics online, with the goal of generating new ideas and practices.

Let us know how you are celebrating the day at your school, library or household. And keep in mind that, in the US, one way you can show your support for the right to literacy is by signing this declaration. Before delivering it to President Obama, ProLiteracy is sending the declaration scroll around the country to gather signatures from individuals and mayors.

We all deserve a world in which children and adults have the literacy skills they need to lead happy, productive and fulfilling lives, so let’s each do our part—and every little bit counts!— to promote literacy.

You can find PaperTigers’ archived Literacy issue here. To see all our literacy-related blog posts, click on the “World Literacy” category, on the sidebar.

Summer holidays are almost here and I’m sure if you ask my children what their summer plans are, “reading” and “playing” will be near the top of their lists. So for us (and many others I’m sure!) the timing and theme of PaperTigers’ newest issue How Children Play Around the World is perfect. In this bimonthly update, a diverse line-up of authors and illustrators share their memories of playtimes past and artwork of children at play, speak of the ways in which their childhood games helped shape them, and more. One of the many highlights in the Personal Views section is PaperTigers’ Managing Editor and Producer Aline Pereira’s article Favorite Picture Books about Creative Play.

A book for older readers which is multicultural in nature and deals with the theme of play is Chess Rumble by G. Neri, illustrated by Jesse Joshua Watson (Lee and Low, 2007). The main character, 11-year-old African-American Marcus, lives in a world of poverty and violence. Angered by his sister’s death and his father’s absence, and pushed to the brink by a bullying classmate, Marcus fights back with his fists. One punch away from being kicked out of school and his home, Marcus encounters CM, an unlikely chess master who challenges him to fight his battles on the chess board. Guarded and distrusting, Marcus must endure more hard lessons before he can accept CM’s help to regain control of his life.

Inspired by inner-city school chess enrichment programs, Chess Rumble, which is written in verse, explores the ways the strategic game of chess can empower young people with the skills they need to anticipate and calculate their moves through life. The book has received numerous awards and author G. Neri was recently announced as the 2010 winner of the Lee Bennett Hopkins/ International Reading Association Promising Poet Award. To learn more about Chess Rumble check out publisher Lee and Low’s Booktalk, Video Interview and Book Trailer.

We are delighted to welcome author and educator Nancy Bo Flood as a guest on the PaperTigers Blog. Nancy has lived and worked in several different cultures, including Japan, Hawaii, Malawi, Samoa and Saipan of Micronesia, the setting for her most recent book, Warriors in the Crossfire. We will be reviewing it soon; in the meantime, do read Julie Larios’ interview with Nancy, in which she talks about the book’s background.

Nancy now lives on the Navajo Nation Reservation, in northern Arizona, where she teaches and promotes literacy. In this, the first of two Guest Posts, she highlights some of the projects working to bring books to Navajo children and young people:

It was my first class teaching for Diné College in Tuba City, Arizona. I asked students to buy a dictionary and bring it to class. Our campus building had no library, no dictionaries.

The next week I drove through a sandstorm to get to class; my students had done the same after watering livestock and getting their children to school. Not one student brought a dictionary. Why not? It turns out the nearest bookstore was two hours away. That meant a lot of driving time, a lot of money for gas. This was the beginning of my education about the need for books and libraries across the Navajo Nation.

Here are some resources I have found:

Tuba City Outreach Library

The Navajo Nation extends into Arizona, New Mexico and southern Utah. It is about as big as New England (without Maine) but has only one official public library. Almost no bookstores exist. On the western side of the Reservation the small Tuba City Outreach Library is sponsored by Coconino County / Flagstaff. For the past 10 years I have worked with the librarian, Trish Polacca, to develop the children’s and teen sections.

We’ve worked hard to get books through donations, private foundations, my graduation class’s community service and through a used book store in Flagstaff. Finding “appropriate books” is another challenge. Picture books with contemporary, non-stereotyped images of children who are Native American are hard to find, new or used.

