Dear colleagues from the European sections of IBBY,
To tie in with this year's Guest Country of the Bologna International Children's Book Fair, our April Newsletter puts "3 questions to…" Erik Titusson from IBBY Sweden. IBBY had its usual stand in hall 29 and displayed the 2012 IBBY Honour List books and launched the 2013 selection of outstanding books for young people with disabilities. Find out all about it in "Greetings from Bologna!"
The European sections share their latest news in the "Echoes..." column, so be sure to read all about the activities of IBBY in Austria, Croatia, Estonia, France, Italy, Poland, Turkey, Ukraine... Also in this issue IBBY Italy invites everyone to an "IBBY camp" on Lampedusa in June. This is the next step in the exciting project "Silent books, from the World to Lampedusa and back"
Current Bookbird editor, Roxanne Harde, will shortly be finishing her term of office. We include in this issue the call for a new editor; please share it with your members and anyone who may be interested in this challenging and interesting post. Finally, are you planning your participation of the 34rd IBBY World Congress? IBBY Mexico invites you to Mexico City in 2014, do join us.
As usual, don't forget to keep posting your news and comments on the IBBY Europe Facebook page. Many thanks to Wally De Doncker, who keeps us all up-to-date about international events in the field of children's literature and reading through our Facebook page.
David Pintor has once again designed a beautiful header for our newsletter, and Liz Page has done all the proofreading. A thousand thanks to both of them!
We hope you will enjoy reading your April newsletter!
Angela Lebedeva and Hasmig Chahinian
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| Children's right to culture! |
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Sweden was Guest of Honour at this year's Bologna Children's International Book Fair, presenting an exhibition of contemporary picture-book illustrators as well as an extensive programme in the city. The overall theme was Children's right to culture - a strong ambition to place the children in the centre of the programme - even though the bookfair is mainly a trade event where no children can attend. The exhibition showcased 31 illustrators selected by an expert jury. Among the participating illustrators were long-established names such as Olof Landström, Stina Wirsén and Sven Nordqvist, as well as younger up-and-coming stars such as Karin Cyrén and Ida Björs. The exhibition, at the heart of the book fair, presented original art work together with reading tables were visitors could take a closer look at recent Swedish picture books. |
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| An overview of the exhibition. © Stefan Tell. | ||||||||||||
In the city of Bologna, there was also an extensive programme with seminars, exhibitions and, most importantly, meetings with the readers - the children. Participating were authors Åsa Lind, Martin Widmark and Ulf Stark among others. Apart from programmes about literature and illustration, other themes such as food, science and cinema were part of the activities for children and adults. For more information: http://www.kulturradet.se/en/Bolgna-Childrens-Bookfair |
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Author Ulf Stark meets children in Bologna. © Stefan Tell. |
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The 34th International IBBY Congress 2014 The 34th International IBBY Congress will take place in Mexico City. It will start on Wednesday, September 10th and finishes on Saturday 13. We understand inclusion as: a process by which we create environments that recognize and accept the differences among people and respond to them by offering everyone the experience of coexisting in a cooperative, supportive and respectful manner in contexts where the heterogeneity of the group is considered an asset, not a limitation. This process is based on philosophical principles that value, embrace and celebrate diversity. |
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We have thought about this concept and its relation to the experience of reading. As a result, these central topics are proposed:
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The deadline for submitting proposals is 31 August 2013. You can keep track of all the Congress' details in the website is: www.ibbycongress2014.org |
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3 questions to... Erik Titusson
