Ollybolly is a cultural diversity program carried out by the Daum Foundation which “focuses on building a cultural foundation of mutual respect and understanding among people from all walks of life” and “seeks to provide resources for the next generation in order to promote creative and diverse ways of life through the use of media and communications.”

One of the Ollybolly projects is the  recently created Online Picture Book project. This project allows anyone with internet access to watch animated picture book  stories from several countries including Mongolia, Vietnam and the Philippines. The stories are all folktales and can be heard in English, Korean or their original language. Korean and English subtitles are also provided. Plans are in place to have over 170 books online by December and to include stories from Africa, South America and West Asia. Click here to see the list and start watching. I guarantee you will be enthralled not only by the wonderful stories themselves but also by their amazing illustrations!

The Ollybolly website says:

The Ollybolly Online Picture Book allows the next generation to experience stories from countries whose children’s books are not very well known by physical publication, especially in Korea.  The project is designed to increase young people’s sensitivity towards cultural diversity.  At the same time it will encourage them to communicate and live harmoniously with people from other parts of the world.

The Daum Foundation believes that differences are not the cause of discrimination and exclusion; rather, they are a source of creativity. We hope that the key holders of tomorrow will be imbued with wonderment and the positive values of diversity through their enjoyment of the Ollybolly Online Picture Book.

I just recently uncovered information about an international award festival for newly published (within the last three years) picture books and unpublished picture book illustrations. The CJ Culture Foundation in Korea has set up the international CJ Picture Book Awards. Five newly published, original picture books released within the last three years will be awarded recognition. Additionally, five awards will be given for illustrations in unpublished picture books.

Their website says, “The CJ Culture Foundation aims to support illustrated books as they fully deserve to be, and lay the groundwork for the enrichment of both those who make them, and those who enjoy the fruits of their labor. Recognition of the fact that picture books by their very nature, transcend the boundaries of language and have no trouble making themselves understood, has led to the inauguration of the CJ Picture Book Festival, where generations and countries can freely come together in celebration of the art.

The award festival and exhibition takes place this year from Nov. 23 to Dec. 24. in Seoul, Korea. The submission window for this year has recently ended, however, next year’s submissions can be sent beginning in March 2010. For more information, visit this link.

Here are a few highlights in September:

JAPAN – This past weekend SCBWI Japan hosted Storyboards and Picture Book Dummies for Good Bookmaking with author/illustrator Naomi Kojima. Holly Thompson, Regional Advisor for SCBWI Tokyo, has kindly sent me photos from the event which I will post soon.

AUSTRALIA – Sunday the 20th

Breakfast with the Visiting SPRUNG Children’s Authors. Share coffee and croissants with visiting children’s authors and illustrators then walk up the road to enjoy a range of sessions at the Albany SPRUNG Writers Festival.

KOREA – Thursday the 24th – Sunday the 25th

The 6th Canadian Children’s Book Seminar at the Embassy of Canada located in Jeong-dong, Seoul. A few hundred children’s books from major Canadian publishing companies will be displayed. This event is not sponsored by SCBWI but Jenny Desmond-Walters, Regional Advisor for SCBWI Korea, found out about it and was kind enough to forward the information. If Jenny is able to attend I’m sure she’ll send us some photos. Stay tuned. Thanks Jenny!

PHILIPPINES – Saturday the 26th

Children’s Book Seminar at the University of the Philippines, Visayas (City Campus). Regional Advisor Beaulah Pedregosa Taguiwalo tells me that this event will appeal to anyone published or aspiring to be a children’s book writer or illustrator.

As I know you are always on the hunt for new authors and books with a South Asia theme, I immediately thought of you recently when I had the chance to meet with author and illustrator, Anne Sibley O’Brien. Anne came to Korea recently when she was invited to visit an international school at which she is an alumnus. Our SCBWI chapter had the pleasure of taking her to dinner where she opened up to us about her life, her writing journey and her experience growing up in Korea. Because Anne lived in Korea for 20 years during her childhood, she was raised bi-cultural and bi-lingual. She has a beautiful insight into the Korean way of life, especially as a foreigner being raised here.

