Editorial

Dear colleagues from the European sections of IBBY,

Welcome to our second IBBY Europe Newsletter for 2014. As we move towards a new year it is an occasion to look back at the Congress in Mexico City and to welcome both our new President,  Wally de Doncker and, of course, the new Executive Committee.

As always it is exciting to take a virtual tour round Europe, courtesy of our European sections. Here we learn about initiatives and events. From Austria to Spain, Sweden to Turkey, via Cyprus, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Ukraine and the UK, we read about Picture Book Kindergartens, author events, translation events, exhibitions, seminars and conferences. Clearly IBBY Europe is a lively region. Thank you all for your contributions and photographs. Thanks must also go to Gülçin Alpöge for answering our three questions.

I would like to thank Hasmig Chahinian for continuing to edit this newsletter. If the content is lively, then so is the presentation. We are fortunate to have David Pinter's design for our header. It certainly sets the tone; thank you. We are equally fortunate that Liz Page has agreed to continue to proof read our material.

As well as finding out what our IBBY colleagues are doing within the sections, there are items of wider interest. There is the IBBY auction -, which is a great opportunity to bid for art work by Roger Mello the 2014 Andersen winner. The IBBY Europe website is announced - do make sure to look at it and promote it and don't forget Bookbird.

We hope you enjoy this latest Newsletter and look forward to hearing more news in the New Year.

Ferelith Hordon

Greetings from Mexico!

IBBY Executive Committee 2014-2016
Front row left to right; Wally de Doncker IBBY President (Belgium), Angela Lebedeva (Russia), Sunjidmaa Jamba (Mongolia), Serpil Ural (Turkey), Akoss Ofori-Mensah (Ghana), Patricia Aldana HCAA Jury President (Canada), Evelyn Freeman (USA), Ferelith Hordon (UK). Back row left to right; Luzmaria Stauffenegger IBBY Administrative Assistant (Switzerland), Mingzhou Zhang (China), Timotea Vrablova (Slovakia), Vagn Plenge (Denmark), Ellis Vance IBBY Treasurer (USA), Liz Page IBBY Executive Director (Switzerland), Azucena Galindo (Mexico)
. © Hasmig Chahinian
Meet our new President!

Wally de Doncker was elected as President of IBBY for the term 2014-16 during the General Assembly of IBBY in Mexico City, Mexico, September 2014.

He served as a member of the IBBY EC from 2008-2012, with the term 2010-12 as Vice President.  He has been the IBBY Liaison with the European Union since 2012.  For many years Wally has been a valued and active board member of the Flemish Branch of IBBY Belgium.

Wally is an author, a children’s literature specialist and a former teacher. He taught at a school in Dendermonde, Belgium until 2001 before becoming a full-time writer, since then, his books have reached readers in more than thirteen countries in Europe and beyond. He has served as a special teacher of children’s literature and while teaching he developed a pre-reading and reading method for young children under the name Leesdraak (Reading Dragon), which is now used in over 200 schools.

One of his main aims is to bring children and literature closer together. Wally again and again tackles themes that are scarcely touched upon in contemporary children’s literature.  His books have received numerous nominations and selections. In 2009 the Children’s Museum Labyrinth in Berlin, Germany highlighted his book Ahum and the Dutch Children’s Book Museum in The Hague features It starts Somewhere in an exhibition running from 2010-2016.  His book Van A a tot Zet (From A to Z) was included in the exhibition Büchstäblich Anders at the International Youth Library. Wally was shortlisted in 2013 for the Belgian SABAM award for Children’s and Youth Literature.

In addition, several of his works have been adapted as stage plays, musicals, film animations and dance films.  He is a frequent contributor to publications that deal with international children’s literature and is a regular guest at libraries, schools and other settings where children and adults come to enjoy his readings.  From 2003 to 2009 he was a member of the editorial board of the critical journal of children's literature, The Lion and the Unicorn, which is published in the USA.

Wally's speech at the Closing Ceremony of IBBY's 34th Congress can be read on IBBY's website.

   

IBBY Europe's website is launched!

IBBY Europe's website was launched during the 34th IBBY Congress, in Mexico! Books in 23 European languages are presented on the site, which have been selected by IBBY's national sections in Europe. If your country's language is not represented, please get in touch with your IBBY section!

In the last two months, there were 1431 visits from 71 countries on this website, and 5340 pages were viewed! Do not hesitate to promote this website through your own website, your Facebook page or in any way you find suitable! New features are planned for 2015, we will keep you posted! Questions? Write to us!

Auction to Benefit IBBY Children in Crisis

 

Roger Mello, the winner of the 2014 Hans Christian Andersen Award, donated his Bookbird cover artwork to be sold through an online auction to the benefit of IBBY Children in Crisis Fund.

The closing date of the auction is March 1, 2015. Don't hesitate to participate! Send your bids to: BookbirdAuction@gmail.com

The winning bidder will be announced at the IBBY Press Conference, at the Bologna children's book fair and if they are there Roger's artwork will be presented to them in person.

 3 questions to... Gülçin Alpöge


In this column we address 3 questions to a member of a European Section of IBBY.