In this column we address 3 questions to a member of a European Section of IBBY. Do you have a name to suggest for the next issue? Send us a mail! |
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1. You started your career as marketing director of an important publishing house in Sweden, then became Director of the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, a position you gave up in 2011 in order to create Lilla Piratförlaget, a publishing house dedicated to children's books. Was children's literature always a priority for you? What do you hope to achieve as a publisher? At university, I studied international economics, but decided to combine it with literature studies because I always had in mind I wanted to work with literature and publishing in some way. Before working with children's books I worked in the interactive games industry and with the marketing of reference literature. But it was when I started working with children's literature that I really got hooked. I think it has to do with illustration. I was always very interested in visual arts parallel to my interest in literature. With these two interests - working with children's literature is the ultimate job! As a publisher I want to help authors and illustrators reach their greatest potential and to create meetings between their work and the readers - the children. I want to publish books that surprise, unsettle and/or entertain the reader! |
| © Stefan Tell. | |
2. Among all the activities organized by IBBY Sweden, which one is your favourite? Why? We have a strong tradition of children's literature in Sweden, which is great and something we should be proud of. However, I feel there is a downside - the somewhat self-satisfied lack of interest in literature from other parts of the world. It is a shame, because we all, children and adults alike, need impressions from other cultures. IBBY Sweden presents an award each year: The Peter Pan Award. It is presented to the best children book in translation - specifically translated from a culture or language not commonly seen in children's books published in Sweden. It is an important award, not only because publishers daring to publish these books need to be encouraged, but also the books need extra help to be found by the readers! |
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The winner of the 2012 Peter Pan Award |
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3. If we were in Stockholm, and you wanted to take us to a special place, where would that be? I would take you on a boat trip to the archipelago of Stockholm. Just a short boat trip from the centre of Stockholm brings you into a fascinating myriad of thousands of islands, some small some big. Every Stockholmer has his or her favorite - Welcome to mine! |
| ©Inkey, Creative Commons, |
Echoes from the European sections
From Croatia |
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This year the Croatian section participated in the celebration of the centennial of the first publication of famous Croatian children's novel The Strange Adventures of Hlapic the Apprentice by Ivana Brlic Mažuranic. The section nominated the illustrator Svjetlan Junakovic as a candidate for the H. C. Andersen Award 2014. |
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From Ukraine
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2012 Outstanding Ukrainian Books for Young People The book Grandpa Guram's Fairy Tales by Guram Petriashvili, illustrated by Daria Rakova, was awarded The Ukrainian Best Book Award (UBBA). The first volume of the graphic novel Daohopak: Antalya Trip by Maksym Prasolov, Oleksiy Chebykin, Oleh Kolov was honoured with a Special Award Jury Diploma at the Second International Arsenal Book Festival held in Kiev October 4-7, 2012. |
| Grandpa Guram's Fairy Tales | |
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The Secret Society of Cowards and Liars by Lesya Voronyna won the BBC Ukrainian Children's Book of the Year 2012 award. Although the BBC Book of the Year award has been given to Ukrainian writers for about 8 years, the BBC Ukrainian Children's Book of the Year award was introduced for the first time in 2012. For more information about this award and the books of the finalists: http://www.bbc.co.uk/ukrainian/in_depth/book_2012.shtml |
| The Secret Society of Cowards and Liars |
The Ukrainian novel Eight Days in a Chipmunk's Life by Ivan Andrusiak with illustrations by Hanna Osadko and a traditional Ukrainian folk tale The Turnip with illustrations by Romana Romanyshyn and Andriy Lesiv are included to the White Ravens 2013 selection.