During dinner we listened as she told us about her childhood, her missionary parents, her travels throughout Korea and the development of her writing career. She talked to us about her watercolor illustration technique and described her process. She told us about her Korean folk tale, The Legend of Hong Kil Dong: The Robin Hood of Korea, and how it developed into a story. She talked a bit about how challenging it can be to sell a folk tale because many publishers are reluctant to take the risk on them. They’re not always top sellers. At a school presentation she asked the children how many of them would go to the “folk tales of the world” section in their school library as their first choice to find an interesting book. Only one or two hands were raised. It’s just not their first choice for an interesting book, she told us. This means finding a publisher can be more difficult even though many of these stories are fascinating.

We also talked about what kind of language to use when re-telling a foreign tale. Anne confirmed that using some authentic language is important because it gives readers a flavor of the culture and that it was important to find a balance between capturing the feeling of the original words and yet still making the story accessible and understandable to readers. She also prefers to use the true foreign word when naming certain objects and people. These techniques enrich the storytelling by opening up windows of cultural enlightenment to readers.

As the night wound to an end we hugged, said thanks, and promised to keep in touch. I haven’t stopped feeling like I’m walking on clouds after having the most delightful visit with Anne Sibley O’Brien and getting to know the compassionate, dedicated, generous and down-to-earth author she is.

Click here to read Anne’s blog and see photos of her trip to Korea.

Hi Corinne,
I don’t know much about this event, but as I drove past the new National Digital Library in Seoul today, I noticed a sign for a grand opening festival to be held on May 25th and 26th. All I could find online was this blurb on the Canadian Embassy site. However, the library looks amazing and I’ve been planning to check it out so I figure these days might offer some interesting activities and exhibits.

May 25-26
A Library Cultural Festival to be held at the Opening of the National Digital Library
Location: National Library

On the occasion of the grand opening of the National Digital Library in Seoul, the international conference and library cultural festival will be held for two days. The Embassy will display Canadian books and information on Canadian culture with a particular focus on the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Our thanks to Jenny for passing this info. along and for offering to share her experiences with us. I live 45 minutes away from Downtown Vancouver so the 2010 Olympics are a hot item here. It will definitely be interesting to hear more from Jenny about this event! Be sure to check back here next week.

If there is an event happening in your area that you would like to share with us, we would love to hear about it! Please email me at corinne(at)papertigers(dot)org

Illustration work of 19 children’s picture book illustrators is on display. Several of the exhibits were designed by the illustrators themselves. There is one by French illustrator Herve Tullet that I loved. There are 8 Korean illustrators on display, and the countries of UK, CZ, FR, US, JP, PL and IT are represented. Original artwork is on display in framed pieces along with multimedia exhibits and even a giant stuffed reproduction of a gorilla from one UK illustrator, Anthony Brown.

It’s a remarkable exhibit. It’s not often that children’s book illustrations are given such attention and to be able to see examples of how certain illustrators have brought their creations to life is quite exhilarating. The piece designed by Herve Tullet where he attached each of his board books to a different kind of rope, chain, feather boa, or ribbon to match the books’ style was my favorite thing in the exhibit. Of course, the bigger-than-life sized gorilla flying in the air was pretty amazing too! I’d say for any writer or illustrator of children’s books, this exhibit will definitely ignite some fires in the imagination and inspire us along our chosen path.

The Paju Bookcity Book Festival for Children is taking place through the whole month of May, but has some super special events happening only May 1st – May 5th. There are performances, experiential events and tons of stuff to do. I’m excited about some of the upcoming events like visiting publishing companies on May 8th, 9th, and 20th. Also, the field trip to Book Making Sites on May 13th looks fun. Actually, every one of the events planned looks like something I would love to do. I guess I’ve got my work (or fun) cut out for me.

Click here to see more photos from the Voyage Exhibit and be sure to read PaperTigers current issue, where we pay tribute to the narratives for children, available in English, from/about Korea and the Korean diaspora.