In this issue, meet Gülçin Alpöge from IBBY Turkey!

Do you have a name to suggest for the next issue? Send us a mail!

1. What led you - or, maybe, inspired - you to join IBBY?

Long years ago I attended the "First International Children's Literature Conference" held in Munich at the International Youth Library. There I met people from IBBY and I was very impressed. As I was writing children's stories myself I decided to become a member. My first congress was in 1990 in the United States. I have been to most of the congresses since then. I have also served as an EC member. That makes 24 years with IBBY.

 

The International Youth Library in Munich. © IYL


2. Are there characteristic features of Turkish children's books that distinguish them in particular per se, or compared to (Western) European children's books?

Let me say we are situated in Europe and Middle East and Asia all at once. So I will just say that I think that what makes Turkish children's books different is that they have a more emotional approach. Also we tend to write in the third person maybe because we are so used to folk and fairy tales.

Unfortunately, we are more didactic than the writers of the west. Also few writers attack daring subjects compared to west. But I must say, with many conferences and seminars held at our universities, now our market has many books that answer the needs of our children.


3. What do you see as some major achievements of IBBY Turkey, and what challenges face the section?

Members of IBBY Turkey are socially aware and conscientious people. They hold readings, workshops and go to schools all on a voluntary basis. For example whenever there is an earthquake most of us try to help out. A recent disaster was the death of more than 300 mine workers in Soma. Right away IBBY Turkey started a project and arranged for our members to go to Soma. Between July 1 and October 1 there were 12 different activities for the children in Soma which included comic book workshops to clay modeling as well as literary activities to lessen the trauma. In 2008 we had a Books to My Neighbor project with IBBY Greece designed to measure the role of children's books in cultivating understanding between two neighbor cultures with conflict in the past. Turkish books were read by Greek children and Greek books by Turkish children. Pre and post test results show a significant increase in friendship and good will on both sides. The biggest challenge for IBBY Turkey is the coming 2018 IBBY Congress which will be held in Istanbul. We are very excited and are working hard to meet this challenge. We are looking forward to the congress and hoping that many people from different national sections will attend it.


Children during a workshop in Soma. © IBBY Turkey

Echoes from the European sections

From Austria

Reading in the Park

This project is conducted each year during the summer months next to large Viennese playgrounds. The aim is to win new sectors of readers by making available a large and interesting selection of books and by presenting a series of book-related activities. “Reading in the Park” is organized with the support of a Vienna municipal department as a part of its programme of vacation activities for children. This year it took place from 30th of June until the 29th of August 2014.

Picture Book Kindergarten

This project took place in several kindergartens in Linz (Upper Austria) from October 2013 until May 2014. Its aim is to give children an early positive approach to books and to make reading promotion visible in a public space. After the presentation of different picture books the children develop their own creative output. The results are shown at public places or institutions (e.g. libraries, local shops, supermarkets or book stores). “Picture Book Kindergarten” is organized with the support of the municipal department in Linz.

1000 und 1 Buch (1000 and 1 book), published four times a year in German with comprehensive  professional articles on children's literature.

  1. new developments and research results from all German-language countries
  2. specialist information for librarians in school and public libraries
  3. reports of events in all areas of children´s literature
  4. announcement of important dates and information about important awards
  5. comprehensive reviews, providing a critical overview of current children´s books and specialized professional literature.

For more information: www.jugendliteratur.net

From Ukraine

The Best Children’s Books at the Lviv Book Forum

The Lviv Book Forum took place on September 11th-14th where a number of newly published children’s books were presented and a list of outstanding books was announced. The list includes the following titles:

Maps by Aleksandra Mizielinska and Daniel Mizielinski (The Old Lion Publishing House)
Where Did the Sea Disappear by Mariana Prokhasko and Taras Prokhasko (The Old Lion Publishing House)
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, illustrated by Vladyslav Yerko (Aba-ba-ha-la-ma-ha Publishing House)

Additionally, the book A Painted Fox by Ivan Franko, illustrated by Kost’ Lavro (Aba-ba-ha-la-ma-ha Publishing House) was granted a special honor from the jury. The book The Third Snow by Ivan Andrusiak (A Fountain of Tales Publishing House) received personal honors from the president of the Lviv Book Forum, Oleksandra Koval.

Celebration of Tove Jansson's 100 Anniversary

Tove Jansson’s books are well-loved and widely-read by Ukrainian children and adults. To celebrate Jansson’s 100th Anniversary, the Old Lion Publishing House organized a series of interactive events. Among them, was an art contest, “My World of Moomins.” The organizers received a large collection of moomins made from paper, yarn, fabric, eggs, etc. In addition, there was a tea party and a presentation of a newly published book Recipes of Moomin Mama.
Most importantly, two of Jansson’s books have been published in Braille, presented at the Art Arsenal Festival and sent to various boarding schools and rehabilitation centers for children with vision problems.

Three Ukrainian Children's Books in the White Ravens Online Catalogue

The Ukrainian chapter book Who’ll Make the Snow by Taras Prokhasko and Mariana Prokhasko, Polyna Doroshenko’s illustrative version of a classic Ukrainian book A Forest Song by Lesia Ukrajinka and Roman Skyba’s and Tetiana Denysenko’s poetry book From the Life of Sly Words are included in the White Ravens Catalogue 2014. Congratulations to the authors and illustrators!