Ukraine at The Leipzig Book Fair A Joint German-Ukrainian Project SkypeMama The collection of short stories SkypeMama is written by eleven contemporary Ukrainian writers and examines the social problem of migrant workers. It vividly depicts the contemporary issues of Ukrainian families, in which at least one member of a family is often forced to travel to a foreign country to earn a living. As a result of a variety of social and private circumstances, Ukrainian parents are forced to go to work in Western Europe, the USA, and elsewhere. Consequently, millions of children are either left with the members of their extended family or relatives. The book raises wide social, personal, and psychological issues that affect children who are separated from their parents and, and to their parents, who have to make these difficult life choices. Maryana Savka, the editor of The Old Lion Publishing House and co-editor of the project, states that Skype Mama is not intended to solve this particular problem of migration, but to bring it up in order to begin an important conversation in both the public arena as well the private sphere. Skype Mama was presented at The Leipzig Book Fair with the participation of Ukrainian writers and German translators on March 17, 2013. |
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A Tale about an Old Lion Maryana Savka was an invited guest speaker and a contributor to The Leipzig Book Fair children's literature programme. In particular, together with the German actor Stephen Ivelin, Savka presented her outstanding picturebook A Tale about an Old Lion, illustrated by Volodymyr Shtanko. |
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Ukraine at Bologna Children's Book Fair |
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| © IBBY Ukraine. | ||
From Austria
Vienna Book Week 2013 The traditional Vienna Book Week organized by the Institute for Children's Literature in cooperation with others, took place between the 14th and 20th of March in Auersperg Palace. This year's programme included 68 different events for children between 3 and 15 years of age, and it gave an opportunity for children to meet over 50 well-known writers, artists, illustrators and actors. The main focus of the programme was on literature and readings, in addition other art forms such as theatre, cinema and music could be enjoyed, as well as various events combining different media types. For example, it was a pleasure to observe how enthusiastically 15 year-old teenagers reacted to modern poetry, because the rhythm and the topics responded to their world. |
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© Joanna Pianka |
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A part of the programme focused on foreign cultures with international artists and topics. The illustration workshops were held not only by Austrian illustrators, but by artists from Bulgaria, Ireland, Poland and Denmark. A remarkable exhibition of Irish illustrators completed the programme. In addition to the many events an exhibition of over 2000 books (from picture books to adolescent novels and fantasy) was open to the public throughout the whole Book Week. |
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“Fachliteratur online” (Reference literature online)
Since the beginning of 2013 the database “Fachliteratur online” (Reference literature online) of the Institute for Children's Literature is available online via www.jugendliteratur.net
This German-language database covers secondary literature (books, professional periodicals, articles) in the field of children's literature, reading-research and reading-promotion since 2007. The online catalogue is based on the library holdings of the Institute, the material can be read in the library or copies of single documents can be ordered from the chargeable Document Service of the Institute.
From Estonia
Joy of Books In 2012, IBBY Estonia and the Estonian Children's Literature Centre started a programme Joy of Books. Our aim is to provide Tallinn Children's Hospital with comfortable reading corners and good children's books. Once a week our volunteers – librarians, authors, translators – visit the hospital and read with children. |
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Tower of Babel Honour Diplomas In November 2012, the Tower of Babel Honour Diplomas were awarded. The Diploma is given by IBBY Estonia to a foreign author for an outstanding children's book published in a foreign language and translated into Estonian. In 2012, the award went to American author Kate DiCamillo, the translator Elise Nikonov and the publishing house Draakon & Kuu for the book Mustkunstniku elevant (The Magician's Elephant). Philosophical topic, beautiful language and ability to talk to children about essential issues were the arguments expressed by the jury to justify the decision. The aim of the award is to encourage the translation of outstanding foreign children's books into Estonian. |
Tower of Babel Honor Diploma. Translator Elise Nikonov. |
