Here is a trio of great links from the past week around the Kidlitosphere:

7-Imp met up with Yuyi Morales over desayuno this week…

Cynsations has a guest post from author/illustrator Elizabeth O. Dulemba about Writing Bilingual Books…

Uma Krishnaswami has a commentary on racial stereotyping over at Writing with a Broken Tusk, following up on an article by Binyavanga Wainaina, ‘a wonderfully funny satirical piece in Granta magazine called “How to Write About Africa”‘, from which she quotes, and a video of a presentation given by Nigerian author Chimamanda Adichie earlier this year, entitled “The danger of a single story”: well worth watching…

Phew, just made it! Where have the last two weeks disappeared to? Anyway, I’ve made my nominations for the Cybils - and if you haven’t yet, you have until 11.59 p.m. tomorrow…

So here’s my list:

Fiction Picture Books:

I nominated Naomi’s Tree by Joy Kogawa

… on my list were also Erika-San by Allen Say (Houghton Mifflin, 2009) – nominated by Kara of Not Just for Kids;
and Cora Cooks Pancit by Dorina K. Lazo Gilmore, illustrated by Kristi Valiant (Shen’s Books, 2009) – nominated by Renee of Shen’s Blog;

…and I especially want to look out:
First Come the Zebra by Lynne Barasch (Lee & Low, 2009) – nominated by Hannah from the Lee & Low Blog
Hook by Ed Young (Roaring Book Press, 2009) – nominated by Susannah of Raab Associates
My African Bedtime Rhymes by Brettell Hone (Shamwari Publishing, 2009) – nominated by Ginger Nielson;
Crow Call by Lois Lowry – nominated by Kristine at The Best Book I Haven’t Read
My Abuelita by Tony Johnston, illustrated by Yuyi Morales (Harcourt Children’s Books, 2009) – nominated by Lynn E. Hazen
…and the list continues!

Middle Grade Fiction:

I nominated Wanting Mor by Rukhsana Khan (Groundwood, 2009)

…and must seek out Brushing Mom’s Hair by Andrea Cheng (Wordsong, 2009) – nominated by Linda at Swell Books
and Journey of Dreams by Marge Pellegrino (Frances Lincoln, 2009) – nominated by Janni… and more!

Non-fiction/Information Picture Books:

I nominated My Japan by Etsuko Watanabe

…and great to see already nominated:
Balarama: A Royal Elephant by Ted and Betsy Lewin (Lee and Low, 2009) – nominated by Miri at Wands and Worlds;
Listen to the Wind: The Story of Dr. Greg and Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and Susan Roth, (Dial, 2009) – nominated by Maggi at Mama Librarian;
Shining Star: The Anna May Wong Story by Paula Yoo (Lee & Low, 2009) – nominated by Jama at Jama Rattigan’s Alphabet Soup.

I want to read:
The East-West House: Noguchi’s Childhood in Japan by Christy Hale (Lee & Low, 2009);
The Grand Mosque of Paris: A Story of How Muslims Rescued Jews During the Holocaust by Karen Gray Ruelle and Deborah Durland Desaix (Holiday House, 2009);
Tarra & Bella: The Elephant and Dog Who Became Best Friends by Carol Buckley (Putnam Juvenile, 2009) – nominated by Elaine Magliaro at Wild Rose Reader;
Nasreen’s Secret School: A True Story from Afghanistan by Jeanette Winter – nominated by Sherry at Semicolon;
Cycle of Rice, Cycle of Life: A Story of Sustainable Farming by Jan Reynolds (Lee & Low, 2009).

Non-Fiction – middle/teen:

I nominated Let There Be Peace: Prayers from Around the World by Jeremy Brooks, illustrated by Jude Daly (Frances Lincoln, 2009)

…already nominated: After Gandhi: One Hundred Years of Nonviolent Resistance by Anne Sibley O’Brien and Perry Edmond O’Brien (Charlesbridge, 2009) – I’m in the process of writing a review for this superb book and will add a link soon…
and Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Journey to Change the World… One Child at a Time (The Young Reader’s Edition) by Greg Mortenson (Puffin Young Readers, 2009).