 

Ukrainian Children’s Literature in Translation

The Bologna Ragazzi Award winning picturebook Stars and Poppy Seeds (2014), created by Art Studio Agrafka (Andriy Lesiv and Romana Romanyshyn) and originally published by The Old Lion Publishing House, was translated into French and published in France by Rue du Monde.

Bilingual Picturebook

As the result of a fundraising project “A Step Ahead: Becoming Global with Bilingual Ukrainian-English Picturebooks,” the picturebook Скільки?/How many? by Halyna Kyrpa and Olha Havrylova was published (Bratske Publishers). The aim of this project is to bring about possibilities and provide advantages to learn from/about Ukrainian children’s literature, to familiarize readers with the Ukrainian language, to use this literature in educational settings and Ukrainian immigrant communities and to assist Ukrainian readers in learning the English language.

iPad Books

KievSeaPirates published an iPad interactive book, a Ukrainian folktale Rolling Pea created by Ivan Sulima. This heroic folktale narrates the story of a brave character Rolling Pea who dares to fight against the mighty dragon alone. The e-folktale is available in 3 languages on the App Store.

 

Current Events Reflected in a Picturebook

Ukraine has recently become a country in which huge strives for social justice and dignity, revolutionary events and the war have been unfolding. During such tragic times, books often become a conduit for communication, especially between children and adults. Khrystyna Lukashchuk’s picturebook The Maidan’s Tale, dedicated to the heroes of Maidan, in the genre of contemporary folktale, allows young readers to understand the current turmoil. It was translated into English by Oksana Lushchevska and presented by The Old Lion Publishing House at the Frankfurt Book Fair 2014.

From Cyprus

Cyprus Association on Books for Young People is celebrating this year its 40 years of existence (1974 – 2014) and has organized a series of events during 2014:

Storytelling around the cities of Cyprus

Cybby organized live story telling in the heart of the biggest cities of Cyprus during October weekends. The story telling group “Paramythies” (Marina Katsaris and Veronica Aloneftou) narrated beautiful Cyprus folk tales in Nicosia, Larnaca, and Limassol during the weekend for all the people passing through the main squares of the cities. The narration fiesta lasted for ninety minutes in each city with the title: Wait a while... I have a magical story to tell you.

 

 

 

 

 

 



 


Storytelling in Larnaca: Storyteller’s Marina and Veronica (Paramythies) with people passing by enjoying their narration. © Cybby Storytelling in Limassol: Wait a while... © Cybby Storytelling in Nicosia: Frixos Michaelides (Cybby Secretary), Marina Katsaris (Narrator), Veronica Aloneftou (Santouri and Vocals), Flora Timotheou (Cybby V. President). © Cybby

November 22nd Seminar for teachers: Creative writing – Illustration – Story telling

Cyprus IBBY in collaboration with the pedagogical institude of Cyprus organized a seminar and workshops for teachers.
Main lecture: "Cultivating tomorrow’s readers. Creative writing as a means of promotion a book culture"
Speaker: Eleni Svoronou. Workshops: Eleni Svoronou, Creative writing. Frixos Michaelides, The secret codes of illustrations. Sandra Elefteriou, The dialogue of observing and feeling. Marina Katsaris, Storytelling techniques. Veronica Aloneftou, “Colouring” stories with music.

Cybby is planning many more events around the year in an effort to promote book mind and children’s literature until next summer.

From Germany

German Children's Literature Award 2014

On 10 October 2014 Manuela Schwesig, Federal Minister of Family, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, announced the prizewinners of the German Children's Literature Award 2014 at the Frankfurt Book Fair. The Award is the only state-sponsored prize for fiction in Germany and has been awarded since 1956.

The 2014 "Sonderpreis" (Special Award for Lifetime Achievement) was given to the translator Angelika Kutsch for her considerable and multifaceted work. The prize is a statuette of Momo and 12,000 €.

The jury of adult critics awarded the following books: in the category picture book Akim rennt (Moritz Verlag; Akim runs/original title: Akim court) by Claude K. Dubois, translated by Tobias Scheffel; in the category children´s books Königin des Sprungturms (Beltz & Gelberg; Queen of the diving platform) by Martina Wildner; in the category young adult books Wie ein unsichtbares Band (Fischer KJB; Like an invisible bond/original title: Piedra, papel o tjera) by Inés Garland, translated by Ilse Layer; in the category non-fiction for children and youth Gerda Gelse (Tyrolia-Verlag; Gerda Gnat) by Heidi Trpak, illustrated by Lauro Momo Aufderhaar.

The young adult jury, which comprises six reading clubs from all over Germany, honoured Wunder (Hanser; Wonder) by Raquel J. Palacio, translated by André Mumot. All five categories have a prize of 10,000 € and a statuette of "Momo".