International Reading Association (IRA) and Arizona Reading Association (ARA)

In 2009 I worked with ARA to collect left-over books from vendors at the annual IRA convention in Phoenix. These books were distributed to local literacy organizations and school libraries. There is a full description of this project in the Spring-Summer issue of Arizona Reading Journal, Vol XXXV, 2009. Next time, we will ask attendees to bring books to donate – or buy books at the conference to donate.

Reach Out and Read (ROR), American Indian and Alaskan Native

This national organization was begun over 20 years ago and has grown into a nationwide project giving free new books and literacy guidance to children at their regular pediatric check-ups. As a board member of the Arizona coalition, we have worked to bring books to health clinics throughout Arizona, including the Navajo and Hopi Nations.

A new coalition was formed in 2007 to focus on children who receive health care at Indian Health Service Clinics, or tribal or urban Indian Health Centers.

Save the Children

Supports programs and purchases books.

Reading Is Fundamental

Supplies low cost books but is in danger of being eliminated from the Federal budget.

How lucky we are to have a dictionary – or a good book – or hundreds – within the click of a computer key, on the shelf above our desk, or in any nearby library.

I hope these descriptions help brainstorm ways to bring books to children. Every child should have a good book!

Thank you,
Nancy Bo Flood

And thank you, Nancy.

Spirit of PaperTigers Book Sets will soon be on their way to the Tuba City Outreach Library and to Chinle school, and we look forward to sharing their feedback with you… In the meantime, Nancy has also drawn my attention to Cynsations’ post yesterday about this year’s Operation TBD (Teen Book Drop). Coordinated by readergirlz, Guys Lit Wire and YALSA, Operation TBD has joined forces for this, its third year, with If I Can Read, I Can Do Anything, a national Reading Club for Native American children. On 15th April, thousands of donated books will drop into the hands of teens on Native American tribal lands. There’s still time to get involved – just click on any of the links above…

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National Poetry Month~ Canada and USA

Growing Up Asian in America Art and Essay Contest Winners Announced~ San Francisco, CA, USA

The Mathieu Da Costa Challenge Winners Announced~ Canada

38th National Book Fair & 8th Bangkok International Book Fair~ ongoing until Apr 6, Bangkok, Thailand

Exhibit of Sally Rippin’s Illustrations for Peeking Ducks~ ongoing until Apr 11, Melbourne, Australia

Heart and Soul: Art from Coretta Scott King Award Books, 2006–2009~ ongoing until Apr 18, Chicago, IL, USA

New York Public Library Exhibit: 2010 Caldecott Winner Jerry Pinkney’s African-American Journey to Freedom~ ongoing until Apr 18, New York City, NY, USA

Once Upon a Time . . . Children’s Book Illustrators, Then and Now~ ongoing until May 27, Oakland, CA, USA

International Children’s Book Day~ Apr 2

SCBWI Presents Details, Details: The Snap, Crackle, and Pop of Good Writing with author Jane Kurtz~ Apr 2, Tokyo, Japan

SCBWI Presents Bologna and Beyond~ Apr 3, The Hague, Netherlands

43rd Annual Fay B. Kaigler Children’s Book Festival~ Apr 7 – 9, Hattiesburg, MS, USA

The Foundation for Children’s Literature Presents What’s New in Children’s Books~ Apr 8, Boston, MA, USA

26th Annual Virginia Hamilton Conference on Multicultural Literature for Youth~ Apr 8 – 9, Kent, OH, USA

Salisbury University’s Children’s and Young Adult Literature Festival: Read Green~ Apr 8 – 12, Salisbury, MD, USA

Border Book Festival~ Apr 8 – 11, Mesilla, NM, USA

Monsters and Miracles: A Journey through Jewish Picture Books~ Apr 8 – Aug 1, Los Angeles, CA, USA

