ICBD events organized by the Armenian IBBY section

This is the 4th year that the Armenian National Section of IBBY , together with the National Children's Library after Khnko Aper, has celebrated the ICBD. This year we organized various interesting and entertaining events. There was a performance titled “Fairy tales’ casket” for the little story lovers, also there was a presentation of a new children’s book titled Հասկեր (Hasker, Wheat ears) by Edit Print Publishing House. During the day there were also other events such as reading aloud hours, storytelling and book discussions in the library.

The performance “Fairy tales’ casket". © IBBY Armenia

Workshop for Armenian translators with Daniel Hahn, May 18-20, 2016

In 2015 the Armenian National Section of IBBY with the support of IBBY Yamada Fund 2015 launched a contest/workshop project entitled “Young adults and the environment” for the Armenian writers and illustrators. During that project a contest was announced for our young and middle-age writers and illustrators the aim of which was the creation of a book (titled “7 colors”) for young adults with the best joint works of writers and illustrators.
Workshops both for writers and illustrators were also organized as part of the project.
The workshop for writers was run by German writer Manfred Theisen and the workshop for illustrators was run by Belgian illustrator Klaas Verplancke.

Daniel Hahn with the participants of the workshop. © IBBY Armenia

This year the Armenian National Section of IBBY with the support of IBBY Yamada Fund 2016 launched the continuation of the contest/workshop project entitled “Young adults and the environment”.

A contest and a workshop for Armenian translators of literature for children and young adults was organized.

On 18-20 May 2016 the British writer, translator and editor Daniel Hahn ran a 3-day workshop for Armenian translators.

The workshop gave the 15 participants the opportunity first of all to exchange experiences, to discuss the international current trends in translation of the literature meant for children and young adults with a professional from abroad. This newly gained knowledge and professional skills in translation work will certainly help the participants.

In June the jury and Daniel Hahn selected the best translators from among the 15 participants. The winners will translate (into English) the stories included in the book "7 colors" that was published during the 2015 project.  

The English version of the book will be published and presented to Armenian young readers at the end of 2016 and presented at the Bologna Book Fair 2017.

“Read & Change” – World Book Day – 23rd April

On the occasion of the World Book Day, the Association of Greek Publishers and Booksellers launched a big campaign named “Read & Change”. In cooperation with the Hellenic Authors’ Society, the Greek Section of IBBY cooperated and participated in the specially organized events from 2nd to 23rd April, 2016. More specifically, book events and workshops took place in libraries, schools, book clubs, publishing houses etc. The events peaked with a Book Walk around bookshops in Athens which remained open till late at night. On behalf of the Greek Section of IBBY, the authors Vagelis Iliopoulos and Athina Biniou visited the oncology hospital “Hope” and read excerpts from Georges Sari' s children’s books.

A workshop for teachers on bullying at school

13th International Book Exhibition in Thessaloniki

The Greek Section of IBBY participated in the 13th International Book Exhibition in Thessaloniki in May 2016 having its own stand. The visitors were given the chance to get useful information for IBBY Greece’s activities, get posters and bookmarks related to the anti-bullying campaign, the International Children’s Book Day 2016 and the campaign “Read & Change”. The visitors participated in the activities“A word for little refugees” and “Once upon a time…”. In parallel, there was a workshop for children named “Read & Change” and a seminar for teachers on the topic “With the books on your side, say to violence ‘step aside’ – Using children’s literature to deal with the phenomenon of bullying at schools” in collaboration with the Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki.  

Elizabeth Poe and Vagelis Iliopoulos

1st Educational Seminar for the Reading Activists group

The 1st educational seminar for the Reading Activists group took place in IBBY Greece premises in May 2016. The seminar was held by Dr. Elizabeth Poe (Author, Children’s/Young adult literature Consultant, USA) and the coordinator of the group, Vagelis Iliopoulos (Author).

"The Most Bizzare Book"

“A Journey to the Pages of the Most Bizarre Book” A Workshop for children / “Routes in Marpissa” festival on the island of Paros

The Greek Section of IBBY participated in the cultural festival “Routes in Marpissa” organizing the activity “A Journey to the Pages of the Most Bizarre Book” based on children’s literature books which are related to sea journeys and travelling on a boat. After the end of the festival, the books were donated to the Primary school of Marpissa as part of the activity “Read & Share”.