For more information visit www.djlp.jugendliteratur.org

Members of the young adult jury presenting all their nominations and finally their winner on stage. © José Poblete

Group photo of all award winners and some members of the jurys. © José Poblete


Apart from the award ceremony the Arbeitskreis für Jugendliteratur (AKJ)/German IBBY section hosted a number of other events at the Frankfurt Book Fair. At its booth, which also represents IBBY International at the bookfair, the AKJ presented all nominated books for the German Children's Literature Award. All nominees were invited to a reception before the ceremony and the winners joined Gina Weinkauff, chair of the jury of adult critics, for a talk at the Lesezelt (reading tent) on Saturday morning. Thanks to a cooperation with the German Translators Union (Verband deutschsprachiger Übersetzer) another talk and book presentation took place on Friday morning. Claude K. Dubois and her translator Tobias Scheffel presented their picture book Akim rennt. The AKJ also invited members of the jury of adult critics and the young adult jury to a get-together to actively discuss their jury work.


"Märchenbildwelten von Anastasia Arkhipova"

Fairy Tale Images by Anastasia Arkhipova is the title of a touring exhibition that opened on September 24th in the museum "Barockscheune" in Volkach, Germany. The exhibition shows Anastasia’s artwork made for the fairy tales written by the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen, which have been published by Thienemann - Esslinger (Stuttgart). The exhibition was initiated and organized by the German Academy of Children's Literature and the Fairy Tale Foundation Walter Kahn.  The exhibition is supported by the publishing house.

Many experts in children´s literature - especially fairy tale experts - attended the opening and were very happy to meet the artist in person. Hannelore Daubert (former IBBY EC member and past president of IBBY Germany) gave a short introduction. Anastasia answered questions put to her by the audience and participants took the opportunity to buy books and have them signed by the artist. Anastasia is also a former member of the IBBY EC and of the Hans Christian Andersen Jury 2012 and 2014. She is currently a member of the Nami Concours Jury.

Anastasia Arkhipova and Hannelore Daubert Anastasia Arkhipova and Andreas Bode (picture book expert, former member of the International Youth Library) Anastasia Arkhipova, Hannelore Daubert and Liz Page

From the Czech Republic

Tabook 2014

Tabook 2014 is now behind us. What remains is a brief look back at the days that were filled with outstanding events. The journey towards the book, the journey to the book, life journeys, forced journeys, spiritual journeys… The theme of the journey as a necessary movement of man towards realisation was present throughout this year's festival. This theme was threaded through the main dramaturgical events especially, which also manifested itself quite specifically in the programme for professionals.

Almost sixty small, good-quality publishers exhibited their books, this time in the local social Centre of Střelnice a late nineteenth century classical building that was filled with festival events. Following the schools' programme, groups of students from Tábor schools visited more than ten events that were offered for them, ranging from author readings and meetings, to a film seminar.

From Friday afternoon and Saturday evening hundreds of visitors from Bohemia, Moravia and Slovakia, as well as from further afield, attended the festival enjoying the many events scheduled. The festival was reported in the national daily newspaper Lidové noviny:
Tabook, organised by the publisher Baobab, preserved its traditional "working" character – a number of workshops, seminars, discussions and exhibitions took place, including a successful seminar for librarians entitled How to Encourage Children to Read. This is an important Tabook feature: bringing information to, and contact between, not only publishers but also others connected with books, illustrators, librarians and teachers. The connection with Tábor Gymnázium P. de Coubertina worked out in an excellent way this year, with ten classes visiting the theatre plays and other events. Cooperation with a high school that specialises in training librarians was successful also, with extraordinary help from these students to the publishers: the students covered for the publishers with their stalls, which released the publishers to allow them to meet up with their colleagues. (Lidové Noviny, 6.10. 2014, Marek Toman)

There were many talks with Czech creators, including illustrator Petr Sís, novelist and scriptwriter Jan Novák, authors Dora Kaprálova and Magdalena Platzová, a workshop with Martin Ryšavý and Tereza Límanová of the magazine Revolver Revue, and story-telling by the playwright Pavlína Brzáková. One exciting discussion took place in the Makovec wine shop where some of the smaller publishers discussed what it means to be an editor, wether they are necessary and why collected works do not do well in the Czech Republic.

One of the main focuses of the 2014 festival was the illustrated book and many exhibitions were staged around the town.  Guests from aboard participated to make this cultural meeting place not only an intense experience, but where friendships were made and contacts extablished.

Thanks to the intimacy of Tábor Old town, Tabook is a pleasant place for the meeting of publishers, as well as visitors. Parents could enroll their children in some of the workshops or place the youngest with the “Tabook kindergarten” in Střelnice. And then they were able to choose events from the abundant three-day programme. An unpretentious atmosphere, a straightforward nature and a focus on quality literature make Tabook an extraordinary event, which is both innovative and relaxed at the same time. (Marek Toman, Lidové Noviny)

See you next year!

From Turkey

Symposium on Nur İçözü, a Turkish author of children's books

Between April 16-18, the Department of Comparative Literature of Osmangazi University organized a symposium on the works of Nur İçözü, a prolific author of children's books, as the sixth of the series of symposiums on living authors of children and young adult literature in Turkey.  İçözü has been writing books for children since 1997 and has more than eighty books  published since then.  The Symposium was attended by numerous academics, authors, illustrators, press representatives and students of literature. More than seventy papers each concentrating on different aspects of İçözü's works were presented by academics from fifteen different universities.



