(Click on event name for more information)

Fremantle Children’s Literature Centre 2010 Exhibits~ Australia

Canadian Library  Month: Your Library, Your World~ Canada

National Book Month~ USA

Reading Association of Ireland Annual Conference~ Sep 30 – Oct 2, Dublin, Ireland

Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read~ ongoing until Oct 3, USA

Words+Pictures=Book, Contemporary Malaysian Picture Book Illustration~ ongoing until Oct 3, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

National Young Writers’ Festival~ ongoing until  Oct 4, Newcastle, Australia

Mirror, an Exhibition by Children’s Author and Artist Jeannie Baker~ ongoing until Oct 10, Australia

Hispanic Heritage Month~ ongoing until Oct 15, USA

3rd CJ Picture Book Award Submissions Accepted~ ongoing until Oct 20, Seoul, Korea

Dromkeen National Centre for Picture Book Art Exhibit: From the Collection~ ongoing until Oct 24, Riddells Creek, Australia

International Youth Library Exhibit: Shaun Tan, Pictures and Books~ ongoing until Oct 31, Munich, Germany

Entries Accepted for the 2011 PBBY-Salanga Prize~ ongoing until Nov 15, Philippines

The Children’s Bookshow: Stories From Around The World~ ongoing until Nov 17, United Kingdom

Everyday Adventures Growing Up: Art from Picture Books ~ ongoing until Nov 28, Chicago, IL, USA

Hedwig Anuar Children’s Book Award 2011~ entries accepted until Dec 31, Singapore

Eric Carle: A Feast for the Eyes~ ongoing until  Mar 20, Amherst, MA, USA

Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards for Excellence in Children’s Literature Awards Ceremony~ Oct 1, Boston, MA, USA

SCBWI Presents: Writing and Illustrating Long Walk to Freedom with Author Chris van Wyk and Illustrator Paddy Bouma~ Oct 1, Cape Town, South Africa

The Center for Children’s Literature Presents: The Business of Children’s Publishing~ Oct 1 – 2, Kenosha, WI, USA

Reading Association of Africa Annual Conference: It All Starts with Literacy~ Oct 1 – 3, Port Elizabeth, South Africa

5th Annual Cybils (Children’s and Young Adult Bloggers’ Literary Awards) Nominations Open~ Oct 1 – 15

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

Nambook-010: The 5th Nami Island International Children’s Book Festival~ Oct 1 – Nov 15, Nami, Korea

The Horn Book at Simmons: A One Day Colloquium~ Oct 2, Boston, MA, USA

2010 Bologna Illustrators Exhibition of Children’s Books~ Oct 2 – 31, Yokkaich, Japan

Orange County Children’s Book Festival~ Oct 3, Costa Mesa, CA, USA

14th Poetry Africa International Poetry Festival~ Oct 4 – 9, Durban, South Africa

Children’s Book Week: Books Around the World~ Oct 4 – 10, United Kingdom

TaleBlazers Literary Arts Festival~ Oct 4 – 29, Province of Alberta, Canada

Wellesley College Presents: Mitali Perkins “Books Between Cultures: How Stories Help Kids Keep Their Balance”~ Oct 5, Wellesley, MA, USA

2nd Unisa Conference on Reading Promotion and Storytelling for Children and Storytelling Festival for Children~ Oct 6 – 8, Pretoria, South Africa

Ubud Writers and Readers Festival~ Oct 6 – 10, Ubud, Bali, Indonesia

Frankfurt Book Fair~ Oct 6 – 10, Frankfurt, Germany

2011 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award Nominees Announced~ Oct 7, Frankfurt, Germany

The Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award Winners Announced~ Oct 7, London, United Kingdom

No Small Matter: A Fundraiser for Children’s Book Press~ Oct 7, San Francisco, CA, USA

A is for Anansi: Literature for Children of African Descent~ Oct 8 – 9, New York, NY, USA

The Times Cheltenham Literature Festival~ Oct 8 – 17, Cheltenham, United Kingdom

Teachers 4 Social Justice 10th Annual Conference: Teaching for Social Justice – A Labor Of Love~ Oct 9, San Francisco, CA, USA

13th Los Angeles Latino Book & Family Festival ~ Oct 9 – 10, Los Angeles, CA, USA

Japan Writers Conference~ Oct 9 – 11, Tokyo, Japan

20th Annual Monterrey International Book Fair~ Oct 9 – 17, Monterrey, Mexico

Inky Awards Shortlist Announced, On-line Voting Begins~ Oct 12, Australia

Writers Against Racism: A Conversation About Books with Amy Bowllan and Zetta Elliott~ Oct 13, New York, NY, USA

Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Awards Ceremony~ Oct 14, San Marcos, TX, USA

15th Annual New England Conference on Multicultural Education~ Oct 14, Hartford, CT, USA

National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature Presents From Houdini to Hugo: The Art of Brian Selznick~ Oct 14 – Jan 29, Abilene, TX, USA

57th Jane Addams Children’s Book Awards Ceremony~ Oct 15, New York, NY, USA

Sheboygan Children’s Book Festival: Shared Stories. Shared Worlds~ Oct 15 – 17, Sheboygan, WI, USA

Benefit for The 1st Annual El Salvador Children’s Poetry Festival~ Oct 16, San Francisco, CA, USA

CHARACTER COUNTS! Week~ Oct 17 – 23, USA

YALSA’s Teen Read Week: Books with Beat @ your library~ Oct 17 – 23, USA

1st Screening of Library of the Early Mind~ Oct 19, Cambridge, MA, USA

Vancouver International Writers and Readers Festival~ Oct 19 – 24, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Chapter & Verse, a Book Club for Adults Discussing Children’s Lit~ Oct 21, USA

Rabbit Hill Festival of Literature: Collaboration~ Oct 21 – 23, Westport, CT, USA

British Columbia Literacy Council 2010 conference~ Oct 22, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Bournemouth Multicultural Literary Festival: Freedom, Books & Imagination~ Oct 22 – 28, Bournemouth, United Kingdom

Celebrate 70 Years of Children’s Book Week~ Oct 23, Minneapolis, MN, USA

SCBWI Children’s Book Seminar~ Oct 23, Bacolod City, Philippines

Kidlitosphere 2010 Conference~ Oct 23, Minneapolis, MN, USA

Américas Book Award for Children’s and Young Adult Literature Winners Ceremony~ Oct 23, Washington, D.C., USA

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

CROCUS 2010: Celebrate Reading of Culturally Unique Stories~ Oct 23 – 30, India

Scottish International Storytelling Festival~ Oct 23 – 31, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

International Youth Library Exhibit: The World in Miniature. The Family in Historic Picture Books and Children’s Literature~ Oct 24 – Aug 31, Munich, Germany

Sharjah International Book Fair and Announcement of the Etisalat Prize for Arabic Children’s Literature Winner~ Oct 26 – Nov 6, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

6th Annual World Matters Festival: Writers -Disturbing the Peace~ Oct 27 – 31, Eltham, Australia

30th Santiago International Book Fair~ Oct 29 – Nov 14, Santiago, Chile

Singapore Children’s Book Club Presents Serene Wee and her novel Present~ Oct 30, Singapore

Tell-a-Story Day~ Oct 30, Scotland

BookFest @ Bank Street~ Oct 30, Manhattan, NY,USA

Waikato Children’s Literature Association Annual Seminar~ Oct 30 – 31, Hamilton, New Zealand

Children’s Literature Festival~ Oct 30, Keene, NH,USA

Yesterday was National Poetry Day in the UK and the winners of the Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award were announced. One of the winning poems was written in the style of a mediaeval ballad but was a commentry on the prime-ministership of Tony Blair. The prizes include school visits and, for older winners, a week-long residential course – and, of course, having their poems published in an anthology – wow! When some of the winning poems are up and running on The Poetry Society’s website, I’ll add a link… here they are!

Stories in verse make really satisfying read-alouds. Children pick up the rhymes and rhythms and love to preempt what’s coming or chant along once the verse becomes familiar. Mine always surprise me by being able to quote what seem to me great tracts compared with what I would be able to come up with! As I’ve mentioned before, we love Julia Donaldson’s books and a favorite is her retelling of the Chinese legend The Magic Paintbrush, which reads in true ballad form, over many 4-lined rhyming stanzas, and with repetitions and recurring themes, such as the steaming pot of shrimps the young heroine Shen conjures up before her astonished family:

“Did you catch some shrimps, Shen?
Did you catch some fish?
Did you gather oysters
To fill the empty dish?”

It’s beautifully illustrated by Joel Stewart, who has a particular talent for illustrating poetry, from Lewis Carroll’s Jabberwocky to Carol Ann Duffy’s zany Underwater Farmyard, another book we have all enjoyed.

Reading this Magic Paintbrush (more…)