There are still a few days left before the end of Poetry Month in the US, so if you haven’t already added your lines to LitWorld‘s Global Poem for Change, there’s still time.

Poet Naomi Shihab Nye wrote the beginning and sent the poem flying across the world:

I send my words out into the air, listening for yours from everywhere.

You can follow the poem here and add your own lines here. LitWorld needs your words to help their poem grow and remember, Your Words can Change Worlds – but hurry, the last lines must be sent in my the end of April.

Here are a few of my favorite lines so far:

Speak one word, one-thousand echoes

The sounds that echo through space and time; leave imprints that shape our growing minds

Words that stir, words that drive, words that connect us all, and make us strive.

Words will soar from near to far filling hearts and opening minds –

I can hear you ever so softly- like a single falling snowflake before the blizzard.

Starting with one little syllable… one little word… I offer my peace to the world…

Spoken in love and respect in an effort to change the world

(Click on event name for more information)

National Poetry Month~ Canada and USA

Growing Up Asian in America Art and Essay Contest Winners Announced~ San Francisco, CA, USA

The Mathieu Da Costa Challenge Winners Announced~ Canada

38th National Book Fair & 8th Bangkok International Book Fair~ ongoing until Apr 6, Bangkok, Thailand

Exhibit of Sally Rippin’s Illustrations for Peeking Ducks~ ongoing until Apr 11, Melbourne, Australia

Heart and Soul: Art from Coretta Scott King Award Books, 2006–2009~ ongoing until Apr 18, Chicago, IL, USA

New York Public Library Exhibit: 2010 Caldecott Winner Jerry Pinkney’s African-American Journey to Freedom~ ongoing until Apr 18, New York City, NY, USA

Once Upon a Time . . . Children’s Book Illustrators, Then and Now~ ongoing until May 27, Oakland, CA, USA

International Children’s Book Day~ Apr 2

SCBWI Presents Details, Details: The Snap, Crackle, and Pop of Good Writing with author Jane Kurtz~ Apr 2, Tokyo, Japan

SCBWI Presents Bologna and Beyond~ Apr 3, The Hague, Netherlands

43rd Annual Fay B. Kaigler Children’s Book Festival~ Apr 7 – 9, Hattiesburg, MS, USA

The Foundation for Children’s Literature Presents What’s New in Children’s Books~ Apr 8, Boston, MA, USA

26th Annual Virginia Hamilton Conference on Multicultural Literature for Youth~ Apr 8 – 9, Kent, OH, USA

Salisbury University’s Children’s and Young Adult Literature Festival: Read Green~ Apr 8 – 12, Salisbury, MD, USA

Border Book Festival~ Apr 8 – 11, Mesilla, NM, USA

Monsters and Miracles: A Journey through Jewish Picture Books~ Apr 8 – Aug 1, Los Angeles, CA, USA

The Green Earth Book Award Presentation Ceremony~ Apr 9, McLean, VA, USA

Cambridge WordFest~ Apr 9 – 11, Cambridge, United Kingdom

The Federation of Children’s Book Groups 2010 Conference~ Apr 9 – 11, Berkshire, United Kingdom

SCBWI Presents Children’s Books and our Phil-Hispanic Heritage~ Apr 10, Philippines

National Library Week: Communities Thrive @ Your Library~ Apr 11  – 17, USA

BC Book Prizes On Tour~ Apr 11 – 23, Province of British Columbia, Canada

Young Poets Week~ Apr 12 – 16, Canada

Chicago Latino Book & Family Festival~ Apr 17 – 18, Cicero, IL, USA

London Book Fair~ Apr 19 – 21, London, United Kingdom

MASC Young Authors and Illustrators Conference~ Apr 21 – 23, Ottawa, ON, Canada

Blue Metropolis Montreal International Literary Festival and Children’s Festival: Reading the World~ Apr 21 – 25, Montreal, QC, Canada

41st Annual Saskatchewan Reading Council Convention: Guiding the Way with Literacy~ Apr 22 – 24, Regina, SA, Canada

Marba International Children’s Literature Festival~ Apr 22 – 25, Valleta, Malta

Camara Chilena del Libro Book Fair~ Apr 22 – 30, Santiago, Chile

Buenos Aires Book Fair~ Apr 22 – May 10, Buenos Aires, Argentina

World Book and Copyright Day~ Apr 23

Connecting Cultures & Celebrating Cuentos: National Latino Children’s Literature Conference~ Apr 23 – 24, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA

Building Cultural Bridges: Integrating Languages, Linguistics, Literature and Translation into Education~ Apr 23 – 24, Almaty, Kazakhstan

