(Click on event name for more information)

Library Card Sign-up Month~ USA

National Poetry Week~ ongoing until Sep 7, Australia

Singapore International Storytelling Festival~ ongoing until Sep 9, Singapore

Children Should Be Seen: The Image of the Child in American Picture-Book Art~ ongoing until Sep 14, Los Angeles, CA, USA

Beijing International Book Fair~ Sep 1 – 4, Tinjian, China

National Literacy and Numeracy Week~ Sep 1 – 7, Australia

New Zealand Book Month~ Sep 1 – 30, New Zealand

Christchurch Writers Festival: Getting Between the Covers~ Sep 4 – 7, Christchurch, New Zealand

Shanghai Conference On Children’s Publishing~ Sep 5 – 6, Shanghai, China

Cape Clear Island Storytellling Festival~ Sep 5 – 7, Cape Clear, Ireland

31st IBBY World Congress~ Sep 7 – 10, Copenhagen, Denmark

Hans Christian Anderson Awards Presentation~ Sep 7, Copenhagen, Denmark

International Literacy Day~ Sep 8

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

29th Manila International Book Fair: Words Without Borders~ Sep 12 – 16, Manila, Philippines

Bath Festival of Children’s Literature~ Sep 19 – 28, Bath, United Kingdom

Brisbane Writers Festival~ Sep 17 – 21, Brisbane, Australia

CYA later, Alligator – Children’s and Young Adult Writers And Illustrators Conference~ Sep 20, Brisbane, Australia

6th Annual Houston Latino Book and Family Festival~ Sep 20 – 21, Houston, TX, USA

International Day of Peace~ Sep 21

9th Annual Hog Wild About Reading: A Motorcycle Ride For Literacy~ Sep 21, Port Moody, BC, Canada

Raise-a-Reader Day~ Sep 24, Canada

International Children’s and Youth Literature Festival~ Sep 24 – Oct 4, Berlin, Germany

National Book Festival~ Sep 27, Washington, D.C., USA

Kidlit Bloggers Conference~ Sep 27, Portland, OR, USA

SCBWI Illustrator Day~ Sep 27, San Francisco, CA, USA

Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read~ Sep 27 – Oct 4, USA

Word on the Street Book and Magazine Festival ~ Sep 28, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Entry Deadline for the Noma Concours for Picture Book Illustrations~ Sep 30

With a new school year about to start in my corner of the globe, I’m reminded of the essential work of teachers and librarians in helping our children learn to turn to reading and books to satisfy their curiosity about the world.

Teachers and librarians have been the subject of many children’s books to date, and some time ago Reading Year posted a call out for suggestions of books featuring teachers. Many readers submitted titles, and the result was the delightful “100 Cool Teachers in Children’s Literature” list. And let me tell you: cool is an understatement here. Those teachers, and the list itself, are hands down awesome!

Then, inspired by Reading Year’s feat, The Book Dragon blog spearheaded a quest for the “100 Librarians in Children’s and YA Literature,” and the resulting list was another treasure trove to explore. At the time, PaperTigers also got on the bandwagon by requesting librarian Minjie Chen to put together her own list of favorite books about libraries and librarians.

If you know of titles to add to these fantastic compilations, do send them/us a note. There are probably as many such books out there as there are ways to celebrate teachers and librarians. So let’s count the ways… and the stories! And don’t forget: September is Library Card Sign-Up Month and a great time to remind kids that reading can be electrifying and mind-expanding!