Grace Lin’s Where the Mountain Meets the Moon (Little, Brown and Company, 2009) has been nominated in the Fantasy/Science Fiction section by Emily Reads; and John Agard’s The Young Inferno would have been my poetry nomination but Sherry got there first!

I’ve realised that I have read very little newly-published YA fiction this year so I haven’t made a nomination there either – but it’s good to see Mitali Perkins’ Secret Keeper in there, nominated by Sarah at Archimedes Forgets (what a wonderful name for a blog!); and I do have a copy of Shine, Coconut Moon by Neesha Meminger (Margaret K. McElderry, 2009) in my to-be-read pile (nominated by R. J. Anderson)…

So it looks like I’m going to be busy enough – I can’t imagine how the judges are going to manage to read all the nominees. And after tomorrow, we’ll be waiting with baited breath to find out the shortlists, published on 1st January…

Press Release
The Américas Award is given in recognition of U.S. works of fiction, poetry, folklore, or selected non-fiction (from picture books to works for young adults) published in the previous year in English or Spanish that authentically and engagingly portray Latin America, the Caribbean, or Latinos in the United States. By combining both and linking the Americas, the award reaches beyond geographic borders, as well as multicultural-international boundaries, focusing instead upon cultural heritages within the hemisphere.The award is sponsored by the national Consortium of Latin American Studies Programs (CLASP).

The award winners and commended titles are selected for their 1) distinctive literary quality; 2) cultural contextualization; 3) exceptional integration of text, illustration and design; and 4) potential for classroom use. The winning books will be honored at a ceremony (fall 2009) during Hispanic Heritage Month at the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

2009 Américas Award Winners:

Just in Case: A Trickster Tale and Spanish Alphabet Book by Yuyi Morales. Roaring Brook Press (A Neal Porter Book), 2008.

The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba’s Struggle for Freedom by Margarita Engle. Holt, 2008.

2009 Américas Award Honorable Mentions:

The Best Gift of All:The Legend of La Vieja Belén / El Mejor Regalo del Mundo:La Leyenda de la Vieja Belén by Julia Alvarez. Illustrated by Ruddy Nuñez. Alfaguara/Santillana, 2008.

Dark Dude by Oscar Hijuelos.Atheneum, 2008.

The Storyteller’s Candle / La velita de los cuentos by Lucia Gonzalez. Illustrated by Lulu Delacre. Children’s Book Press, 2008.

For additional information including a list of the 2009 Américas Award Commended Titles winners click here.

In 1995 the Texas State University College of Education honored distinguished alumnus Dr. Tomas Rivera, by developing the Tomas Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Award. This award honors authors and illustrators who create literature that depicts the Mexican American experience. It helps keep alive Dr. Rivera’s legacy in literature and works towards sustaining the vision he saw for the education of Mexican Americans in the United States. In addition it raises conscious awareness among parents, teachers, and librarians of this distinguished literature so these books can inspire, entertain, and educate all children both at home and at school.

The 2008 winner of the award is Los Gatos Black on Halloween by Marisa Montes and illustrated by Yuyi Morales. Written for children in grades K -5, Montes weaves Spanish words into the rhyming text and tells the story of black cats, witches, skeletons and other spooky creatures that march to a haunted casa on Halloween night. Once there the creatures enjoy a fiesta with music and dancing until there is a “RAP! RAP! RAP!” at the door. This causes the frightened spooks to hide, for “The thing that monsters most abhor/Are human niños at the door! Of all the horrors they have seen/ The WORST are kids on Halloween!”

Marisa and Yuyi were kept busy last week with Tomas Rivera Book Award ceremonies and book signings! On Thursday, October 30th, they were honored at a special luncheon held at the university president’s home where they received their award prize and plaque. Later in the day, accompanied by a mariachi band, they attended the Author/Illustrator Presentation on campus.

The next day, as part of the Texas Book Festival Reading Rock Stars Program, the Tomás Rivera Committee selected a public school in Austin and bought every student a copy of Los Gatos Black on Halloween with the award seal on the cover. Yuyi and Marisa did a presentation at the school and the students were thrilled to get their books signed.

The whirlwind weekend of festivities continued on Nov 1st, when Montes and Morales participated in the Texas Book Festival by giving the Tomás Rivera Award reading session and then signing books for festival attendees.

