Last year I joined Rutgers’ (the State University of New Jersery, USA) Child_Lit service. This is a free, unmoderated discussion group convened for the express purpose of examining the theory and criticism of literature for children and young adults. For anyone interested in any aspect of children’s literature, I highly recommend signing up. The service provides a wealth of information and also makes my job a bit easier when looking for events that can be added to our Eventful World calendar.

Last week there was a post on Child_Lit that talked about  Drawing from a Story: Illustrations by Selected Caldecott Medal Winners, an exhibit taking place though May 23rd at the Brandywine River Museum in Chadds Ford, PA, USA.

Myths, fables, fairy tales, and folk tales are usually a child’s first steps into the world of literature, and the illustrations that often accompany the text when such stories are published for children stir the imagination and provide entrée to magical worlds. First awarded in 1938, the Caldecott Medal is considered the most prestigious award for children’s illustration. This exhibition will feature the works of selected Caldecott winners from seven decades, including Maurice Sendak, Dorothy Lathrop, David Wiesner [see image at right], Paul O. Zelinsky, Leo and Diane Dillon, Robert McCloskey, and 2010 medal winner, Jerry Pinkney, among many others.

Deidre Johnson responded on Child_Lit with the following comments which she has also allowed us to share with our readers :

I’ve seen it twice and can’t praise it enough. There’s material from most of the major archival collections, such as the Kerlan and deGrummond, as well as a generous sampling from the illustrators’ private collections.

The display is arranged beautifully — sometimes thematically (fairy tales grouped together, for example), sometimes by medium. There’s even an entire corner devoted to art from David Wiesner’s three winners. The exhibit includes not only art from the first Caldecott (and one of Caldecott’s own sketches for John Gilpin’s Ride!) but also from the two most recent winners. Some of the other materials show process (the McCloskey studies for Make Way for Ducklings seen in Marcus’s Caldecott Celebration are on display, and there are also studies for Rohmann’s My Friend Rabbit).

The Brandywine has hosted some fine exhibits associated with children’s literature in the past, but I think this is one of the best.

(Click on event name for more information)

Bath Literature Festival~ ongoing until Mar 7, Bath, United Kingdom

Exhibition of Joy Mallari’s Artwork From the Book Doll Eyes~ ongoing until Mar 9, Makati City, Philippines

Entries Accepted for the Growing Up Asian in America Contest~ ongoing until Mar 10, San Francisco, CA, USA

The Making of the Word Witch: The Poetic & Illustrative Magic of Margaret Mahy & David Elliot~ ongoing until  Mar 14, Ashburton, New Zealand

21st Annual Children’s Book Illustrators Exhibit~ ongoing until Apr 3, Hayward, CA, USA

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

Read Across America Day~ Mar 2, USA

Papirolas Festival for Children and Youth~ Mar 2 – 7, Guadalajara, Mexico

20th Abu Dhabi International Book Fair~ Mar 2 – 7, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

World Book Day~ Mar 4, United Kingdom and Ireland

New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards Finalists Announced and On-Line Voting Begins~ Mar 4, New Zealand

Irish Society for the Study of Children’s Literature Conference Mar 5 – 6, Dublin, Ireland

The Environmental Imagination and Children’s Literature~ Mar 5 – 6, Toronto, ON, Canada

Shanghai Literary Festival~Mar 5 – 21, Shanghai, China

Western Washington University Children’s Literature Conference~ Mar 6, Bellingham, WA, USA

Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC) Choices Day and Charlotte Zolotow Award Presentation~ Mar 6, Madison, WI, USA

SCBWI Conference: Creating Diversity in Children’s Literature~ Mar 6, Frederick, MD, USA

SCBWI Writers’ Day with Holly Thompson (Includes a session entitled “Plotting Across Cultures: A Workshop on Writing Intercultural Fiction”)~ Mar 6 – 7, Hong Kong

YALSA’s Teen Tech Week~ Mar 7 – 13, USA

Share a Story – Shape a Future, A Blog Tour for Literacy~ Mar 8 – 14

SCBWI Presents From Literature to Theatre~ Mar 9, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Writing Across Cultures~ Mar 9 – 10, Hong Kong

13th Time of the Writer International Writers Festival~ Mar 9 – 13, Durban, South Africa