"Engaging Greek children with books by HCA Award-winning authors via Readers Theatre"

Participation in the 35th Congress of IBBY in Auckland, New Zealand

The Vice President and Liaison Officer of IBBY Greece, Eva Kaliskami, participated in the congress events where she also presented the paper "Engaging Greek children with books by Hans Christian Andersen Award winning authors via Readers Theatre", with Dr. Elizabeth Poe (USA) and Katherine Paterson (USA).

European Cultural Heritage Days 2016  - “YES to Tolerance – NO to violence: Literary Narratives for Refugees”

In collaboration with the Municipality of Kallithea and the Network for Children’s Rights, the Greek Section of IBBY participated in the events celebrating the 2016 European Cultural Heritage Days for the second consecutive year. “YES to Tolerance – NO to Violence: Literary Narratives for Refugees” was the theme of the event organized by IBBY Greece. More specifically, the event was based on the narration of literary excerpts by Greek authors who are also members of IBBY Greece and their work refers to “persecution and refugees” in Greek, Arabic and Farsi. At the same time, the audience participated in the event through the activity “A Thought and a Word for the Refugees” leaving its mark on the “Ship of Tolerance”. Τhe event brought writers, educators, refugees, parents and a crowd of enthusiastic young children together to celebrate tolerance and denounce violence through story-sharing activities.

From Germany

IBBY Germany now on Facebook!

We are happy to announce the launch of our official Facebook page with news from the German IBBY section/Arbeitskreis für Jugendliteratur!

German Children's Literature Award 2016

This year, the German Children's Literature Award (Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis) is celebrating its 60th anniversary. Since 1956 the prize has been given annually to outstanding works of children's and young adult literature. From the beginning it has always been an international award, thus, books from all languages are eligible – provided that they have been translated and published in German.

On 21 October 2016, Dr. Ralf Kleindiek, State Secretary at the German Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, announced this year's winners during a ceremony at Frankfurt Book Fair.

The jury of literature specialists and critics awarded the following books: In the category picture book Der Hund, den Nino nicht hatte (Bohem Press; original title: Den hondje dat Nino niet had, Eenhoorn; English version: The Dog That Nino Didn't Have, Eerdmans Books for Young Readers) written by Edward van de Vendel, illustrated by Anton van Hertbruggen and translated from Dutch by Rolf Erdorf; in the category children's books Das Mädchen Wadjda (cbt Verlag; original title: The Green Bicycle, Puffin Books) by Hayfa Al Mansour, translated from English by Catrin Frischer; in the category young adult books Mädchenmeute (rowohlt; title in English: Girl Pack) by Kirsten Fuchs; in the category non-fiction Im Eisland. Die Franklin-Expedition (Hinstorff; title in English: In the Land of Ice. The Franklin Expedition) by Kristina Gehrmann.

The young adult jury, which consists of six reading clubs from all over Germany, honoured Sommer unter schwarzen Flügeln (Oetinger; title in English: The Summer of Black Wings) by Peer Martin. All five categories carry a value of 10,000 Euros.

The 2016 "Sonderpreis" (Special Award for Lifetime Achievement) was given to the author Klaus Kordon, whose meticulously researched historic novels are told from the ordinary people's perspective. His work illustrates the link between past and present. The Special Award is set at 12,000 Euros. Furthermore, all laureates receive a bronze statuette depicting the character "Momo" from Michael Ende's children's classic. For more information go to http://www.djlp.jugendliteratur.org/preistraeger_bilderbuch-14.html

Group photo of the award winners © Anna Meuer/AKJ	Members of the young adult jury presenting their winner on stage © Anna Meuer/AKJ

60th anniversary anthology

To mark the German Children’s Literature Award’s 60th anniversary, an anthology with stories by 20 past awardees was published under the title Was ist los vor meiner Tür? (What Is Going on in front of my Door?) in August 2016. Authors from all over the world have contributed to the volume: Martin Baltscheit, Kirsten Boie, Davide Calì, Vincent Cuvellier, Inés Garland, Peter Härtling, Susan Kreller, RoseLagercrantz, Marjaleena Lembcke, Bart Moeyaert, Iva Procházková, Mirjam Pressler, Maris Putninš, Jutta Richter, Jenny Robson, Andreas Steinhöfel, Tami Shem-Tov, Shaun Tan, Toon Tellegen and Robert Paul Weston. The stories are about diversity, open mindedness, tolerance and living together peacefully. They have been illustrated by prize winner Aljoscha Blau.

