The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators presents:

SCBWI Tokyo Illustrators Exhibition 2011

Messages from our Hearts to Friends Not Yet Met

Time: Tuesday, September 6 – Sunday, September 11, 2011

Place: Galerie Malle, 4-8-3 Ebisu, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo

Messages from our Hearts to Friends Not Yet Met is an exhibition by eleven children’s book illustrators who live in Japan and are active internationally. Exhibitors are Akira Hamano, Michael Kloran, Naomi Kojima, John Kolosowski, Midori Mori, Shohei Nishihara, Paul Richardson, Daniel Schallau, Izumi Tanaka, Kazuko Unosawa and Yoko Yoshizawa. Each artist will exhibit several illustrations and works will be available for sale.

For more information contact Holly Thompson, Regional Advisor, SCBWI Tokyo by clicking here.

On Friday, July 8 a small but enthusiastic audience of SCBWI members came to my talk at Tokyo’s Women’s Plaza in Shibuya to hear me explain what PaperTigers is all about.  I told everyone how there were three main components to PaperTigers — the blog, the website, and the outreach program.  When my focus turned to the SPT outreach program, I was also able to introduce host Holly Thompson’s particular Outreach contribution, which involved a set of books being donated to the Butterfly School in Cambodia.  That was a great plus!

After our talk, we had a round of Q and A about PaperTigers and I got to see some of the lovely work of illustrators such as Izumi Tanaka, and hear about writer and illustrator Yoko Yoshizawa’s work with the retelling of folktales around the world, using the work of local illustrators.  I met Ruth Gilmore, librarian and church worker, and author of kidsermons– a four book series of children’s sermons.   I was able to meet with Annie Donwerth Chikamatsu, creator of the wonderful website about Japan called Here and There Japan.  And of course, it was quite exciting for all of us to chat about Holly Thompson’s new fundraising project, the Tomo anthology of Japan-related YA fiction, which is now receiving submissions.  Check out the Tomo blog as well as Holly’s own blog and website, Hatbooks.

The following Saturday I went to the Itabashi Art Museum to see the 2010 Bologna Book Fair exhibit.  The Book Fair exhibit tours Japan annually.  In the Tokyo area, the hosting museum is the Itabashi Art Museum which has been hosting the book fair for thirty years.  I was most intrigued by the artwork of the winner of the 2010 International Award for Illustration, Philip Giordano.  His illustrations were for a rather fantastical re-telling of the famous Japanese fairytale — Kaguyahime.  There were many other wonderful illustrations, but I was a bit dismayed by how few there were from the Americas — south and north.  Yet, I was very glad to get a taste of some of the world’s best art for children; it certainly inspired me to think about writing for children in a new way!  I picked up the Illustrator’s Annual and have been enjoying browsing through it. 

As delightful as my Tokyo visit was, it ended rather soberly with tremors from a 7.3 earthquake that hit Tohoku on the morning of July 10.  I was in my cousin’s apartment when things started to sway and shake; I felt slightly nauseated as if I were on a rocking boat.  For Tokyoites and Tohoku residents, this kind of seismic activity has become the norm ever since March 11.  The topic of many of my conversations over the weekend centered around what happened during and after March 11.   Clearly, life has not been the same for many Tokyo area residents, never mind the people of Tohoku.   While the pleasures and wonders of the nation’s capital are many, so are its worries and fears, of which even I had but the briefest of tastes this short but eventful weekend in Tokyo.

Tomo 友, which means friend in Japanese, will be comprised of young adult fiction set in or related to Japan and will be published in print and digital formats by Stone Bridge Press in Spring 2012. The publication of Tomo will coincide with the one-year anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami that devastated vast areas of northeastern Japan and resulted in loss of life and livelihood for thousands of people.

Here’s what Holly has to say about the new project:

Why Tomo? As I explain on the Tomo blog, so many teens in Tohoku have lost parents, siblings, relatives, friends, homes, schools, and huge swaths of their cities, towns and villages. Their teen worlds have been upended. Many will suffer from post traumatic stress syndrome. Many will need financial support to complete their education.

Proceeds from the sales of the Tomo anthology will go to organizations that assist teens in the quake and tsunami hit areas. Tomo will link writers of young adult fiction with readers worldwide and the teens in Tohoku in need of their support.

Submissions will be accepted until August 15, 2011 and the guidelines can be found here.

Stone Bridge Press, with its focus on books related to Japan and Asia, is a perfect fit for this project. It is a pleasure to be working with the Stone Bridge team again. [N.B. Holly's book Ash - A Novel was published by Stone Bridge Press in 2001.]

