Geeta Dharmarajan is the Founder and Executive Director of Katha, an Indian non-profit organization working in the areas of formal and non-formal education, publishing and pro-poor activities. Read my interview with her to find out how since 1988 Katha has been helping children grow up to be India’s reader-leaders. The breadth and depth of their work is remarkable and awe-inspiring!

In case you haven’t heard, Katha was nominated by PaperTigers for the 2011 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, in the category “Promoter of Reading”.

Share a Story – Shape a Future’s second annual Literacy Blog Tour started today, and this year’s theme is “It Takes a Village to Raise a Reader.” Now let’s show the world what being a virtual community of book lovers committed to helping kids become hungry readers really means, by joining in the conversation and sharing our personal stories and perspectives!

Today’s Literacy Blog Tour host is Terry Doherty @ Scrub-a-Dub-Tub. For a complete list of hosts and topics, see here. And check these for a taste of some of PaperTigers’ posts on literacy:

Thoughts on Literacy: Going Where the Children Are
Books at Bedtime: Win-Win!
Our Literacy Future

Press Release:
New Children’s Laureate announced!

Anthony Browne was announced as the sixth Children’s Laureate at a ceremony at Centre Point, London, on 9 June 2009

Andrew Motion, chair of the selection panel, awarded Anthony Browne with his medal in front of 180 guests at Paramount, Centre Point.

Andrew Motion said:

‘Anthony Browne is an absolutely distinctive and extraordinarily skilful artist – someone whose work entrances children, and has influenced an entire generation of illustrators. His pictures and stories give deep and immediate pleasures, while also insisting that we – children and adults – return to them – and when we return, we have a gradually-expanding sense of discovery. It is a great pleasure to be able to recognise the achievement of Anthony’s work by celebrating his appointment as Children’s Laureate.’

Anthony Browne responded:

‘I hope to encourage more children to discover and love reading, but I want to focus particularly on the appreciation of picture books, and the reading of both pictures and words. Picture books are for everybody at any age, not books to be left behind as we grow older. The best ones leave a tantalising gap between the pictures and the words, a gap that is filled by the reader’s imagination, adding so much to the excitement of reading a book.’

To watch a video of Anthony Browne at the announcement click here.

Head on over to The Book Chook to download the fantastic first edition of “Literacy Lava“, a pdf magazine edited by Susan Stephenson (who is the Book Chook) with some great contributions from other KidLit bloggers -from “Tips to Reading Aloud” to “Putting the ATE into CreAte” – it’s jam-(no-pun-intended)-packed with ideas, including links to on-line resources…

… and Valerie at The Almost Librarian has links to all the contributors’ blogs here…

Announced yesterday, this year’s Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, the largest in children’s literature, goes to The Tamer Institute For Community Education. The prize is given annually to a writer, illustrator, storyteller or organisation who best promote reading/literacy.

PaperTigers congratulates The Tamer Institute for the honor and the outstanding work it has been doing, since 1989, to help children in Gaza and the West Bank improve their literacy skills. Tamer dedicated the award to “the children of Palestine who have faced many painful events throughout the past 60 years.”

A statement that included the jury’s reason for awarding the prize said: “In the spirit of Astrid Lindgren, the Tamer Institute acknowledges the power of words and the strength of books, stories and imagination as important keys to self-esteem, tolerance and the courage to face life.”

PaperTigers is very honored to have been selected as one of the nominating bodies for the 2010 ALMA award. We are looking forward to contributing to the process of selecting the next winner.

Today is the last day of the fantastic Share a Story – Shape a Future blog tour of the kidlitosphere that draws on the expertise of “teachers, librarians, parents, and people passionate about literacy”. Each day a selection of bloggers has shared ideas around a given theme: and every one of their posts has been a mine of information – so don’t miss it! Here’s the programme for today (and of course, these great articles will be available to read for a while to come yet):

Day 5: Technology and Reading – What the Future Holds
hosted by Elizabeth O. Dulemba at Dulemba.com.
E. has pulled together all the contributions into one post and these cover audiobooks, E-books, and podcasting – and there’s a resource kit with links…

And here are the links for the rest of the week’s offerings: (more…)

Franki at A Year of Reading has gathered together some fantastic projects by children “to make the world a better place”, including her own daughter and her friends. These are all inspirational stories – do follow up on all her links! I do just have to mention this one though:

How about Capucine who I learned about from Stella at My World-Mi Mundo. Capucine, a four year old, is helping to make sure that her friends in Mongolia have books. She would like to open a library for them. Capucine already understands the power of her words, the Internet, and making a difference.