The Green Earth Book Award Presentation Ceremony~ Apr 9, McLean, VA, USA

Cambridge WordFest~ Apr 9 – 11, Cambridge, United Kingdom

The Federation of Children’s Book Groups 2010 Conference~ Apr 9 – 11, Berkshire, United Kingdom

SCBWI Presents Children’s Books and our Phil-Hispanic Heritage~ Apr 10, Philippines

National Library Week: Communities Thrive @ Your Library~ Apr 11  – 17, USA

BC Book Prizes On Tour~ Apr 11 – 23, Province of British Columbia, Canada

Young Poets Week~ Apr 12 – 16, Canada

Chicago Latino Book & Family Festival~ Apr 17 – 18, Cicero, IL, USA

London Book Fair~ Apr 19 – 21, London, United Kingdom

MASC Young Authors and Illustrators Conference~ Apr 21 – 23, Ottawa, ON, Canada

Blue Metropolis Montreal International Literary Festival and Children’s Festival: Reading the World~ Apr 21 – 25, Montreal, QC, Canada

41st Annual Saskatchewan Reading Council Convention: Guiding the Way with Literacy~ Apr 22 – 24, Regina, SA, Canada

Marba International Children’s Literature Festival~ Apr 22 – 25, Valleta, Malta

Camara Chilena del Libro Book Fair~ Apr 22 – 30, Santiago, Chile

Buenos Aires Book Fair~ Apr 22 – May 10, Buenos Aires, Argentina

World Book and Copyright Day~ Apr 23

Connecting Cultures & Celebrating Cuentos: National Latino Children’s Literature Conference~ Apr 23 – 24, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA

Building Cultural Bridges: Integrating Languages, Linguistics, Literature and Translation into Education~ Apr 23 – 24, Almaty, Kazakhstan

Spring Festival of Children’s Literature~ Apr 23 – 24, Frostburg, MD, USA

Goolwa Poetry Festival~ Apr 23 – 26, Goolwa, Australia

La Fiera del Bambino / Children’s Book Fair~ Apr 24 – 25, Naples, Italy

Los Angeles Times Festival of Books~ Apr 24 – 25, Los Angeles, CA, USA

International Reading Association’s Annual Convention: Reading in Many Languages~ Apr 25 – 28, Chicago, IL, USA

One Hen: From Children’s Book To Educator Movement For Social Change~ Apr 26, Chicago, IL, USA

PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature~ Apr 26 – May 7, New York, NY, USA

Ezra Jack Keats Awards for Excellence in Children’s Literature Ceremony~ Apr 28, New York, NY, USA

Awâsis 2010 Aboriginal Education Conference~ Apr 28 – 30, Saskatoon, SA, Canada

El Día de los Niños/El Día de los Libros~ Apr 30, USA

Reading Today Daily, a bimonthly magazine published by the International Reading Association, recently reported:

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Skipping Stones Youth Honor Award Winners Announced

Western Australia Spring Poetry Festival and National Poetry Week~ ongoing until Sep 4, Australia

Taranaki Children’s Book Festival~ ongoing until Sep 5, Taranaki, New Zealand

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

National Literacy and Numeracy Week~ ongoing until Sep 6, Australia

Singapore International Storytelling Festival~ ongoing until Sep 12, Singapore

2009 Bologna Illustrators Exhibition of Children’s Books~ ongoing until Sep 27, Nishinomiya City, Japan

Entries Accepted for the 2010 PBBY-Salanga Prize~ ongoing until Oct 23, Philippines

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

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

Moscow International Book Fair~ Sep 2 – 7, Moscow, Russia

Their Magical Years: a National Workshop on Early Childhood Learning and Development~ Sep 3 – 5, New Delhi, India

Beijing International Book Fair~ Sep 3 – 7, Beijing, China

Munsch a Bunch of Miles for Literacy~ Sep 3 – 11, Canmore, AB, Canada

Decatur Book Festival~ Sep 4 – 6, Decatur, GA, USA

heARTlines: Children’s Literature and Book Illustration Festival ~ Sep 4 – Oct 4, Mundaring, Australia