For more information see www.jugendliteratur.org
"Was ist los vor meiner Tür?"
20 Geschichten der Besten zum 60. Geburtstag des Deutschen Jugendliteraturpreises
edited by Stephanie Jentgens
illustrated by Aljoscha Blau
published by Verlagshaus Jacoby & Stuart
176 pages, 24,00 €, age: 8+
ISBN 978-3-942787-87-1

Liz Page in discussion with Rotraut Susanne Berner and Susanne Helene Becker © AKJ

Hans Christian Andersen Award at the Frankfurt Book Fair

On Thursday, 20 October 2016, IBBY hosted a panel session at the Frankfurt Book Fair focusing on the 2016 Hans Christian Andersen Awards. Liz Page discussed with the German illustrator Rotraut Susanne Berner, winner of the 2016 Illustration Award, and Dr Susanne Helene Becker, President of IBBY Germany/Arbeitskreis für Jugendliteratur.

For more information go to Facebook.

1001 languages – a project by the reading club “Bücherpiraten” (Book Pirates)

Promoters of reading all over the world agree: A child’s first contact with a book should always be in its native language. Demand for bilingual books is enormous, but unfortunately there are very few available. To change this, the reading club Bücherpiraten (Book Pirates) from Lübeck, Germany, invented a special project: They invite children to create bilingual picture books with them.

To kick off the project, Bücherpiraten organized workshops giving children the chance to work on their own picture book. After the workshops, the books were translated by professional translators into six base languages: Arabic, English, French, Mandarin, Russian and Spanish. Using the seven language versions as a basis, a whole slew of volunteer native speakers translate the stories into as many languages as possible. So, the number of language combinations is growing more and more. Families and promoters of reading from all over the world have the possibility to download the books for free in two optional languages. 

The aim of the 1001 language project is a database full of bilingual books written by children, for children. Promoters of reading from all over the world are invited to upload stories created by children. Project coordinator Martin Gries explains: “We check the new stories and let them translate into different languages. The more the merrier.” Volunteer native speakers willing to translate the books into their mother tongue are also welcome to get in touch with the Bücherpiraten.

Further information on uploading own stories, translating the books, downloading them, and general descriptions of the project can be found on www.bilingual-picturebooks.org

Photos from the workshops © Bücherpiraten	Photos from the workshops © Bücherpiraten

