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Reading Association of Ireland Annual Conference: Creating Multiple Pathways To Powerful Literacy In Challenging Times~ ongoing until Oct 1, Dublin, Ireland

Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read~ ongoing until Oct 1, USA

Appledore Book Festival (featuring Michael Rosen)~ ongoing until Oct 2, Appledore, United Kingdom

Wigtown Book Festival~ ongoing until Oct 2, Wigtown, United Kingdom

Bath Festival of Children’s Literature~ ongoing until Oct 2, Bath, United Kingdom

National Young Writers’ Festival~ ongoing until  Oct 3, Newcastle, Australia

Mirror, an Exhibition by Children’s Author and Artist Jeannie Baker~ ongoing until Oct 11, Ipswich City, Australia

Hispanic Heritage Month~ ongoing until Oct 15, USA

2012 Scholastic Asian Book Award~ entries accepted until Oct 17, Singapore

23rd Biennial of Illustrations Bratislava~ ongoing until Oct 26, Bratislava, Slovakia

Once Upon A Wartime: Classic War Stories for Children~ ongoing until Oct 30, London, United Kingdom

4th CJ Picture Book Award~ entries accepted until Oct 31, Seoul, Korea

E-Mote Digital Storytelling Competition: When We Put Aside Our Differences~ entries accepted until Oct 31, Singapore

ALA Online Course: Introduction to Graphic Novels for Children~ongoing until Nov 4, USA

The Art Institute of Chicago Presents: Artful Alphabets: Five Picture Book Artists~ ongoing until Nov 6, Chicago, IL, USA

2012 PBBY-Salanga Prize~ entries accepted until Nov 11, Philippines

The Children’s Bookshow: Stories From Around The World~ ongoing until Dec 7, United Kingdom

2012 South Asia Book Award~ entries accepted until Dec 31

Budding Writers Project~ entries accepted until Jan 6, 2012, Singapore

Exhibits of Winning Entries from the 2011 Growing Up Asian in America Contest~ ongoing until Feb 2012, USA

Canadian Library Month: Your Library: A Place Unbound

International School Library Month

Children’s Month~ Philippines

Esquimalt Children’s Story Fest~ Oct 1, Esquimalt, BC, Canada

Horn Book at Simmons One-Day Colloquium~ Oct 1, Boston, MA, USA

Tulika Publishers’ Meet An Author Event: Alankrita Jain~ Oct 1, Bangalore, India

Filipino-American International Book Festival~ Oct 1 – 2, San Francisco, CA, USA

The Children’s Book Festival~ Oct 1 – 31, Ireland

Boys’ Pranks: An Exhibition about Ole Lund Kirkegaard~ Oct 1 – Feb 26, 2012, Kolding, Denmark

Orange County Children’s Book Festival~ Oct 2, Costa Mesa, CA, USA

5th World Summit on Arts and Culture~ Oct 3 – 6, Melbourne, Australia

Children’s Book Week~ Oct 3 – 9, United Kingdom

TaleBlazers Literary Arts Festival~ Oct 3 – 28, Province of Alberta, Canada

Ubud Writers and Readers Festival~ Oct 5 – 9, Ubud,  Indonesia

Children’s Book Week~ Oct 5 – 15, Netherlands

National Poetry Day and Announcement of The Foyle Young Poets of the Year Winners ~ Oct 6, London, United Kingdom

Children’s Illustrators Exhibit: Images Beyond Borders~ Oct 6 – 27, Dublin, Ireland

Benefit for the 2nd Annual Children’s Poetry Festival in El Salvador~ Oct 7, San Francisco, CA, USA

Spanish Language Arts Conference~ Oct 7 – 8, San Diego, CA, USA

Kidquake~ Oct 7 – 15, San Francisco, CA, USA

21st Annual Monterrey International Book Fair~ Oct 8 – 16, Monterrey, Mexico

Teachers 4 Social Justice 10th Annual Conference: Teaching for Social Justice – The Power of Community~ Oct 9, San Francisco, CA, USA

Frankfurt Book Fair~ Oct 12 – 16, Frankfurt, Germany

2011 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award Nominees Announced~ Oct 13, Frankfurt, Germany

Carthage Center for Children’s Literature Welcomes Book Illustrator David Diaz~ Oct 13 – 14, Kenosha, WI, USA