A bridge to Soma project

A psychological support project was conducted by ÇGYD (Turkish IBBY) for the children of Soma who faced the tragic coal mine accident last May. More than 300 men passed away and the children of the town needed extensive support to deal with this trauma.  The project was planned for all the children in Soma, not only for those who experienced parental loss.  For a period of three months starting from July, 11 artists (authors, illustrators and sculptors) visited Soma for book reading, creative writing, illustration and clay activities.  More than 150 kids joined the sessions that were conducted weekly.  A special children's books section was also added to the public library as a gift of ÇGYD.

From Poland

In June, IBBY Poland announced a new edition of “Book of the Year” – the oldest and most important competition in Poland for children's and young adult literature. Every year almost 200 books are sent and the jury nominates at least 30 books in two categories: literature and illustration.

The graphic winner of that competition, Wszystko gra (In tune) (text Anna Czerwińska-Rydel, illustrations Marta Ignerska) was awarded Bologna RagazziAward, was included in the IBBY Honour List and nominated for Deutsche Jugendliteraturpreis.

We also took part in IBBY's Picture Book Project and made a selection of 10 best picture books from Poland. Included in our selection is “Little town Mamoko”, the first Polish wordless book. The full list is available on IBBY Europe's website.

 

Malgorzata Cackowska, lecturing in Picture Book Centre

The Picture Book Centre in Municipal Public Library in Lublin has been growing. The organisers present books for children on many levels: artistic, literary and educational. The Picture Book Centre has been presenting images by outstanding Polish illustrators since 2008, among them Iwona Chmielewska and Joseph Wilkon. Workshops for children are also offered.

The Festival “Let’s read” organized under the auspices of IBBY Poland gathered a crowd of people, and included a seminar for librarians, children’s activities and meetings with authors. The most interesting was Bohdan Butenko, Polish illustrator’s exhibition.

Maria Kulik president of board is handing a diploma and medal to Małgorzata Strzałkowska © Ewa Gruda

 

IBBY Poland also organized a celebration for a writer (Małgorzata Strzałkowska) and illustrator (Maria Uszacka), who were awarded Medals for Life achievements and five others received an Honorary Membership of IBBY.

 

 

From Spain

10 Libros de literatura vasca infantil y juvenile = 10 books from Basque Literature for Children and Young People

The Basque Branch of Spanish IBBY - Galtzagorri Elkartea - has selected ten books for young people in the Basque language. The catalogue is available at www.galtzagorri.org and was supported by Etxepare Institutua.

Basque IBBY made this selection and guide to introduce, at an international level, the active publishing of Basque literature for children and young adults. The guide is published in Spanish and English.

The selection of the titles, the synopses of the books and the short biographies of the authors have been written by Asun Agiriano, Mikel Ayerbe and Jone Arroitajauregi. They are all members of Galtzagorri Elkartea and experts in Children's Literature.

The ten selected books are: Gerlari handia by Pello Añorga and Jokin Mitxelena; Xola eta Angelito by Bernardo Atxaga; Eguberria by Juan Kruz; Igerabide by Elena Odriozola; Maitagarria eta desioa by Mariasun Landa; Urtebete itsasargia by Miren Agur Meabe; Pupuan trapua by Xabier Olaso; Ilunorduak eta argilaurdenak by Joxantonio Ormazabal; Anekdotak by Ruben Ruiz; Ebelina Mandarina by Castillo Suarez; Xia Tenzinen bidaia miresgarria by Patxi Zubizarreta.

Reading clubs for parents and children

More than 12 reading club events in seven towns of the Basque Country took place in November.  The towns were Laudio, Andoain, Oñati, Donostia-San Sebastian, Renteria, Iurreta and Ermua.  The reading clubs are organized by Galtzagorri Elkartea, the Basque Branch of Spanish IBBY, within the project Bularretik Mintzora.

Children from 6 months to 8 years and their parents participated. There are three club models: sessions for children from 6 months to 36 months; sessions for children between 3 and 6 years; and sessions for children between 6 and 8 years. Parents accompanied the children and the sessions lasted for about an hour each with the help of a guide. The session are a good models for parents and children to spend time playing with literature with their children: telling stories, reading good books, singing, juggling, etc...

Most of the selected towns – except Andoain - are part of the big project Bularretik Mintzora. This programme is similar to the project Bookstart (United Kingdom) or Nascuts per llegir (Catalunya). It started in 2008 in five towns in the Basque Country and has grown to include 20 towns, and are held in libraries, schools and private homes, as well as in some health centres. Today Bularretik Mintzora involves 49 schools, 432 teachers and 7,271 children across the Basque country. The goal of this programme is to encourage parents and reading mediators to enjoy books with children from as early an age as possible.

You can see part of a session of a reading club here.

Hearts from the bottom of the sea / Itsaspeko bihotzak, the new literature exhibition

Hearts from the bottom of the sea is a new literature exhibition of Galtzagorri Elkartea. The exhibition will highlight gender equality for children from different parts of the Basque Country.