From Italy

Silent Books: Destination Lampedusa Call to all IBBY National Sections for 2017 Silent Books Collection Once again IBBY Italy would like to ask for your support and your collaboration for the third edition of the international project Silent books: Destination Lampedusa. The IBBY project that collects the best picture books published without words. As you know the previous the Silent Book collections have been invaluable for the creation of the children’s library in Lampedusa, they have been the basis for the two travelling exhibitions that are being shown around the world, and have also formed a research collection at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome. The travelling exhibition is a wonderful IBBY programme that can give support to the many projects that are designed to help refugee children and their families in different countries. For more information, please write to: ibbyitalia@gmail.com.   Please choose the best books your country publishes and send them! The books, which must be without any text, should be accompanied by an official form, which can be downloaded from the IBBY website or from IBBY Italia. Please send three copies of each title, before 27 January 2017, to: Servizi Educativi Attention Giulia Franchi Palazzo delle Esposizioni Via Nazionale 194 00184 Rome Italy From Slovakia The National Evaluation seminar focused on Slovak culture for children and youth 2015 This annual event that took place on 20 April 2016 was organized by SKBBY and BIBIANA, the International House of Art for children, in cooperation with the Faculty of Pedagogy of Comenius University in Bratislava. The seminar is an important specialized platform for members of the academic community, teachers, authors, illustrators, publishers and university students (future teachers). The aim of the seminar is to evaluate the past-year’s book production; the tradition is to have separate evaluations for the literary standard of texts and for the illustration and design. Special attention was paid to the quality of the past year's theatre production for children and youth in Slovakia; the evaluation covered all types of theatre forms and permanent stages. Similar attention was paid to radio production for children (radio monologue stories and plays). During the seminar the Ľudmila Podjavorinska Honorary Plaque 2015, granted by SKBBY for extraordinary contribution to promotion of Slovak culture for children and youth, was presented to Professor Svatava Urbanová from the Czech Republic who also presented an evaluating overview of Czech book production for children and youth in 2015 at the seminar. Children’s Book Days The Children’s Book Days festival took place on 3-5 May 2016 to mark the festivities of the International Children’s Book Day (IBBY). This travelling festival started 33 years ago. Every spring one of the Slovak libraries hosts a several-day festival. The festival activities include introduction to the local community of representatives of all professions working in the SK IBBY, namely authors and illustrators of children’s books, journalists and various professionals who have children’s book-related jobs. They visit schools, kindergartens, participate in festive programmes/shows, discussions, competitions, literature and illustration workshops and a national seminar on reading. All this is done to promote the message of International Children’s Book Day. The message is translated into Slovak and promoted on this occasion. The festival also is an opportunity to present IBBY and SK IBBY activities throughout the regions of Slovakia. The Petržalka local library took the baton and hosted the festival for the first time in its 33-year history. Participants - speakers and artists invited to a cafe Better World provided by the social institution for people with special needs. The summary of this year’s festival is remarkable: 1077 participants, 43 discussions and workshops with authors and illustrators in Petržalka schools, kindergartens and branches of the Petržalka local library, the BAB Animation Express, the Big Reader Olympics, the national seminar On the Way to the Readers/with the Readers and several exhibitions of illustrations. In addition, there was the opening of a new branch of the Petržalka local library for children in the local hospital. The new branch houses a permanent exhibition of copies of award-winning illustrations from the Biennial of Illustrations Bratislava. The aims of the festival include encouraging reading within the community. For that reason a specialized seminar is one of the features of the festival agenda. This year the seminar was planned to encourage librarians, teachers, parents and all adults who work with children and youth to find more lasting ways to the readership, to know how to develop children’s inner motivation to cultivate their perception, and to evoke their interest in the variety of what they have read. There were six presenters at the seminar who discussed issues related to all age groups of children and youth. Attention was also paid to reading for toddlers. The seminar included a display of reading combined with motion, which is one of the methods used to activate perception in children. This method has been successful also with children with a "schematic-thinking tendency". The Big Reader Olympics was included in the past four years of the festival agenda. The activity is not a competition in knowledge of literature but it is a reader contest checking perception with understanding of the text, attention, focus, speed and quality of reading and oral and writing skills. The organizers of this year’s festival focused on the quality of book production. Children had opportunities to meet with the authors and illustrators who won awards in the two last years of the competitions for The Best and the Most Beautiful Books of Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter (organized by BIBIANA, The International House of Art for Children, and the Slovak IBBY Section). A festival with this kind of focus is a valuable opportunity for our producers of books for children and youth to meet their readers face-to-face in various regions of Slovakia and also to meet with those who use children’s book in their work. The local community can also benefit from the exceptional opportunity to get to know those who are developing the book culture for children and youth. The credit goes to BIBIANA, The International House of Art for Children, for installing its timely exhibitions that present the book production during the festival. Illustrator's workshop with Juraj Martisk Illustrator's workshop with Martin Kellenberger Illustrators workshop with Alena Wagnerova THE EUROPEAN FAIRY TALES exhibition in BIBIANA (9th June – 3rd July 2016) This exhibition presented fairy tales from the European Union. It outlined the similarities and inter-connections between national cultural traditions along with their common ground in European spiritual culture. The origins of most European fairy tales go back to Early Medieval pre-Christian communities and there are some ethnologists who believe that some of them even derive from the common Indo-European background. The exhibition presented 28 fairy tale illustrations which have won awards at an event given by BIBIANA or SKBBY, namely the Biennial of Illustrations Bratislava, The Most Beautiful Books of Slovakia, and the quarterly competition for The Most Beautiful and the Best Children’s Books in Slovakia, as well as the IBBY Honour List. The exhibited illustrations were accompanied by more than a hundred of the most representative book titles of European fairy tales from the unique collection of the BIBIANA Library. The exhibition was arranged to offer visitors comfortable spaces to read the selected stories. The exhibition was not only based on the European tradition of fairy tales, but it also offered the visitors books that had been published in various countries, in many European languages and illustrated by artists from multiple countries. The exhibition included an interactive map of the European Union. Children could test their knowledge of geography and, above all, discover known and less-known fairy tale stories from Portugal to Estonia, from Sweden to Malta. They could also use a guidebook about European fairy tales that was produced especially for the exhibition to help identify the characteristic fairy tale from a certain country, attach a magnet with the relevant illustration and find the country on the map. The Most Beautiful and the Best Books of Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter 2015 On 30th June 2016 we gave the traditional awards for winning books of each quarterly season. Every year SKBBY sets up a three-member jury to evaluate the best books (literary qualities) and the most beautiful books (illustrations) throughout the year. The evaluations have been growing ever more popular with publishers and the public alike. The aim of the award is to work as an incentive for publishers to produce quality books. The award is granted by SKBBY and BIBIANA, the International House of Art for Children.