The Tomo blog will feature news about the anthology, interviews with contributors, and information about the teens, locations and organizations that Tomo will support.

I am so excited about this new venture, to be in the editing role for a collection of Japan-related young adult fiction, and to be setting in motion a project that will benefit teens in the quake- and tsunami-affected areas who are coping with layer upon layer of loss. May their days ahead be full of promise… and friends from near and far.

We wish you much success with this new project, Holly, and congratulate you for taking on such an important initiative!

PaperTigers’ Marjorie (in green) with Marjorie van Heerden, co-Regional Advisor SCBWI South Africa.

Marjorie van Heerden has written and/or illustrated more than 100 children’s books and has been published in 33 languages in Africa, Europe, Canada and the USA.  In 2008 Marjorie won the M.E.R Award for best South African illustrated children’s book.

PaperTigers’ Corinne (in pink) with Corinne Fenton, Assistant Regional Adviser SCBWI Victoria, Australia.

Corinne Fenton’s classic award-winning picture book Queenie: One Elephant’s Story was followed in 2008 by The Dog on the Tuckerbox (shortlisted in the Younger Readers Category of the Australian Book Industry Awards and named a Notable Book in both the Picture Book and Eve Pownall Information Book categories of the Children’s Book Council of Australia Book of the Year Awards for 2009). Her latest book Flame Stands Waiting was released in March 2010.

Yoko Yoshizawa, Assistant Regional Advisor SCBWI Tokyo is a writer, translator, illustrator and printmaker. Her travels in Africa inspired her to collect animal proverbs and stories from all over the world. Yoko shared with me her passion for translating children’s stories from other countries into Japanese. Yoko’s branch of the SCBWI is hard at work planning  SCBWI Tokyo Translation Day 2010: Bringing Japanese Children’s Books to the World, to be held June 12th.

Peter Taylor, co-ordinator SCBWI Australia, Queensland.

Peter has been a science and art teacher, nature reserve warden and museum curator. He now devotes his time to writing and illustrating for children and adults, giving talks and workshops, and encouraging all to read, write and be creative.

We also met Irene Ying-Yu Chen, SCBWI Bologna Secretary and Assistant Regional Advisor for SCBWI Taiwan – though sadly we didn’t get a photo! Irene is a children’s literature critic in Taiwan. Read her article “Monkey King’s Journey to the West: Transmission of a Chinese Folktale to Anglophone Children”, published in the January issue of Bookbird.  Also, head over to Tarie Sabido’s blog  Asia in the Heart, World on the Mind to read her interview with Irene. In it, Tarie recommends the article, saying:

I found [the article] a fascinating introduction to and discussion of “Monkey King.” “Monkey King” is retold in English literature as a signifier of Chinese culture, but it can also bridge cultural gaps and stimulate cross-cultural literature for children. One of the “Monkey King” versions Irene analyzes is Gene Luen Yang‘s young adult graphic novel American Born Chinese.

Each month SCBWI regional chapters sponsor or organize events around the globe. Some of the events are included on our PaperTigers’ Calendar of Events, but you can check here to see the complete list.  If an event catches your eye, contact a Regional Advisor for more information. Whether you are already established in the children’s industry, just starting to enter the world of children’s book writing and illustrating, or simply have a passion for children’s literature, I’m sure you will find the same warm welcome that we received in Bologna.

Holly Thompson, Regional Advisor for SCBWI Tokyo, was kind enough to send some photos of the event (which was conducted in English and Japanese!) and writes:

Yes, Naomi Kojima gave a wonderful workshop for SCBWI Tokyo! She covered storyboarding and dummy making, and participants were given sample storyboards as well as text to divide and paste into notebooks to create dummies. Kojima shared several of her own storyboards including one for a new story she is currently developing. At the end participants had a chance to share the dummies they had created and to discuss their different approaches to dividing the text for effective page turns. In the second photo we are all holding books by Naomi.

Thank you for your continued interest in SCBWI Tokyo! We would be happy if you would share this with PaperTigers readers.

Here are a few highlights in September:

JAPAN – This past weekend SCBWI Japan hosted Storyboards and Picture Book Dummies for Good Bookmaking with author/illustrator Naomi Kojima. Holly Thompson, Regional Advisor for SCBWI Tokyo, has kindly sent me photos from the event which I will post soon.

AUSTRALIA – Sunday the 20th

Breakfast with the Visiting SPRUNG Children’s Authors. Share coffee and croissants with visiting children’s authors and illustrators then walk up the road to enjoy a range of sessions at the Albany SPRUNG Writers Festival.