22nd Biennial of Illustrations Bratislava~ Sep 4 – Oct 26, Bratislava, Slovakia

International Literacy Day~ Sep 8

UNESCO Literary Prize Awards Presentation~ Sep 8, Paris, France

Brisbane Writers Festival~ Sep 9 – 13, Brisbane, Australia

International Children’s and Youth Literature Festival~ Sep 9 – 13, Berlin, Germany

The Kennedy Center’s 13th Annual Multicultural Children’s Book Festival~ Sep 12, Washington, D.C., USA

CYA later, Alligator – Children’s and Young Adult Writers And Illustrators Conference~ Sep 12, Brisbane, Australia

57th St. Children’s Book Fair~ Sep 13, Chicago, IL, USA

10th Annual Hog Wild About Reading: A Motorcycle Ride For Literacy~ Sep 13, Port Moody, BC, Canada

Book Blogger Appreciation Week~ Sep 14 – 18

Hispanic Heritage Month~ Sep 15 – Oct 15, USA

The Manila International Book Fair: Words Without Borders~ Sep 16 – 20, Manila, Philippines

The Art of Allen Say: A Sense of Place~ Sep 16 – Oct 28, Exeter, NH, USA

2010 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award Nominees Announced~ Sep 17, Sweden

International Symposium: Beyond Borders: Art, Narrative and Culture in Picturebooks~ Sep 18 – 20, Glasgow, United Kingdom

Bath Festival of Children’s Literature~ Sep 18 – 27, Bath, United Kingdom

Tamejavi – Our Voice, Our Stories: A Path to Inclusion~ Sep 19, Fresno, CA, USA

Eden Mills Writers’ Festival~ Sep 20, Eden Mills, ON, Canada

Thin Air – Winnipeg International Writers Festival~ Sep 20 – 27, Winnipeg, MB, Canada

International Day of Peace~ Sep 21

The 4th World Summit on Arts and Culture~ Sep 22 – 25, Johannesburg, South Africa

Canwest Raise-a-Reader Day~ Sep 23, Canada

25th Annual Göteborg Book Fair~ Sep 24 – 27, Göteborg, Sweden

Darling Children’s Book Fair~ Sep 24 – 26, Darling, South Africa

Reading Association of Ireland’s Annual International Conference: Literacy in the 21st Century: Perspectives, Challenges & Transformations~ Sep 24 – 26, Dublin, Ireland

Margarita Engle ~ Finding the Poetry in History~ Sep 25, Fresno, CA, USA

Wigtown Book Festival~ Sep 25 – Oct 4, Wigtown, United Kingdom

The Children’s Bookshow: Picture Books and Poetry ~Sep 25 – Nov 25, United Kingdom

National Book Festival~ Sep 26, Washington, D.C., USA

Children’s Book Seminar – SCBWI at UP Visayas 2009~ Sep 26, Iloilo City, Philippines

Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read~ Sep 26 – Oct 3, USA

The Word on the Street National Book and Magazine Festival: Celebrating Reading. Advocating Literacy. ~ Sep 27, Canada

New Zealand Reading Association 2009 Conference~ Sep 27 – 30, Queenstown, New Zealand

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Get Caught Reading Month~ USA

National Share-a-Story Month~ United Kingdom

Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month~ USA

Asian Heritage Month~ Canada

Paju Bookcity Book Festival for Children~ Paju, Korea

Asian/Pacific American Awards for Literature to be Announced~ USA

USBBY – Bridge to Understanding Award Winner to be Announced ~ USA

Discovering Ethnic Minorities – Storytelling Workshops for Children~ Hong Kong

5th Annual PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature~ ongoing until May 3, New York, NY, USA