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There are two new Estonian books in the White Ravens 2013 collection: May the Good Fairies Watch Over You by Kadri Hinrikus, illustrated by Anu Kalm, and Three Wishes. An Estonian Folktale by Piret Raud. Piret Raud has been the most translated Estonian children's author in the past year. Two of her books are now published in French – Le thé des poissons and Monsieur Oiseau veut changer de peau–, and Berts un otra B is published in Latvia. |
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| On International Children's Book Day... On International Children's Book Day, IBBY Estonia announced its 2014 H.C. Andersen award nominee – the beloved author Aino Pervik is the first Estonian children's writer nominated for this prestigious award. The author gave an interview in Estonian Public Broadcasting where the message from IBBY, Bookjoy around the World by Pat Mora was also shared. On the same day, IBBY Estonia was invited by IBBY Finland to participate in children's literature seminar Bridge Across the Sea in Helsinki. Authors, translators, illustrators and publishers from Estonia and Finland discussed children's literature and introduced books from both countries. |
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Aino Pervik. © Harri A. Sundell. |
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Winds from the South In January 11, an exhibition Winds from the South opened in Villa Artu Gallery in Hyvinkää, Finland, where fifteen of the most distinguished Estonian illustrators present their work. In addition, there was a selection of dolls made by the best dollmakers of Estonia. The exhibition will travel throughout Finland – Helsinki, Tampere, Oulu, Hämeenlinna, Turku and other places. |
| Winds from the South. © Urmas Viik. |
Fairy Tales of the Sea International Exhibition of Illustrations by artists from the Baltic Sea countries Fairy Tales of the Sea, that originally opened in 2011 at the Estonian Children's Literature Centre in Tallinn, travelled in 2012 to Russia – St Petersburg, Novgorod, Moscow and Krasnoarmeisk. In 2013, the exhibition will open in Poland, and in 2014, it will travel to Germany and Denmark. Seventy-nine illustrators from ten countries participate in this exhibition. |
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Fairy Tales of the Sea. © Jüri Mildeberg. |
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Grimm Fairy Tales Exhibitions In 2012, the exhibitions Grimm Fairy Tales were simultaneously opened in Tallinn and Moscow. Thirty-three Estonian artists presented their illustrations of the famous fairytales made especially for this exhibition at the Estonian Children's Literature Centre in Tallinn. Later the selected works travelled to Moscow, while the illustrations of Russian artists travelled to Tallinn. |
Crisscross Stories In 2012, nine Estonian children's authors wrote contemporary fairytales to be illustrated by Hungerian artists while Hungerian authors wrote stories that were illustrated by Estonian artists. In March 6 2013, the exhibition Crisscross Stories was opened at the Estonian Children's Literature Centre in Tallinn. Twenty-six illustrators from Estonia and twenty-four illustrators from Hungary participate in this project. The exhibition will travel to Budapest in October. |
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Library in the Park IBBY Estonia's Library in the Park will open again in May. Children will have the opportunity to read IBBY Honour List titles as well as the books awarded with the Tower of Babel Honor Diploma while visiting Kadrioru Park in Tallinn during summer months. |
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From France
The 3rd European encounters on children's literature
The 3rd European encounters on children's literature were held at the French National Library on November 2012. The morning presentations were dedicated to the Roads to creation in Europe in the beginning of the 20th century, with the introduction in France of illustrated books from Spain, and the Capek brothers' work from the former Czechoslovakia. Afterwards, Prof. Martin Salisbury spoke about the British picture books. Then, together with Deirdre Mc Dermott from Walker Books and illustrator Axel Scheffler, he took part in a discussion on the topic: "Is British illustration also European?" The afternoon was an occasion to meet the makers of children's books in Europe:
Afterwards, 10 professionnals from different European countries presented their favourite picture book published in 2012. |
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Anne-Laure Cognet and Jeanne Teller. © Hasmig Chahinian |
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| Jean-Baptiste Coursaud, Wally De Doncker, Teresa Duran Armengol. © Hasmig Chahinian |
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Seminar "Read in the original Language: the United Kingdom" The children's literature from the UK has always had a great influence in France and around the world. The British books are the most translated ones. Where can this hegemony be explained? Where does the strength of British books lie? How does this literature evolve? What is the place taken by best-sellers? How is this heritage kept, developed? What are the connections between France and the UK? English is the Foreign language most taught in France; could children's literature in English be used to teach the language in new ways? Could the librarians promote books and reading in the original language? To answer these questions, a scout, a researcher, one of the heads of Seven Stories (a unique place to promote the literary and artistic heritage of children books), a librarian, booksellers... And the famous Anne Fine! The programme of the Seminar can be found here. |
