The world through picture books

The World through Picture Books is an on-going initiative of the International Federation of Library Associations. Participating countries have each contributed ten favourite picture books to produce a wonderfully international and diverse catalogue.
Included are familiar favourites from Singapore, the U.K., Germany, France, the U.S.A. 36 countries in all are represented.
This catalogue is a delight to browse and an excellent source of ideas to enrich our mother tongue/world literature collections.
A reminder that Select Books is an Asian book specialist here in Singapore.

The 1st Asia & Oceania regional IBBY Congress in Bali - May 23-26

"Indonesian Section of IBBY is excited to announce the 1st Asia and Oceania regional IBBY Congress to be held in Bali, Indonesia, May 23rd -26th, 2013. 

This inaugural congress will facilitate various ideas of efforts to strengthen IBBY National Sections in the region, featuring the uniqueness of Asia and Oceania regional stories which can play in the world of children’s literature market and to be used idealistically to educate children about respect, understanding, and tolerance in the global multicultural society.

The congress is open to children’s literature specialists, writers, illustrators, educators, publishers, librarians, storytellers, journalists, activists, children’s book promoters and all cultural enthusiasts from all over the world. Bali is a perfect place for relaxation, stimulating meetings and discussions with rich cultural heritage, arts, and literature to enjoy."

If you're unfamiliar with IBBY, go explore the international home page.

Coming in May: Asian Festival of Children's Content

May 25-30, 2013, is the annual Asian Festival of Children's Content here in Singapore.

If you've never been, it's definitely worth checking out.  They offer a variety of events aimed at different audiences: parents, teachers, writers, illustrators, publishers, etc.  And you can buy tickets for the whole thing or just for certain days.

It's also a good chance to see authors and illustrators you might want to have on school visits.  Click here to see the list of authors & illustrators doing sessions.

Our own Nancy Johnson from SAS, fresh from her Caldecott experience, will be on a panel called "All Abuzz About Awards."

Candy Gourlay, author of "Tall Story" - one of this year's Red Dot books -- is presenting.

Holly Johnson, author of "Orchards" - a previous Red Dot book - is doing a keynote address.

Texts Worth Teaching: East Asia - Saturday, Jan 19, 2013

On Saturday, January 19, 2013, there will be a one-day mini-conference on East Asian literature for teachers at the Centre for International Education, located on the East campus of UWCSEA.

Texts worth Teaching: East Asia is a mini conference for teachers who are familiar with Western writers but who would like to know more about East Asian authors. Learn from some of the experts from this region, including Dr Kirpal Singh, poet, literary and cultural critic and university lecturer in English language and literature at SMU, along with Singapore's 2011 winner of the SEA Writer's Award, Robert Yeo as well as Holly Thompson, author and professor of creative writing at Yokohama City University. During the sharing sessions, you can hear what colleagues have to say as well as share with others an author you've read and feel is worth teaching. 

        

Target Audience: Anyone who would like to learn more about texts worth teaching from the East Asian region. Breakout sessions for Early Years (3-7 year olds), Younger Readers (7-10 year olds), Older Readers (10-14 year olds), Mature Readers (14 year olds - adult) and librarians

Fees: Early bird until 20 December: S$99 (US$85). From 21 December: S$120 (US$105) Includes access to the event as well as breakfast, snacks and lunch.

There is a 10% discount if you are registering five or more participants. There is a 15% discount for ten participants or more.

Click here for more information - or contact Katie Day (kda@uwcsea.edu.sg) who will be facilitating the librarian sharing session.  See also this Libguide which has a list of links to East Asian literature resources.

Several booksellers will be at the conference, including APD Books & Epigram Books, Ethos Books, and Monsoon Books.

NB:  Dr. Kirpal Singh was invited to be a keynote speaker at the first Hands on Literacy conference back in 2008, but he was unable to make it.  This is your chance to finally get to hear him speak.