Reporter Karen Springen of Publishers Weekly has posted a fabulous article on the recent  National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Announcement Ceremonies.  On January 5th, well-known and highly respected author Katherine Paterson was announced as the successor to first children’s ambassador Jon Scieszka.  The Publishers Weekly article gives readers great insight into what took place at the announcement ceremony and highlights the personalities of both Jon and Katherine as well as their thoughts on being a children’s ambassador.

Two paragraphs that are particularly insightful with respect to multicultural literature really struck me:

Scieszka’s ambassadorial platform was reaching reluctant readers. Paterson’s is “read for your life.” With books, she said, kids (and adults) use their “powers of intellect and imagination” and experience “delight.” Stories also teach children about people from other religions, races, and countries, said Paterson, who spent the first three years of her life living in China with her missionary parents. “Books help us make friends who are different from ourselves.”

It bothered Paterson when she heard a librarian say she didn’t buy any Virginia Hamilton books because no black children attended her school. “That’s the very reason you should be buying Virginia Hamilton’s books,” she said. “Because your kids don’t have an opportunity to have friends who are African-American, they should be making those friends in books. Same thing with religion.” Jimmy Carter said becoming friends with Anwar Sadat was the most important thing that happened to him as president, she added. “Neither was trying to convert the other. I love the fact that we might be able to do that in this country—that we might be able to learn to understand each other…. The more we know about each other, the better.”

Congratulations and best wishes, Katherine!   We wish you every success and look forward to the amazing work we know you will do in your new role as National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature.

Photo credit: Abby Brack

The Thailand Reading Association recently held a two day conference entitled “Reading Literacy for Quality Education”. One of the organizers, Tuk, has just informed me that photos and information from the conference (including downloadable speeches and reports) are available here on the Thailand Reading Association’s website and also here on Tuk’s blog.

Skipping Stones is an award-winning, nonprofit magazine for youth that encourages communication, cooperation, creativity and celebration of cultural and environmental richness. Founded in 1988 and published five times a year, Skipping Stones provides a forum for sharing ideas and experiences among youth from different countries and cultures. Art and original writings submissions in every language and from all ages are always welcomed.

Each year Skipping Stones recognizes outstanding authentic books and teaching resources with the Annual Skipping Stones Honor Awards. The honored books, published by both large and small publishers, promote cooperation and cultivate an awareness of our diverse cultures. Together, they encourage an understanding of the world’s diversity, ecological richness, respect for differing viewpoints and close relationships in human societies. Bound to provide a great reading adventure, they offer a variety of learning experiences. Reviewers aged 8 to 80, from many backgrounds and life experiences, help select the winners and their reviews are published in the Summer Skipping Stones issue.

The 2009 winners are broken down into 3 categories – Multicultural & International Awareness, Nature and Ecology Books, and Teaching and Parenting Resources; and winning titles include:

Secret Keeper by Mitali Perkins,
The Storyteller’s Candle by Lucia Gonzalez, illustrated by Lulu Delacre,
Grandfather’s Story Cloth by Linda Gerdner and Sarah Langford, illustrated by Stuart Loughridge.

For a complete list of the winners, click here: I just printed it off and will be heading to my local library this afternoon to see what treasures I can find!

This month marks the second annual celebration of book groups as the Women’s National Book Association launches National Reading Group Month. Across the United States, publishers, bookstores, libraries, authors, and readers are all coming together to show their appreciation of the act of shared and thoughtful reading.

At PaperTigers, we are excited and happy that book groups are receiving the attention that they deserve, and that blogs all over the country are providing helpful tips for successful meetings and lists of suggested titles. We hope, as we all pay attention to book groups, that we pay particular attention to book groups for young readers.

It’s easy for reading to take a back seat to all of the other activities and preoccupations that usurp our free time, and for no one is that more true than for children. By making reading a sociable and scheduled activity, we give it a special priority that assures that it won’t get lost in the shuffle of daily life, and by coming together to discuss what we have read in a group of friends, we find ourselves reading more slowly, more thoughtfully, and with great pleasure. What better way is there for our children to spend their time than to share what they have read with friends who have read it too?

We at PaperTigers have our own book group, The Tiger’s Choice, where adults and children come together online to read and discuss a book that all ages can read with equal pleasure. Over the past ten months, we have explored different cultures and different countries from Cambodia to Germany during World War Two. We read with the desire to bring the world closer, and to make multicultural literacy a global undertaking, not merely a national one. We believe that children who learn to appreciate and understand the cultures of other countries will grow to be people who will live harmoniously and respectfully in the world.

As we celebrate National Reading Group Month, we invite you to join our own reading group, and ask you to let us know what reading groups you offer for children. What are you reading? What has worked for your reading group and what has not? Let’s talk!