| Anne Chassagnol, Nathalie Beau. © Hasmig Chahinian | |
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| Dominique Kugler, Anne Fine, Véronique Soulé, Nathalie Beau. © Hasmig Chahinian |
From Poland
IBBY Poland celebrated the work of Janusz Korczak The year 2012 was declared the Janusz Korczak Year by the Polish Parliament in order to draw attention to the life and work of the physician and writer, who died in German KZ-Lager Treblinka in 1943. The partner of IBBY Poland, the Centre for Children's Literature in Oświecim (http://www.mbp-oswiecim.pl), organized a conference "Janusz Korczak. Works and ideas". The participants - members of IBBY discussed his life and achievements. Maria Kulik gave a speech about The Janusz Korczak Literary Prize. It was established in 1987, and later suspended in 2000 due to financial reasons. She presented the awarded books, such as Brother Lionhearted, Kabalmysteriet, Bridge to Terabithia. |
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IBBY Poland at the Krakow Book Fair IBBY has been a partner of the Krakow Book Fair for the last three years. We organized a lecture for students and librarians on children's book market in Poland and an illustration exhibition. Maria Kulik was an expert on the “Czas Dzieci “ (Time for Children) stand, answering the parents' and teachers' questions. |
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| IBBY stand. © Maria Kulik | ||
Book of the Year For the competition “Book of the Year” over 200 books were sent and the jury announced their decision on December 6th. In category "Children's books" the jury awarded Wierszyki domowe (Home Poems) by Michał Rusinek, the poetic portrayal of home in dozens of children's rhymes; in "Young people book" prize went to Marcel A. Marcel for Oro (Oro), a study of the process of growing up, which is slow and painful for an orphan such as Lena, the protagonist. Graphic award winner in the "Picture Book" category was Marianna Oklejak, for Jestem miasto. Warszawa (I am the City. Warsaw), where the narrator is Warsaw, the beautiful and proud capital city of Poland. The book depicts the most important episodes and events that have taken place in a specific urban space, caused by particular people. The Graphic award winner in the "Book illustration" category is Marta Ignerska (illustrations and design) for Wszystko gra (In Tune), winner of the 2012 Bologna Ragazzi Award in the Non Fiction category. Over 200 people gathered at the Book of the Year Award Gala. The representative of the President of Poland was present and the Minister of Culture sent letters to award winners. For the first time the event was mentioned on TV. |
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© Krystyna Rybicka |
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At the Łódź Book Fair The next day IBBY participated at the Łódź Book Fair and announced the winners at the IBBY press conference. Furthermore, we organized the exhibition of Iwona Chmielewska's illustrations and a meeting with Krystyna Lipka-Sztarbałło whose book "Wo geht`s?" was nominated for Deutsche Jugendliteraturpreis. Our colleagues from the associations "Poza Rozkladem" and "Kamienica 56" organized various activities for the children, e.g. workshop “See more”. |
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Exibition on the wall at Łódź Book fair. © Stowarzyszenie Kamienica 56 |
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Collaboration with IBBY Belgium The most interesting and important for us was a project prepared by IBBY Belgium: we recommended some picture books for the Polish minority living abroad. Because many people leave Poland we help them to maintain the contact with Polish literature. The organizers selected some award-wining books, such as "Blumka's diary" by Iwona Chmielewska. |
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IBBY's President and Executive Director visit Istanbul Book Fair IBBY President Ahmad Redza Ahmad Khairuddin and Executive Director Liz Page came to Istanbul Book Fair last November. They met with members of IBBY Turkey during a luncheon held at the Book Fair and gave a presentation about IBBY and its activities. Also, the certificates for IBBY Honour List books from Turkey were given to the nominees by Ahmad Redza Ahmad Khairuddin and Liz Page. The “Best Book of the Year” award of IBBY Turkey was given at the same ceremony. The theme of the 2012 Book Fair was Children's Literature and as 2012 was the 4th Centennial of Turkish – Dutch cultural relations, the Guest Country of the Fair was the Netherlands. The Dutch had come with their children's books plus an exhibition of children's book illustrations. |