The exhibition will be shown at the Library of Arrasate-Mondragon, the Hernani’s Library and in December it will be in Donostia-San Sebastian – the European Capital of Culture 2016. This project is supported by the Basque Government, Deputation of Gipuzkoa, Donostia-San Sebastian and both Arrasate and Hernani City Councils.

During the past few years, Galtzagorri Elkartea has created many exhibitions, all of them stored and saved.  Each of them focusses on a subject, such as fear, fables, poetry, traditional stories, illustration... Children can visit them in groups – no more than 25 per group – each visit is lead by a specialized educator.  These exhibitions are created for children to play and to make them realize that playing with books is great fun.

Hearts from the bottom of the sea is an interactive exhibition that is designed to feel, enjoy and live in it. It is a place where you can play with books, illustrations, music, art, animation, media, etc.  The books are our favourite selection of the most appropriate books considering both each gender ideology and literature criteria.

The exhibition opened on November 3rd in Arrasate. Galtzagorri Elkartea has been working on this project since 2011. We were concerned about the many children’s books that show and reproduce gender stereotypes through their illustrations and stories. Therefore, the aim of this exhibition is to make a space within the androcentric or male-dominated children’s literature by highlighting children’s books that give an open role to both women and men, with as many family models as exist in real life.  It will also show how the main characters can be free from stereotypes.

Although this exhibition is based on children's and young adult literature, it is a multidisciplinary exhibition that includes other fine arts such as illustration, music, traditional songs and poetry, etc. The exhibition is divided into five areas, each based on one children’s book where children can play with one item demonstrating gender equality. The children can go on a journey in the sea that will start at the lighthouse, feeling the waves of the sea, and will end up on an island where they will find hidden treasure. This treasure is a big heart full of male and female stereotype-free children's books.

The illustrator Aitziber Alonso, and the educators and anthropologists Miren Guillo and Mireia Delgado curated this exhibition, with collaboration from illustrators Elena Odriozola and Eider Eibar.  Itziar Zubizarreta, who has also directed most of the exhibitions previously created by Galtzagorri Elkartea, created this exhibition model.
The exhibition is directed at children from 8 to 11 years old. The goal is for this exhibition to continue travelling from one town to another, and from one city to another right across the Basque Country.

You can see a video of this exhibition on this link.

Some pictures of Galtzagorri elkartea’s literature exhibitions.

The reading seminars of Galtzagorri

Galtzagorri Elkartea organizes reading seminars that take place once a month on a Saturday morning.  More than 20 people from Galtzagorri Elkartea gather together at the Children Literature Documentary Centre in Donostia-San Sebastian. From 10:00 to 13:00 writers, storytellers, illustrators, librarians... speak about children’s books.

Description : C:\Documents and Settings\Usuario\Configuración local\Archivos temporales de Internet\Content.IE5\EKMUKP0U\P1030604[1].jpgAnother aspect of this group, is that every month (except in July and August) the members read the new publications in Basque children literature.  They discuss the books and write reviews of them.

In 2014 three important seminars were held in the series: 1.  Sara Iglesias told participants about how to use illustrated books with children; 2. illustrator Antton Olariaga told participants about the history of Basque illustration; 3. the Basque writer Patxi Zubizarreta was the speaker at the November seminar.  He spoke about the virtual or physical relationship between writers and the readers of children’s literature.

You can see a video of a part of one Seminar session on this link.

XI Faristol Critical Review Team Training Day

For 11 years the Catalan Council for Children’s and Young Adults’ Books (ClijCAT) has held a training day for the team of critics at Faristol magazine. This publication, edited by ClijCAT, has specialized in children’s and young adult literature since 1985; it is an academic magazine containing articles, bibliographies, interviews and information relating to the literary and artistic aspects of young people’s books. Faristol publishes an average of 170 critical reviews of children’s and young adult books each year. It is the only magazine of this nature in the field of the Catalan language and the oldest of its kind in Spain. There are 23 people in the Faristol critical review team.

On 18th October the XI Faristol Critical Review Team Training Day was held at the Santa Monica Art Centre. The training day began with the round table: How do writers receive critical reviews? Through the looking-glass. Speakers: Jaume Copons, Bernat Cormand and Anna Manso. Moderator: Pep Molist

  • Jaume Copons writes books for children and young adults as well as scripts for several audio-visual media
  • Bernat Cormand is a philologist, illustrator and critic for Faristol.
  • Anna Manso writes for children and young adults as well as writing plays and television scripts.
  • Pep Molist is a librarian, writes children’s books and co-directs Faristol.

