Winners! Red Dots 2016-2017

Students from 11 different international schools in our network cast almost 8,000 votes in total in the four categories of the 2016-2017 Red Dot Book Awards.

The Singapore-wide 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners in the four categories are:

---

Early Years:

• 1st place:  Beep! Beep! Go to Sleep!
  
• 2nd place: Aunt Amelia
  
• 3rd place:  All the Lost Things
  

Younger Readers:

• 1st place:  The Story of Diva and Flea
  
• 2nd place:  Blamehounds
  
• 3rd place:  Freddie Mole Lion Tamer
  

Older Readers:

• 1st place:  The Thing About Jellyfish
  
• 2nd place:  Secrets of Singapore
  
• 3rd place:  Confessions of an Imaginary Friend

Mature Readers:

• 1st place:  Nimona
  
• 2nd place:  Boys Don't Knit
• 3rd place:  Illuminae

---

Note that each school also has its own winners -- and participating schools are given those results to advertise as they will.

We're close to announcing the shortlists for next year's eight books in each of the four categories..... Watch this space....

Kids' Lit Quiz - now open to International Schools

Until last year, (when we questioned the practice), the Kids’ Lit Quiz™ (KLQ) was only open to MOE schools. They have now opened it to all schools in Singapore.

Schools can send up for 4 members a team (with additional 2 reserves). Members must be between 10 and 13 years old as at 1 July 2016.

The Quiz is based on any book (children and young adult) – no set list is given. More information on the international KLQ and sample quiz questions can be found here: http://www.kidslitquiz.com/home.php

There’s a host of fringe activities for your students to participate in such as Book Out! at the public libraries and online quizzes on discoveReads – you can find more details here.

You can also download the KLQ booklet and booklist here for ideas on promoting reading and literature in your school. 

They allowed entry by international schools with  two conditions:

* The cost is S$132.97 per team (MOE schools are funded by the NLB)

* In the event of your team winning then your school would need to find the funding to travel to the World Final (which was Auckland last year). Actually this is what happens in all the countries. Some receive a subsidy but no team receives the full amount.

Since many schools are no longer doing the Readers' Cup this may be an interesting alternative for your more "elite" readers.

There is now a "Kids' Lit App" as well. 

AFCC 2017 - 10% off

Date: 17 — 21 MAY 2017
Venue: NLB, Victoria Road Singapore

The Asian Festival of Children’s Content (AFCC) is an annual festival in Singapore that celebrates and promotes the creation and appreciation of children’s books and content, with a focus on Asian themes.  Indonesia is the country of focus for this year.  ISLN members are offered a 10% discount.

This year the following ISLN members are taking part:

Ben Farr
20 May, 9am – 10am.

[PANEL] Literacy Bites: Practices in Schools
Looking at four schools, St James’ Church Kindergarten, the Green School Bali, Sarada Kindergarten and Kumon, discuss about literacy practices adopted by their schools and efforts to help children improve their grasp of languages.

Katie Day
17 May, 4.45pm – 6.00pm:
Authors Discussion: Who Gets to Write Asian Stories?
Speakers: Wai Chim, Paolo Fabregas, Holly Thompson, Heidi Shamsuddin


21 May, 11.15am – 12.15pm:
Books from Around the World that Build Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Bridges (and Why Teachers Ought to Know Them) --
Myra Garces-Bacsal, Sarinajit Kaur

Sarah Mounsey

Elaine Fong
21 May 2017 (Sun) 11:15am – 12:15pm
A Mammoth Task: Encouraging Reading in the Digital Age
Elaine will go over the key points she uses as a teacher librarian to encourage reading among students. She will also highlight the pitfalls and challenges that parents should be aware of. This session will provide anecdotal and research based strategies on how to encourage reading.
Part of Parents Forum, Preschool & Primary Teachers Congress

Nadine Bailey
20 May 2017 (Sat) 9:00am – 10:00am
Blokes with Books: Can Social Belonging Impact on Reading Motivation and Skill for Young Boys?
For the past 1 and a half years, something special has been happening at a school campus in Singapore. Boys aged 8-12 are arguing about whose turn it is to read a desired book and rushing to join a book club that’s so full, it’s not taking any more members. How did this happen? More importantly, how can you recreate the magic in your school? Nadine will spill the beans at this session.
Part of Preschool & Primary Teachers Congress

18 May 2017 (Thu) 10:30am – 11:30am
[PANEL] Books Teachers Wish Authors Would Write
Rilla Melati (Director, Creative Content Development, Mini Monsters Limited), Myra Garces-Bacsal (Educator, Reviewer, Blogger), Nadine Bailey (Teacher librarian, Canadian International School)
Creators can step into the shoes of a teacher for one hour and learn what makes a book a treasured find. From beautiful illustrations to didactic language, speakers discuss their views on relevant and useful books children need and love.
Part of Writers & Illustrators Conference

You may also be interested in the talk of Dr. Myra Bacsal Books from Around the World that Build Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Bridges (And Why Teachers Ought to Know Them)

There is a Writers and Illustrators conference, Teachers' Congress, Parents' Forum and Cross Platform Summit - so let your teachers and parents know too.

Children's Literature Talk -- by Dr. Myra Garces-Bacsal et al - Nov 3 - Tanglin Trust School

A reminder that we're all invited to a talk on multicultural picturebooks by a team of researchers, lead by Myra Garces-Bascal from NIE (National Institute of Education), on November 3, 2016, at 4:30pm in the Senior Library at Tanglin Trust School.

You may be familiar with Myra through her children's literature blog -- Gathering Books.  

Wine and nibbles will follow the talk.  RSVP by October 1st via this link:  https://goo.gl/forms/KQmDYBnfo4Wongp63

Creating Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Bridges through Multicultural Picturebooks

Asst/Prof Rhoda Myra Garces-Bacsal

Asst/Prof Ruanni Tupas

Mdm Sarinajit Kaur

Children’s books keep alive a sense of nationality; but they also keep alive a sense of humanity. They describe their native land lovingly, but they also describe faraway lands where unknown brothers live. They understand the essential quality of their own race; but each of them is a messenger that goes beyond mountains and rivers, beyond the seas, to the very ends of the world in search of new friendships. Every country gives and every country receives, - innumerable are the exchanges, - and so it comes about that in our first impressionable years the universal republic of childhood is born. – Paul Hazard

The power of children’s books to foster identity (Botelho and Rudman, 2009) and self-awareness (Lysaker and Tonge, 2013), to build empathy (Nikolajeva, 2012) and resilience (Lukens, Smith, & Coffel, 2013) have been well documented in research studies. Multicultural picturebooks, are especially powerful, as they serve as mirrors allowing young people to see themselves reflected in books that they read; and they also serve as windows to worlds that young readers may be unfamiliar with, allowing them to “participate emotionally in ways that may ultimately change the way we see ourselves and the society in which we live” (Gates & Mark, 2006, p. 2). This kind of affective participation through literature is what makes multicultural picturebooks the perfect vehicle to scaffold the teaching of social and emotional learning competencies that are essential to becoming more reflective and sensitive human beings. This presentation is a celebration of titles from around the world that may serve as bridges to humanity, kindness, and compassion – books that allow young readers to view the world a bit differently, and empower them to be more involved in the community and the larger world that they are a part of.

 

This talk is a result of a 2015-2017 project at NIE that Myra is leading -- "Reading Lives and Practices of Singapore Teachers and the Use of Multicultural Children's Literature to promote Socio-emotional Learning."  

Contact Ben Farr at Tanglin for more information:  Benjamin.FARR@tts.edu.sg