PaperTigers will continue to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month until mid November.

If you’ve had a chance to savor Yum! Mmm! Que Rico! America’s Sproutings, or any of the books in this year’s Américas Award list of winners, honor books and commended titles, you will understand how spot-on this award’s committee is in recognizing and honoring accurate portrayals of our Americas’ rich cultural heritage.

As this year’s winners, Pat Mora and Rafael Lopez’s Yum! Mmm! Que Rico! and Laura Resau’s Red Glass will be honored tomorrow (Oct 4), at a ceremony at the Library of Congress, in Washington D.C. Hosted by the Library of Congress’s Hispanic Division and the Center for the Book, the event is free and open to the public, so don’t miss it if you are in the area!

Yuyi Morales’ Little Night, Jorge Argueta’s Alfredito Flies Home and Carmen T. Bernier’s Frida: Viva la Vida! are among the honored and commended titles selected by the award’s 2008 committee.

What better way to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month than by giving these books the recognition and readership they deserve?

Trickster tales are to be found in the repertoire of traditional stories from all over the world and are of universal appeal. Linking in with our current focus on the US’s Hispanic Heritage Month, here are two that are sure to have young listeners enthralled:

Love and Roast Chicken (Carolrhoda Books, 2004), retold and illustrated by Barbara Knutson, is the story of how Cuy the guinea pig saves himself and tricks Tio Antonio the fox not once but the archetypal three times. Children will laugh with glee at the narrative and will love the energetic woodcut-and-watercolor illustrations. Set in the Andes, the well-written story effortlessly interjects Spanish and Quechuan phrases into the English text – for which there’s a glossary at the end, as well as some background information. You can read about Barbara’s two years in Peru here, including a great suggestion to carry a sketch pad with you when you go travelling.

Yuyi Morales’ original story Just a Minute: A Trickster Tale and Counting Book (Chronicle Books, 2003) is another joy. Grandma Beetle is far too busy to go away with Señor Calavera when he comes knocking. Death in the form of the humorously depicted skeleton is thus forced to wait, while she prepares one, two, three etc things for the birthday celebration at the end: and eventually he gives up altogether and leaves, promising to return for next year’s party… Yuyi’s humorous artwork and snappy dialogue mean that children will not be scared by the story – they are much more likely to be too busy cheering Grandma Beetle on. Indeed, Bever’s Book Blog makes the point that many young listeners will probably not even realise the book is about death until it is pointed out to them. Open Wide, Look Inside has this podcast, recommending the book for cross-curricular and multicultural teaching. Read our interview with Yuyi, where she talks about the book – including the many children she has met “who think that Señor Calavera, the skeleton in my book Just a Minute is a cute guy, and that I should marry him.”! And don’t miss Yuyi’s delightful Personal View, My Childhood Readings: A Short List to Grow On, currently featured on the website as part of our Hispanic Heritage Month celebration.

For more Latin American trickster tales, Latina storyteller Olga Loya has recorded four stories, told in both Spanish and English, for her audiobook entitled Tío Conejo. As well as the one about Uncle Rabbit, there are a monkey, an opossum and a dog.

Do let us know if you have enjoyed these or any other trickster tales…

Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month, our website currently features Juan Felipe Herrera’s personal essay, “Apartment Heritage”, in which he beautifully reminisces about his relatives’ one-bedroom apartment in San Diego, where he lived with his family in the 1960’s. The essay uses the apartment as a metaphor for his identity formation, contrasting the life inside it — an “invisible library of culture and family histories”— to the life outside— “that uncanny, whirling splish-splash of chaos, unfiltered, untold.”

Much of Herrera’s work is autobiographical, and two of his books, Downtown Boy (Scholastic. Ages 12+), winner of the 2007 Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Award, and Upside Down Boy, illustrated by Elizabeth Gómez (Children’s Book Press. Ages 4-8), were inspired by his childhood as the son of migrant workers in the 1950’s. His family experienced what many thousands of others do who choose or are forced to leave their homeland to search for better, more secure lives.