The speakers discussed the different dissemination spaces for juvenile fiction criticism that exist at present beyond the paper format and the damage done by certain critical reviews on digital portals written by non-experts. They called for professional criticism that expresses opinions openly and that follows authors from their first works in order to help them develop their art. They also stated that criticism should deal with the content of the work, not just aspects of form. The authors noted that they take critical reviews into consideration, but that it is useful to take them with a ‘pinch of salt’, whether they are full of praise or damning. They said that the worst thing that could happen when a book is published is for it to go unnoticed, rather than receiving a bad review. They suggested that the Faristol reviews dedicate more space to illustration and highlight the literary content of works. They also thought that the reviews were often aimed at opinion leaders, at the adults they know will read them, rather than being accessible to the target audience of the books: children and adolescents. They ended by calling on the Faristol team to make the most of the treasure they have in their hands. The training day continued with the conference: How to appraise digital children's literature, led by Maria Neus Real. Moderator: Joan Portell

  • Maria Neus Real has a PhD in Catalan Philology from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) and a Master's in Literary Theory from the University of Birmingham (UK). She forms part of the GRETEL group (Children's Literature and Literary Education Research Group), directed by Dr Teresa Colomer. Within this professional framework, she has begun to develop research directly focused on literary education during childhood (books, classroom and teacher training), and particularly on digital children's literature for very young children, in close collaboration with Cristina Correro, lecturer and GRETEL advanced technical researcher at UAB.
  • Joan Portell is a teacher, writes children's books and co-directs Faristol.

Maria Neus Real talked about the still developing world of digital children's literature. She presented it as a field centred around Apple technology in particular, in which the English-speaking culture plays a dominant role. She lamented the fact that there are limited apps in Catalan and that these are not always of the desired quality. Even so, she stated that they are a reality and that children's literary criticism should not ignore them because they are here to stay; they are a new product, not a substitute for children's literature in paper format.

Maria Neus Real explained that in order to evaluate digital children's literature, it is essential to apply the same values as for children's and young adult literature in paper format, as well as adding new elements facilitated by new technology, such as voice, movement, interaction, etc. i.e. the elements that appear simultaneously unlike the paper format. She gave the following precise steps for a critical evaluation:

  • Assess whether it is an adapted, translated or original work.
  • Assess general aspects of quality, the suitability for the reader and the narrative functions.
    • Evaluate the text: genre, themes, language, structure, images, etc.
    • Evaluate the app: movement, music, sound, interactivity, hypertext, games, extras, etc.
    • Evaluate the uses and functions of these elements. In other words, how do the target audience (children and adolescents) use the app.
  • Ask oneself how the app contributes to the construction and comprehension of the work. What does it contribute to the reader's development?

Each attendee created a wrap-around band for the book that they considered deserving of a special place in their reading memory. They then presented them and gave reasons for their choices.

From Sweden

 

Roger Mello and Erik Titusson.

 

Gothenburg book fair 25 - 28 september

This year's guest of honour at the Gothenburg book fair was Brazil!

Of course IBBY Sweden took the opportunity to introduce HC Andersen Award Winner Roger Mello to the Swedish readers.

Wahldén & Lewis

Roger Mello had a busy schedule. He gave interesting insight into his world of illustration, talked about the situation of children's literature in Brazil in general as well as held work shops with children. Well-timed to his visit, the first book of Roger Mello translated to Swedish was presented by publisher Vagn Plenge. We hope Roger Mello will be back to visit Sweden soon!

Well-known Brazilian children's book authors Ana Maria Machado and Daniel Munduruku also participated in the programme.

IBBY Sweden presented this year's Peter Pan Award (best translated book of the year) to Ali Lewis for her fascinating book Everybody Jam. She held talks, as well as visited schools in the area. The Peter Pan Award is the only award in Sweden for translated literature and as part of the award, the author or illustrator is invited to Sweden to present his/her work. In other words it is an award that fits perfectly with IBBY's motto: Books build bridges!

From France

IBBY's statutes available in French!

IBBY France has translated IBBY's statutes into French. They are now ready to download from IBBY's website, just click on this link!

The French selection of Outstanding Books 2015

IBBY France has selected 12 books for the Outstanding Books 2015 list and sent them to the IBBY documentation Centre at the Toronto Public library for consideration.

  • In the "Books produced in special formats" category, the selected books are:
L'étoile de mer, au fil de l'eau / Caroline Morin. - Mes mains en or, 2012
Madame l'émue / Olivia Le Divellec. - Ed. Goater, 2013
Mon premier ABC braille / Caroline Morin. - Mes mains en or, 2012
Pourquoi le lièvre / Livre et DVD.- Association Signes, 2014 Les wa-wa / Laure Constantin. - les Doigts qui rêvent, 2014
  • In the "Picture books from the regular production especially selected for young people with disabilities" category, the selected books are:
Maman, dans tes bras / Soledad Bravi. -
École des loisirs, 2014
Une feuille, un arbre / Bruno Gilbert. -
Albin Michel-Jeunesse, 2014
  • In the "Picture books and novels from the regular children's book production that portray persons with disabilities" category:
Dans l'œil de Lynx / Laurent Queyssi. - Rageot, 2013
Le garçon de l'intérieur / Benoît Séverac. - Syros, 2013
Rêves en noir / Jo Witek. - Actes Sud junior, 2013
Sauf que / Anne Vantal. - Actes Sud junior, 2013 Victor et Philomène / Claire Renaud. - Ecole des loisirs, 2012

IBBY France's candidates for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award

IBBY France presented 2 candidates for the ALMA 2015.

In a joint presentation with the French Librarians' association, in the illustrator's category: François Place (Discover François Place's work on his website).