New Zealand Post Writers & Readers Week~ Mar 9 – 14, New Zealand

IBBY Ireland Celebrates Hans Christian Andersen~ Mar 10, Dublin, Ireland

California Association for Bilingual Education (CABE) Annual Conference~ Mar 10 – 13, San Jose, CA, USA

Emirates Airline Festival of Literature~ Mar 10 – 13, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

The Arabian Reading Association (TARA) and the Teachers of Young Children (TOYC) 2010 Conference~ Mar 11, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia

The Man Hong Kong International Literary Festival~ Mar 11 – 14, Hong Kong

The 14th Annual Charlotte S. Huck Children’s Literature Festival~ Mar 12 – 13, Redlands, CA, USA

My Biggest Writing/Illustrating Challenge and How I Solved It with Panelists Elise Broach, Lita Judge, Grace Lin, Sara Pennypacker~ Mar 13, Amherst, MA, USA

Storytelling by Winners of the First Time Writers & Illustrators Publishing Initiative 2009~ Mar 13 and 20, Singapore

Tucson Festival of Books~ Mar 13 – 14, Tucson, AZ, USA

Children’s Book Week~ Mar 13 – 28, Belgium

42nd Annual Children’s Literature Festival For Children in Grades 4-10~ Mar 14 – 16, Warrensburg, MO, USA

Somerset Celebration of Literature: Reading Locally, Learning Globally – Creating a Universal Experience~ Mar 15 – 19, Mudgeeraba, Australia

Into the Wood: Antonio Frasconi’s Art for Children~ Mar 16 – Jun 13, Amherst, MA, USA

All Saints’ College 9th Festival of Children’s and Young Adult Literature~ Mar 17 – 19,Bull Creek, Australia

40th Annual Conference on Children’s Literature~ Mar 19 – 20, Athens, GA, USA

Multicultural Literature Advocacy Group Presents Books By the Bay 2010 Annual Multicultural Literary Conference~ Mar 19 – 21, Mobile, AL, USA

World Storytelling Day~ Mar 20

Stories Day and Night: A Celebration of Storytelling~ Mar 20, Singapore

Music for Literacy~ Mar 20, Stafford, TX, USA

The Norman Lindsay Festival of Children’s Literature~ Mar 20 – 21, Faulconbridge, Australia

Harmony Day~ Mar 21, Australia

World Poetry Day~ Mar 21

Exhibit of Sally Rippin’s Illustrations for Peeking Ducks~Mar 22 – Apr 11, Melbourne, Australia

Hans Christian Andersen Award Winners Announced~ Mar 23, Bologna, Italy

Once Upon a Time . . . Children’s Book Illustrators, Then and Now~ Mar 23 – May 27, Oakland, CA, USA

Public Library Association’s National Conference~ Mar 23 – 27, Portland, OR, USA

Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award Winners Announced~ Mar 24, Vimmerby, Sweden

Salon du livre de Paris~ Mar 26 – 31, Porte de Versailles, France

38th National Book Fair & 8th Bangkok International Book Fair~ Mar 26 – Apr 6, Bangkok, Thailand

Discovering Buried Fairy Tales: Adventures of a Scholarly Scavenger~ Mar 27, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Margaret Mahy Day~ Mar 27, New Zealand

The Piece by Piece Storytelling Mash-Up~ Mar 28, Toronto, ON, Canada

(Click on event name for more information)

African American History Month~ USA

National African American Read-in~  USA

Black History Month~ Canada

February Literacy Workshops for Parents, Teachers and Writers with Daphne Lee~ Petaling Jaya, Malaysia

National Storytelling Week~ ongoing until Feb 6, United Kingdom

Kolkata Book Fair~ ongoing until Feb 7, Kolkata, India

“Tea with Chachaji” A Musical Production based on Chachaji’s Cup by Uma Krishnaswami~ ongoing until Feb 11, New York, NY, USA

Stories from Childhood: Lin Hai-yin’s Children’s Literature Book Exhibition and Activity Series~ ongoing until Mar 1, Tainan City, Taiwan

2009 Bologna Illustrators Exhibition of Children’s Books~ ongoing until Mar 1, Seoul, Korea

Osborne Collection of Early Children’s Books Presents: Journey to Adventure~ ongoing until Mar 6, Toronto, ON, Canada