35th Buenos Aires International Book Fair~ ongoing until May 11, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Mitali Perkins’ 2009 Fire Escape Short Fiction and Poetry Contest~ entries accepted until Jun 1, USA and Canada

Books Illustrated Traveling Exhibition: An Australian Menagerie -Australian picture books~ongoing until mid Jun, China

Seoul Arts Center Exhibit: Voyage to the World of Illustration~ ongoing until Jun 23, Seoul, Korea

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

The Child and the Book Conference: This Land is Our Land~ May 1 – 3, Nanaimo, BC, Canada

BOOKFEST – The Vancouver Island Children’s Book Festival~ May 2, Nanaimo, BC, Canada

IRA’s 54th Annual Convention: Reading, Writing and Conversations~ May 3 – 7, Minneapolis, MN, USA

ALOUD: a Celebration for Young Readers~ May 4 – 6, Toronto, ON, Canada

WordPower~ May 4 – 8, Fort McMurray, AB, Canada

Tehran International Book Fair~ May 6 – 16, Tehran, Iran

Mapfre Hay Festival~ May 7 – 10, Alhambra, Spain

Once Upon a Time: Children’s Book Illustrators, Then and Now~ May 8 – Jun 14, Oakland, CA, USA

Mt. San Antonio College’s Children’s Literature Day~ May 9, Walnut, CA, USA

Children’s Book Week~ May 11 – 17, USA

New Zealand Post Book Awards Festival~ May 11 – 20, New Zealand

Forest of Reading, Festival of Trees~ May 13 – 14, Toronto, ON, Canada

Auckland Writers and Readers Festival~ May 13 – 17, Auckland, New Zealand

Surabaya Book Fair~ May 13 – 17, Surabaya, Indonesia

Seoul International Book Fair~ May 13 – 17, Seoul, Korea

The 5th China International Cultural Industries Fair~ May 15 – 18, Shenzhen, China

African American Book Festival~ May 15 – 16, Mt. Vernon, NY, USA

Mother’s Day Readings With Authors Mitali Perkins, Christina Seid, Pooja Makhijani, and Others~ May 16, New York, NY, USA

Children’s Books Ireland Conference: Challenge and Change in Children’s Books~ May 16 – 17, Dublin, Ireland

National Black Book Festival~ May 16 – 17, Houston, TX, USA

Sydney Writers’ Festival~ May 18 – 24, Sydney, Australia

The Foundation for Children’s Books New England Voices Series with Authors/Illustrators Grace Lin and Giles Laroche~ May 19, Boston, MA, USA

Bisto Children’s Book of the Year Awards Presentations~ May 20, Dublin, Ireland

The Guardian Hay Festival~ May 21 – 31, Hay-on-Wye, United Kingdom

WriteAway Conference: Something Old, Something New -approaches to classic literature, culture and heritage in education~ May 22, London, United Kingdom

Storytelling Association (Singapore) Presents Silver and Gold: Precious Stories to Inspire Young and Old~ May 23, Singapore

World Village Festival~ May 23 – 24, Helsinki, Finland

Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences and Annual Book Fair~ May 23 – 31, Ottawa, ON, Canada

Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award Week~ May 24 – Jun 3, Sweden

Library and Information Week~ May 25 – 31, Australia

National Simultaneous Storytime~ May 28, Australia

International Latino Book Awards Presentations~ May 28, New York, NY, USA

Reading Matters Youth Literature Conference~ May 28 – 30, Melbourne, Australia

BookExpo America~ May 28 – 31, New York, NY, USA

Thessaloniki Book Fair~ May 28 – 31, Thessaloniki, Greece

The National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature Exhibit: The Wizards of Pop -Robert Sabuda and Matthew Reinhart~ May 28 – Sep 19, Abilene, TX, USA

Canadian Library Association National Conference and Trade Show~ May 29 – Jun 1, Montreal , QC, Canada

World Book Fair~ May 29 – Jun 7, Singapore

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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