German Youth Literature Award Winner Announced~ Oct 14, Frankfurt, Germany

7th Annual World Matters Festival: Missing Peace~ Oct 14 – 16, Eltham, Australia

The Ninth International Conference on the Book~ Oct 14 – 16, Toronto, ON, Canada

3rd National Conference and Seminar-Workshop on Children’s Literature~ Oct 14 – 16, Quezon City, Philapinnes

Sheboygan Children’s Book Festival: Memory~ Oct 14 – 16, Sheboygan, WI, USA

Vancouver Children’s Literature Roundtable Fall Breakfast~ Oct 15, Vancouver, BC, Canada

CHARACTER COUNTS! Week~ Oct 16 – 22

YALSA’s Teen Read Week: Picture It @ your library~ Oct 16 – 22, USA

Mix It Up at Lunch Day~ Oct 18, USA

Vancouver International Writers and Readers Festival~ Oct 18 – 23, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Chapter & Verse Meeting (a Book Club for Adults Discussing Children’s Lit)~ Oct 20, USA

Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Awards Ceremony~ Oct 20, San Marcos, TX, USA

57th Jane Addams Children’s Book Awards Ceremony~ Oct 21, New York, NY, USA

9th IBBY Regional Conference: Peace the World Together With Children´s Books~ Oct 21 – 23, Fresno, CA, USA

SCBWI South Africa Spring Event~ Oct 21 – 27, Cape Town, South Africa

Scottish Storytelling Festival~ Oct 21 – 30, Scotland

Children’s Literature Festival~ Oct 22, Keene, NH, USA

Fall Festival of Children’s Books- Oct 22, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

Singapore Writers Festival~ Oct 23 – 30, Singapore

GobbleDEEbook Literature Festival for Children and Teens~ Oct 23 – 30, Chester, United Kingdom

Northwards. Festival for Scandinavian Children’s and Youth Literature~ Oct 25 – 28, Munich, Germany

The Original Art: Celebrating the Fine Art of Children’s Book Illustration~ Oct 26 – Dec 29, New York, NY, USA

Diversity in YA Fiction Tour~ Oct 27, San Diego, CA, USA

Kuala Lumpur Children’s Book Festival~ Oct 27 – Nov 4, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Tell-a-Story Day~ Oct 28, Scotland

BookFest @ Bank Street~ Oct 29, Manhattan, NY, USA

31st Santiago International Book Fair~ Oct 28 – Nov 13, Santiago, Chile

Fremantle Children’s Literature Centre Exhibits and Programs~ Fremantle, Australia

Dromkeen National Centre for Picture Book Art Exhibits~ Riddells Creek, Australia

Books Illustrated Events and Exhibitions~ Middle Park, Australia

Screenings for Library of the Early Mind: a documentary film exploring childrens literature~ Canada and USA

International Youth Library Exhibits~ Munich, Germany

Seven Stories (the National Home of Children’s Books in Britain) Events~ Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom

Discover Children’s Story Centre~ London, United Kingdom

The National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature Exhibits~ Abilene, TX, USA

Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Events

Today my daughter’s school is taking part in Mix it Up at Lunch Day, “to build on the momentum of change created by the election of Barack Obama as the first black president of the United States, and to show our commitment to providing an inclusive learning environment for all students.”

“Mix It Up at Lunch Day” is the flagship event of Mix it Up, a nationwide project that encourages K-12 students to identify, question and cross social boundaries within their schools and communities. “This year, the day has a special significance,” says Mix It Up Director, Samantha Elliott Briggs, “because students across America, inspired by the presidential election’s result, are excited about doing their part to tear down the walls that divide us.”

10,000 schools are expected to participate this year. To know that millions of students across the U.S. are reaching out to others and looking for ways to be more inclusive is not only awe-inspiring, but downright amazing! The beauty and power of “Mix It Up at Lunch Day” is that it highlights the importance of inclusive learning environments with a simple call to action; one that encourages youth to step out of their comfort zones and sit next to a school mate they’ve never talked to before—a simple gesture that has the potential to build bridges, foster understanding and form friendships that wouldn’t be built, fostered or formed otherwise.

Participating students are encouraged to share stories about their experiences with “Mix It Up Day” and to read the stories of others‘. And for those interested in submitting essays for a chance to be published, here’s a list of themes.

Great things happen when we mix. Please share your story so we can all learn from it!