KOREA – Thursday the 24th – Sunday the 25th

The 6th Canadian Children’s Book Seminar at the Embassy of Canada located in Jeong-dong, Seoul. A few hundred children’s books from major Canadian publishing companies will be displayed. This event is not sponsored by SCBWI but Jenny Desmond-Walters, Regional Advisor for SCBWI Korea, found out about it and was kind enough to forward the information. If Jenny is able to attend I’m sure she’ll send us some photos. Stay tuned. Thanks Jenny!

PHILIPPINES – Saturday the 26th

Children’s Book Seminar at the University of the Philippines, Visayas (City Campus). Regional Advisor Beaulah Pedregosa Taguiwalo tells me that this event will appeal to anyone published or aspiring to be a children’s book writer or illustrator.

Her latest book The Wakame Gatherers, published by Shen’s Books, is the story of a young girl, Nanami, who has two grandmothers – Baachan whom she lives with in Japan, and Gram who lives in Maine. When Gram visits Japan for the first time, Baachan and Nanami take her on a trip to the seashore for the centuries-old Japanese tradition of gathering wakame seaweed. Nanami acts as translator as her two grandmothers discover they have much in common, despite being from two countries that fought each other during a time that both women remember vividly. With bright, beautiful illustrations by Kazumi Wilds, this book captures the warmth and love of a blended Japanese and American family, with its two grandmothers who become close despite their memories of war.

Recently 14 teachers from Colorado traveled to Japan to take part in a three week study tour entitled “Japan Through Children’s Literature”. Holly was asked to host a study session based on The Wakame Gatherers and took the teachers, along with community volunteers, to the sites illustrated in her book. It was a truly memorable event for all involved, with teachers commenting “That was the best day we’ve had on the tour!” “Amazing!” “So great to be able to cook together,” and “This, today, was the true meaning of exchange.”

Click here to read Holly’s description of the day’s events and learn more about wakame!

(Click on event name for more information)

Canadian Library Month~ Canada

National Reading Group Month~ USA

Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read~ ongoing until Oct 4, USA

International Children’s and Youth Literature Festival~ ongoing until Oct 4, Berlin, Germany

3rd Annual Cybils (Children’s and Young Adult Bloggers’ Literary Awards) Nominations Open~ Oct 1 – 15

National Young Writers’ Festival~ Oct 2-6, Newcastle, Australia

Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards Ceremony~ Oct 3, Boston, MA, USA

21st Yukon International Storytelling Festival~ Oct 3-5, Whitehorse, YK, Canada

2008 Ceremony of Best Books~ Oct 4, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Américas Book Award for Children’s and Young Adult Literature Winners Ceremony~ Oct 4, Washington, D.C., USA

Orange County Children’s Book Festival~ Oct 5, Costa Mesa, CA, USA

Children’s Book Week~ Oct 6-12, United Kingdom

13th Annual New England Conference on Multicultural Education~ Oct 8, Hartford, CT, USA

School Library Journal Webcast: Capturing Struggling Readers and Reluctant Readers~ Oct 8

Book It! Cheltenham’s Children’s Literature Festival~ Oct 10-19, Cheltenham, United Kingdom

18th Monterrey International Book Fair~ Oct 11-19, Monterrey, Mexico

YALSA’s Teen Read Week: Books With Bite @ Your Library~ Oct 12-18, USA

“Multicultural Bites” with authors Mitali Perkins, Coe Booth and An Na (part of ReaderGirlz’s celebration of Teen Read Week)~ Oct 13

Ubud Writers and Readers Festival~ Oct 14-19, Ubud, Bali, Indonesia

Frankfurt Book Fair~ Oct 15-19, Frankfurt, Germany

55th Jane Addams Children’s Book Awards Ceremony~ Oct 17, New York, NY, USA

IBBY Ireland Conference: Green Gables to Globalization: Crossover, Canada and Children’s Books~ Oct 18, Dublin, Ireland

SCBWI Tokyo Writers’ Day~ Oct 18, Tokyo, Japan

Children’s Literature Council Fall Gala~ Oct 18, Santa Ana, CA, USA

Vancouver International Writers Festival~ Oct 21-26, Vancouver, BC, Canada

The Big Picture Party: Celebrate the Power of Picture Books~ Oct 27, London, United Kingdom

Book Week~ Oct 27-Nov 9, Japan

Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Awards Ceremony~ Oct 30, San Marcos, TX, USA

28th Santiago International Book Fair~ Oct 31-Nov 16, Santiago, Chile