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From left to right: Gülçin Alpöge, Tulin Sadikoglu, Ahmad Redza Ahmad Khairuddin, Feridun Oral, Sevim Ak. © Kadir Incesu. |
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IBBY Turkey had its general assembly On March 7th, the general assembly of the Turkish National Section was held and the elections for a new executive committee took place. The activities of past three years and plans for coming years were discussed during the assembly. |
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| 36th IBBY Congress to be held in Istanbul in 2018! It was announced at the 2013 Bologna Book Fair that the 36th international congress of IBBY will be held in Istanbul, Turkey in 2018. |
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From Italy
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| Bookbird seeks an editor |
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Bookbird, Inc. the managing board of IBBY’s journal, Bookbird: a Journal of International Children’s Literature seeks an editor or editorial team to take over from the current editor whose term of office finishes with the publication of the October 2014 issue. |
Kinderliterarische Mythen-Translation The "Österreichische Gesellschaft für Kinder- und Jugendliteraturforschung" (Austrian Society of Children's Literature Research) published a new anthology dealing with the construction of fantasy worlds in Children's Literature: |
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La Revue des livres pour enfants, N° 269, February 2013 A tribute was also paid to the British institution of Children's Laureates, created in 1999, an opportunity to salute the commitment of seven major authors-illustrators whose bibliography can be found online. The same issue of our journal includes: an article drawing a panorama of the emerging children's literature in Romania; the speech delivered by the Argentine novelist Maria Teresa Andruetto in London, when receiving the Hans Christian Andersen award is also available in its French translation. La Revue des livres pour enfants, N° 269, Février 2013, BnF-Centre national de la littérature pour la jeunesse, Paris, 2013. |
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Feature issue of Bookbird focusing on children's literature from the countries of the Commonwealth. Bookbird, Vol. 51, issue 1, 2013. Hope in Indian children's cinema, the power of Caribbean poetry, legends from Cape Town's Table Mountain in South African stories, an Australian award for information books, and developing children's reading in the Bahamas, are some of the articles in this issue. Shorter pieces focus on aspects of New Zealand national identity in picture books, emergent children's literature in Mauritius and African qualities in South African children's literature. Reviews of secondary literature include titles from Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa and the USA and "postcard" reviews of children's books cover different parts of the globe. Focus IBBY reports on the 2012 IBBY Congress and carries a tribute to the late Margaret Mahy. |
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ALMA 2013 winner Isol features on the cover of Bookbird, Vol. 51, Issue 2, 2013. One of Isol's titles, El Globo, one of 3 picture books that are discussed in a lively article on maternal aggression and women's empowerment. Other articles consider the work of Russian author, Liudmila Ulitskaia, a Chinese fairy tale, literature in multicultural education in Finland and shorter articles focusing on children and books and on the Turkish children's book market. Secondary literature reviewed comes from Slovenia, Ukraine, colonial India and Colombia and also includes a discussion of a volume of essays about Tomi Ungerer on his eightieth birthday. The reviews of children's books offer diversity of themes and locations, reflecting the ever-growing range of literature for younger readers. Focus IBBY catches up with IBBY news, including a report of the Encounters conference organized by IBBY France, and from Japan an update on the Children in Crisis project and the IBBY-JBBY-Asahi Shimbun symposium in Tokyo, and the laudation given by the president of the HCA jury at the 2012 award ceremony. Bookbird can be read on-line through Project Muse. |
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Promotion of Reading seminar in Lviv, Ukraine Organizers: Next Page Foundation (Bulgaria) and NGO Publishers' Forum (Ukraine) For more information visit this page. |
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Frankfurt Book Fair, Germany Guests of honour: Brazil. IBBY participation at the stand of the German Section of IBBY.
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Federica Azzanutto (IBBY Italy)
Nathalie Beau (IBBY France)
Sabine Fuchs (IBBY Austria)
Azucena Galindo Ortega (IBBY Mexico)
Ranka Javor (IBBY Croatia)
Maria Kulik (IBBY Poland)
Annick Lorant-Jolly (BnF-CNLJ, for IBBY France)
Oksana Lushchevska (University of Georgia, for IBBY Ukraine)
Leelo Märjamaa (IBBY Estonia)
Erik Titusson (IBBY Sweden)
Serpil Ural (IBBY Turkey)
To subscribe to the IBBY European Newsletter, please send an e.mail to: subscribe.