For many years Herrera traveled with his parents through the small farming towns of California’s Central Valley, changing schools with the seasons, always the “new boy,” always yearning for stability. Stability, however, brought its own set of conflicts: between languages; between old and new; between tradition and change. In Downtown Boy, his mom worries about the lure of life in the city’s barrio, and urges him to stay “close to home.” But where is home when you have been moving around for so long?

With so many influences and so much to reconcile and draw from, it’s no surprise that Herrera not only became a poet, writer and performance artist but also founded bilingual theater, music and poetry troupes that travel the world, telling and singing stories of pride in heritage—and in newness.

Herrera’s recent poetry books for adults have been enthusiastically reviewed in The New York Times.

For more by other writers about Latino migrant workers, their struggles and accomplishments, see The Circuit, Harvesting Hope, Esperanza Rising and First Day in Grapes.

After our Jul/Aug special literacy focus, we now make way for Hispanic Heritage Month (Sep 15 – Oct 15), a celebration of the cultures and traditions of US residents who trace their roots back to Spain, Mexico and the Spanish-speaking nations of Central America, South America and the Caribbean. The theme this year is “Getting Involved: Our Families, Our Community, Our Nation.”

There will be all sorts of events happening throughout the country, and here’s what you’ll find on our website: interviews with author Pam Muñoz Ryan and youth services librarian Rose Zertuche-Treviño; gallery features showcasing the work of David Diaz and Susan Guevara; original heritage-related essays by Yuyi Morales and Juan Felipe Herrera, and plenty more. So dive in, and have fun – and check back here, too, as we continue the fiesta of Hispanic Heritage Month by blogging about it through Oct 15. There’s plenty of pride, information and fun to be gained from going deeper into this celebration!

This year’s winners of the Jane Addams Children’s Book Awards and the Américas Award for Children’s and Young Adult Literature have received the online equivalent of a standing ovation. The all-star lineup of awardees is indeed a reason to cheer and celebrate: they are exceptionally wonderful stories about social justice, equality, world community and other timely subjects.

Among the winners, honorable mentions and commended titles are books that have been praised, time and again, since published last year, by those involved in the children’s book community, PaperTigers included. The following titles (and certainly the ones not mentioned by name in this post) are well worth visiting and revisiting:

Américas Award Winner-
Yum! Mmm! Que Rico! America’s Sproutings by Pat Mora, illus. by Rafael López

Américas Award Honorable Mention-
Little Night, by Yuyi Morales

Américas Award Commended Titles-
My Colors, My World/Mis Colores, Mi Mundo, by Maya Christina González (scroll down the page to see it featured as our Jan’08 book of the month)
Come Look With Me: Latin American Art, by Kimberly Lane
Nana’s Big Surprise/Nana, Que Sorpresa!, by Amada Irma Pérez, illustrated by Maya Christina González
Tricycle, by Elisa Amado and Alfonso Ruano
Sacred Leaf, by Deborah Ellis

Jane Addams Honor Book-
Rickshaw Girl, by Mitali Perkins (more about Mitali and Rickshaw Girl here).

I woke up early this morning, excited to check my computer for the winners of the 2008 ALA Awards. It’s always an exciting moment to find out who the winners are, after all the guessing games that surround the occasion, with books lovers of all ages making their own predictions for the medals. You can see the complete list of winners here.

We congratulate the authors and illustrators of all winning and honor books and, in particular, Yuyi Morales, for the Pura Belpré Illustrator Award she received for Los Gatos Black on Halloween, written by Marisa Montes (Holt) – Los Gatos Black was also a Belpré Author Honor book; and Maya Christina Gonzalez, for the Pura Belpré Illustrator Honor captured by My Colors, My World/Mis colores, mi mundo (Children’s Book Press), which she also wrote. My Name Is Gabito: The Life of Gabriel García Márquez/Me llamo Gabito: la vida de Gabriel García Márquez, illustrated by Raul Colón, written by Monica Brown (Luna Rising) has also received the Pura Belpré Honor, and deservedly so.

Keep your eyes peeled: Maya Christina Gonzalez’s gallery will be featured on the PaperTigers website as part of an upcoming update focusing on illustrators. Make sure to check the website tomorrow to see a sample of her award-winning work, including images from My Colors, My World.