Entries Accepted for the Growing Up Asian in America Contest~ ongoing until Mar 10, San Francisco, CA, USA

The Making of the Word Witch: The Poetic & Illustrative Magic of Margaret Mahy & David Elliot~ ongoing until  Mar 14, Ashburton, New Zealand

21st Annual Children’s Book Illustrators Exhibit~ ongoing until Apr 3, Hayward, CA, USA

Mother Goose in an Air-Ship: McLoughlin Bros. 19th Century Children’s Books from the Liman Collection~ ongoing until Apr 18,  Amherst, MA, USA

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

From The Tiger Who Came to Tea to Mog and Pink Rabbit; A Judith Kerr Retrospective~ ongoing until May, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom

Leo Lee Arts Centre Presents Renowned Canadian Author Deb Ellis~ Feb 1 – 2, Hong Kong

Association of Jewish Libraries Presents the 2010 Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour~ Feb 1 – 5

Book Signing Event with Paula Young Shelton author of Child of the Civil Rights Movement~ Feb 2, Washington, D.C., USA

Vancouver Children’s Literature Roundtable Presents Authorfest 2010~ Feb 2, Vancouver, BC, Canada

International Conference on Children’s Libraries – Building a Book Culture~ Feb 4 – 6, New Delhi, India

New York Public Library Exhibit: 2010 Caldecott Winner Jerry Pinkney’s African-American Journey to Freedom~ Feb 5 – Apr 18, New York City, NY, USA

SCBWI Workshop: Picture Books – The Perils, Pitfall and Promise~ Feb 6, Ventura, CA, USA

8th Annual Orion School Author and Illustrator Festival~ Feb 6, Redwood City, CA, USA

Imagine 2010: Children’s Literature Festival~ Feb 6 – Mar 2, London, United Kingdom

Seven Stories Presents Taffy Thomas, First Laureate for Storytelling~ Feb 6, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom

Words on Wheels~ Feb 12 – 17, New Zealand

Kids ♥ Authors Day~ Feb 14

First Nations Public Library Week~ Feb 15 – 20, Province of Ontario, Canada

SCBWI’s Annual Golden Gate Conference At Asilomar~ Feb 19 – 21, Pacific Grove, CA, USA

Freedom to Read Week~ Feb 21 – 27, Canada

Northern Ireland Booktrust Conference: The Gift of Books – Inspiring a Lifelong Love of Reading~ Feb 22, Antrim, Ireland

Exhibition of Joy Mallari’s Artwork From the Book Doll Eyes~ Feb 25, Makati City, Philippines

International Conference on Children’s Literature in Language Education~ Feb 25 – 27, Hildesheim, Germany

Latvian Book Fair~ Feb 25 – 28, Riga, Latvia

Hubbs Children’s Literature Conference~ Feb 27, Saint Paul, MN, USA

Joy Cowley Writing Workshop: Writing from the Heart~ Feb 27 – 28, Auckland, New Zealand

Bath Literature Festival~ Feb 27 – Mar 7, Bath, United Kingdom

Hot Springs, N.C., a beautiful little town on the French Broad River, deep in the heart of Appalachia, may not appear to be much of a multicultural environment at first glance, but check out what my nephew and his wife, who live there, have been reading to their boys, aged 7 and 5. Quoting from a recent email:

“A copy of Too Many Tamales by Gary Soto and Ed Martinez came home for good the other day when the librarian decided the cover was too damaged for further circulation. Our house rabbit had reduced its size by about 20% – apparently those tamales looked pretty good to him too.

“Recently we’ve been reading the Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne. Quite compelling, full of historical facts and adventurous enough to enthrall a second grader. Day of the Dragon King concerns the rescue of a legend written on bamboo before it is to be burned. So far we’ve been to Pompeii, a medieval Irish monastery and a Civil War field hospital; later books deal with even more magical and fantastical themes.

“Last week the boys had me read Rikki-Tikki-Tavi for several nights in a row (yes, I do the voices – can’t help it). I had picked up [Caldecott Award winner] Jerry Pinkney‘s adaptation of this classic Rudyard Kipling story from the library because the illustrations caught my eye. The artwork is beautiful.”

Thanks for the field report, Melody! Keep ‘em coming…