In a joint presentation with IBBY Italy, and in cooperation with IBBY Japan, in the foreign illustrator category: Katsumi Komagata (Discover Katsumi Komagata's work on his website).

From the United Kingdom

IBBY UK/NCRCL One Day Conference

Saturday 8th November 2014
Belonging is… an exploration of the right to be included and the barriers that must be overcome"

Our annual one-day Conference took place on Saturday 8th November at Roehampton University. It was a day packed with presentations and papers all picking up the theme expressed in the title. To complement this side, there was a colourful exhibition which included publishers and organisations such as Seven Stories and Inclusive Minds; Letterbox Library provided an excellent bookshop. Despite the weather, there was a good attendance - many coming from outside London and there was a real sense of enjoyment over the whole day..

Please follow this link for a lively account of the day from our Committee member, Susan Bailes.
Keynote speaker, Anna McQuinn.

From Denmark

Pauline Drasbæk receives an award
at the Dansk Børneillustrator Biennale

On September 29th IBBY- Denmark held a reception at the Danish Writers Union for Brazilian writer Ana Maria Machado and illustrator Roger Mello, who talked about, read and showed examples of their work. The day before, Ana Maria and Roger had held a workshop for Brazilian children at the Ørestad public library, South Copenhagen.

On November the 7th Dansk Børneillustrator Biennale (Danish Biennale for Children Books Illustrators) was launched during the annual Copenhagen Book Fair, with a rich program including various workshops and a mini seminar. Twelve nominated illustrators received a Diploma and the 1st prize winner, Pauline Drasbæk, was awarded 25.000 DK (2.925 Euros.). The Biennale, the heartchild of illustrator and visual artist Martine Noring Olsen, aims at stressing the importance of illustrations for children. The competition has two mottos: " All children have the right to a safe childhood" and "Violence is no solution, not at home either", which are very relevant to one of the sponsors Moderhjælp (Mother's help).

On November 8th, Klods Hans Prize 2014 was awarded to Rachel Røst during the annual Copenhagen Book Fair... The Klods Hans Prize is awarded every second year by the board of IBBY-Denmark for special contribution to the spreading of children litterature. Rachel Röst, founded her Læs for Livet, (Read for Life) project in 2012, to gather children books and set up small reading corners and bookshelves in institutions for endangered children and youngsters; a project that has had an amazing success. The award was an original drawing by illustrator Tea Bendix.

 Recent publications

 

Bookbird. Issue 52.3, 2014

Feature Articles: Pat Mora: Transcending the Continental Divide One Book at a Time • Learning in Francisco Hinojosa's Children's Fiction • María Elena Walsh and the Art of Subversive Children's Literature • The New Children of Resistance: Becoming a Child through the Stories Told by the EZLN • Magical Realist Moments in Malín Alegría's Border Town Series • Chilean Children's Literature and National Identity: Post-Dictatorship Discourses of Chileanness through the Representation of Indigenous People • El Fulano and Patty Swan: Rhetorically Queering the island in The Meaning of Consuelo

 

Bookbird. Issue 52.4, 2014

Feature Articles: Mello and His Precursors: Invisible Threads • Picture Book Characters with Disabilities: Patterns and Trends in a Context of Radical Change • Translation of Cultural Specific Items in Hooshang Moradi Kermani's Novel • Trends in Translations: The Mildred L. Batchelder Award from 1997-2013 • The Canonical Status of Children's Book Authors • Rebellion as Spiritual Activity in The Magician's Elephant and The Invention of Hugo Cabret • Hans Christian Andersen Award Shortlist

Bookbird can be read on-line through Project Muse.
To subscribe, please fill out this form. More information on: IBBY's website.

Upcoming events

March 2015

March

20 - 23 March 2015

Paris Book Fair, Porte de Versailles, France

Guest of honour: Brazil

For more information: http://www.salondulivreparis.com

24 March, 2015

16e journée des livres en v.o. : le Brésil / 16th seminar on Books in the original version: Brazil.

Brazil is the guest of honour of the Paris Book Fair. On this occasion, IBBY France will organize a seminar dedicated to children's literature and reading in Brazil. Authors, illustrators, publishers, librarians from Brazil will participate in this event.

More information on : http://lajoieparleslivres.bnf.fr

30 March - 2 April 2015

Bologna Children's Book Fair, Italy

Guest of honour: Brazil.

For more information: http://www.bookfair.bolognafiere.it

 Contributors

Ana Mª Cendán Doce (IBBY Spain)
Hasmig Chahinian (IBBY France)
Valerie Coghlan (Bookbird)
Hannelore Daubert (IBBY Germany)
Carolin Farbmacher (IBBY Germany)
Sabine Fuchs (IBBY Austria)
Ferelith Hordon (IBBY UK)
Tülin Kozikoğlu (IBBY Turkey)
Maria Kulik (IBBY Poland)
Oksana Lushchevska (the University of Georgia) for IBBY Ukraine
Frixos Michaelides (IBBY Cyprus)
Liz Page (IBBY)
Erik Titusson (IBBY Sweden)

 How to subscribe

To subscribe to the IBBY European Newsletter, please send an e.mail to: subscribe.