Spring Festival of Children’s Literature~ Apr 23 – 24, Frostburg, MD, USA

Goolwa Poetry Festival~ Apr 23 – 26, Goolwa, Australia

La Fiera del Bambino / Children’s Book Fair~ Apr 24 – 25, Naples, Italy

Los Angeles Times Festival of Books~ Apr 24 – 25, Los Angeles, CA, USA

International Reading Association’s Annual Convention: Reading in Many Languages~ Apr 25 – 28, Chicago, IL, USA

One Hen: From Children’s Book To Educator Movement For Social Change~ Apr 26, Chicago, IL, USA

PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature~ Apr 26 – May 7, New York, NY, USA

Ezra Jack Keats Awards for Excellence in Children’s Literature Ceremony~ Apr 28, New York, NY, USA

Awâsis 2010 Aboriginal Education Conference~ Apr 28 – 30, Saskatoon, SA, Canada

El Día de los Niños/El Día de los Libros~ Apr 30, USA

Our selection last month once again had us travelling all over the world and this time included poetry, fiction and non-fiction.

First of all, in honor of Poetry Month in the US, we chose Linda Sue Park’s Tap Dancing on the Roof as our reading-together book. We’ve all had great fun dipping into it and taking it in turns to choose and read the poems to each other. There were some gem moments like Older Brother discovering the sijo about how annoying it is to be summoned out of bed to go and clean your teeth – minutes after being subjected to the same treatment himself! The more we explored the poems, the more I marvelled at Linda Sue’s knack for getting the words just right – whether she’s describing a very ordinary, every day event or taking off on a flight of whimsy and metaphor. I’ve already blogged about Tap Dancing on the Roof so I won’t say any more here, but pass on to…

… Older Brother’s choice, which was Grandpa Chatterji by Jamila Gavin, illustrated by Peter Bailey. Here’s what he (aged 9 1/2) has to say:

I really enjoyed Grandpa Chatterji and I thought it was very funny sometimes, especially the part at the fair when Grandpa and Sanjay went on the rockets and they flew up into the air – when they came off they were green! Then in the evening Sanjay said, “Shall we have another go next time?” and Grandpa replied, “Maybe.”

I learned that in India some people pray standing on one foot and then when they pray they say, “Om” and the O is like the shape of the sun. People think of God as the sun because he is bright and the light of the world.

I would recommend reading it because I think people would enjoy it. Now I want to read the other two Grandpa Chatterji books.

In the meantime, Little Brother has enjoyed dipping into and absorbing the Australian Creatures of the Rainforest:Two artists explore Djabugay country by Warren Brim and Anna Eglitis:

I love books, especially encyclopaedia books about animals. This book has some animals in that I love, like echidnas and kookaburras and bandicoots. I learned that some ants are edible (the green ants) and I learned some words in Djabugay like gurrina, which means echidna, and badil, which is a zamia palm tree. Luckily at the end there is a guide to how you say their letters.

The book is by two artists – first there are lino cuts then there are original aboriginal pictures. It is very good.

So, as you can see, we are very much enjoying the PaperTigers Reading Challenge and I know my boys are finding the books they’ve chosen to be fun and enriching. Do let us know how you are getting on – only a couple more months to go!

As we come to the end of National Poetry Month in the US, I wondered what poetry book to choose for my Books at Bedtime post this week – I needed to look no further than Andrea Cheng’s newly released Where the Steps Were (Wordsong, 2008).

It is a story told in verse by five third-grade students in an inner-city school who all come under the empowering and loving influence of their teacher Miss D. As the school year progresses, we gain insight into their concerns and achievements and follow them through school trips – to a local theatre, for example. Overshadowing the whole year is the fact that the school is about to be demolished and the following year they will be moved to a new school, where they will no longer be taught by their beloved Miss D. Miss D. meanwhile guides them through their studies, and we learn in particular about their lessons in American history and the civil rights movement, which is poignant here because the children are black and their teacher is white. They find out that their skin color can still have a bearing on the way they are treated (the theatre visit again). However, Miss D. also provides them with the tools to negotiate what life throws at them, helping them to be honest and ready to stand up for each other and themselves. She is rewarded with their devotion and you come away with the feeling that when these children grow up and are asked the question, “Who was the teacher who influenced you most?”, the answer will be Miss D.

As you read together, (more…)

Now that our celebration of Poetry Month is live on the website (check it out: the interviews, galleries and articles are quite inspiring!) Marjorie and I are getting ready to head over to the Bologna Children’s Book Fair, happening from Mar 31-Apr 3. We can’t wait to get a taste of all the books on display, special events, exhibits and overall good vibes.

A couple of things we are particularly looking forward to: the illustrators’ exhibit “When Cows Fly”, celebrating Argentina as this year’s guest of honor, and the White Ravens catalog, the yearly selection of 250 notable books from around the world, put together by the International Youth Library and introduced each year at the fair. We’ll gladly share all our findings upon returning home.

Please drop us a line (on or off blog) if you will be in Bologna, too. We would love to meet up, over coffee and tiramisu, between literary treats.