Sometimes the simplest remark can be the most transforming. “Perhaps, sir, you will come back with books,” a Nepalese headmaster said to John Wood, a vacationing Microsoft employee, as they stood in a school library that had twenty books that “were all backpacker cast-offs.” Haunted by the thought of children who might never know the joy of reading, Wood returned home and spent a year gathering children’s books. He went back to the headmaster with 3,000 volumes and a new direction for his life. John Wood decided that bringing books to children who have none was his vocation and Room to Read was born, as he tells readers in Leaving Microsoft to Change the World.

Wood put together an organization with staff who share his dream and his passion, aided by a fundraising network of more than 3,000 people. The core programs of Room to Read are the Reading Room which has built 5,600 libraries,  Local Language Publishing which publishes and distributes books written both in English and the local language, the School Room which works with local communities to build schools with 444 in use, the Room to Grow Girls’ Scholarship that enables 4,000 girls to complete their secondary education, and the Computer and Language Room which builds computer and language labs.

Found in India, Sri Lanka, Zambia, South Africa, Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, Room to Read is vitalized by donations and volunteers, who have discovered how they can help by going to www.roomtoread.org. All share a common goal—to have built 10,000 libraries by 2010.

Scheduled half-day visits to a Room to Read site are welcome with advance arrangement.

One man, one dream, 3,000 books– one optimistic remark changed a life and consequently thousands of lives are being changed through the power of reading and the joy of literacy, all over the world.

If you’re looking for some bone soup, scurvy prevention supplies and leeches for various ailments, look no further than 826 Valencia, an independent pirate supply store located in San Francisco’s lively Mission district. But don’t be misled by the store’s appearance or its workers’ pirattitude: far from inspiring mortal fear, their jolly roger promises learning and fun.

Founded by writer Dave Eggers (A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genious), since 2002 the 826 Valencia ship has been sailing on the forefront of literacy efforts as a reading and writing lab/tutoring program “in disguise.” The lure of its brand of piracy is undeniable. Students ages 6-18 get free tutoring from some of the most creative and qualified people in town, and anyone visiting the “store” can barter for a cup of lard, be mopped (!), buy pirate trinkets (a clam opener, anyone? how about a magenta eye patch?) and discover a world of treasures hidden in countless drawers that beg to be opened. Behind all the whimsy, though (literally, at the back of the store, behind a curtain), there are young minds at work, learning new writing skills, getting ready for SAT exams, experiencing mind growth through creativity and fun.

826 Valencia is just around the corner from my house—lucky me!—and I often visit with my daughter, who, in spite of being too young for the workshops, is clearly lured. Upon entering the store for the first time a couple of years ago, she exclaimed, half scared, half thrilled, “I didn’t know there were pirates in our neighborhood!” The neighborhood hasn’t been the same since.

If you missed International “Talk Like a Pirate” Day, a fun-filled occasion dedicated to pirates and their vernacular and celebrated worldwide on Sep 19, check out 826 Valencia for your fix: there are always fun things happening. Today, for instance, there’s a locksmith workshop that will teach kids “how to not pick locks, how to make keys, find keys, lose keys, and more.” Land lubbers of all ages will feel compelled to join in on some of these piracy ventures.

For accounts of actual events that occur in the shop, check the store log. And here and here for a couple of good reads for little ones contemplating buccannering as a career.

Motorcyclists – rev up your engines and join in the 9th Annual “HOG WILD” About Reading Motorcycle Ride for Literacy. On Sep 21, over 100 riders are expected to ride from Port Moody, BC, Canada to Harrison Hot Springs in an effort to promote literacy and raise money to buy new books for school libraries. Since the event started, in 2000, the fundraiser has brought in $87,000 to benefit the cause, and this year organizers hope to push the running tally over the $100,000 mark. Over 25 businesses sponsor the ride and individuals who donate $25 or more are entered into a draw to win a $1,000 vacation package. Global TV’s recent news coverage of the HOG WILD ride can be viewed here.

Christine Lauzon, principal of Banting Middle School, says the fundraiser has grown consistently since its first year, when a total of seven bikes lined up for literacy. “Each year it’s gotten bigger and bigger,” said Lauzon. “We raise books for our school libraries, and we have fun doing it! Those are our two goals.” Last year, Banting Middle School used money from the fundraiser to buy a “Remembrance Day” kit for the children, with books in English and French” said Lauzon, whose lime green helmet and boots match her custom-painted Harley Davidson motorcycle.

Registration starts at 8:30 am on the day of the event, at Moody Middle School, and participants can enjoy coffee and doughnuts until the ride kicks off, at 10:00 am. Petra Kintzinger, principal of James Park Elementary School, who will be riding her Yamaha, encourages residents along the route to come out and cheer the riders on: “It’s a lot of fun to watch. It contributes to the atmosphere—and it sounds great, too!”