3 questions to... Deborah Soria

In this column we address 3 questions to a member of a European Section of IBBY. In this issue, meet Deborah Soria, from IBBY Italy! Do you have a name to suggest for the next issue? Send us a mail!

1. During the IBBY Congress in London, you presented the "Silent books project: from the world to Lampadusa and back". Can you tell us about it? This project was created thinking of the many migrant children that pass through our country, crossing the sea from the north of africa. We wanted to build a library for them and for every child that needs to cross a boundary and reach out to the world. Lampedusa is a small island in the middle of the mediterranean sea, it needs the attention of every one that believes books can change people's futures because it has never had a library. Children of Lampedusa cannot have the help of books to grow up, and they are exposed to big problems. That is why I think IBBY is the perfect place for this project. We are asking every section to send the best Silent books (books with no text) they can find in their country, to build up a new library where, it doesn't matter where you come from, or what your language is, you will find a story to tell you you are safe, for a while.

A view of the beach in Lampadusa. © Deborah Soria

	We also would like to build a collection, for studies and research, in the Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome, for students to work on books without words. As well as a travelling exhibition for countries to learn what the best look like and start from there, and make more Silent books. A detailed presentation of the project can be found here.
Lampadusa. © Deborah Soria

2. IBBY Italy has many ongoing projects. Which one is your favourite?

I don't really have a favourite project, I think my favourite IBBY "thing" is this passion you can feel in everyone, this trust we have in the future, and in the help a book can give. I like IBBY people, they strongly believe in what they do, and that is a rare quality in our days.

3. What is your favourite spot in Rome, the one you would recommend all our readers to go to?

Well, Rome is a magical town, it's not about all the ancient "stones" it's about the light. You fall in love at once and forever when you realize how intense and different the light is in Rome. Even people, like me, who have lived here all their life, cannot understand how it can be so beautiful.

So I recommend to take a very slow walk across the city center, following the river, without looking at your guide book, just gazing at the light!

Echoes from the European sections

IBBY at the Frankfurt book fair

Frankfurt Book Fair 2012 October 10 to 14 saw the annual Frankfurt Book Fair take place.  IBBY International was once a guest of the Arbeitskreis für Jugendliteratur – IBBY Germany at their stand in hall 3.0.  The visitors to the stand are numerous and often it becomes a meeting place for IBBY members from around the world.   Coming so soon after the IBBY congress in London, happy memories were exchanged with participants.   The big event for IBBY Germany is always the announcement and presentation of the Deutsche Jugendliteraturpreis.  The Friday evening event has grown and grown over the past few years and now the number of guests is well over 1,000 and the auditorium was full.  2012 also saw a very special IBBY event take place.  On Friday morning a special podium took place to discuss the Hans Christian Andersen Awards.  Miriam Gabriela Möllers (Germany) introduced the panel which comprised Junko Yokota (USA), Wally de Doncker (Belgium), David Almond (UK) and Roger Mello (Brazil).  This illustrious panel talked about IBBY and the Andersen award and the continuing significance of them.  This year there was evidence of the boom in ebooks for children with many more stands devoted to this new medium. A video of the panel is available on youtube.

Junko Yokota, Wally de Doncker, Miriam Gabriela Möllers, David Almond and Roger Mello. ©

From Turkey

Symposium on Aytul Akal, a Turkish Author of Children's Books

The Department of Comparative Literature of Osman Gazi University organized a symposium on the works of Aytül Akal, a prolific author of children's books, on 9th - 11 May, as the fifth of the series of symposiums on living authors of children's and young adult literature in Turkey. Akal has been writing books for children of all ages since 1991 and her works count up to more than a hundred, thirty-two of which have been translated to Dutch, English, Spanish, Persian, Bulgarian, and Arabic. Several of her stories are included in the textbooks of primary education. The Symposium was attended by numerous academics, authors, illustrators, press representatives and students of literature. Eighty-six papers dealing with different aspects of Akal's works were presented, followed by discussions. One of the highlights of the Symposium was the presentation of the international award for "Service to Children's Literature" of Azerbaijan to Aytul Akal.

Aytul Akal and the President of Osman Gazi University. ©Ayda Ataman

Children's Books to Celebrate 4th Centennial of Turkish-Dutch Relations

2012 being the 4th Centennial of Turkish – Dutch relations, two bilingual children's books were prepared in Turkey with the financial support of the Turkish Government. These story books, one for 6+ age group and the other for 8+ were to be distributed to children in Turkey and in the Netherlands.

In the course of this project, IBBY National Sections of Turkey and The Netherlands co-operated and 300 of the new books were sent to Leiden from Ankara to be distributed in schools at the Amsterdam area.

Furthermore, Dutch children's books will be displayed during the annual Istanbul Book Fair in November because the Guest Country of this year's Fair is the Netherlands.

 

From Ukraine

	Ukrainian Picture Books in the White Ravens 2012 Catalogue Marjana Savka's poem A Tale about an Old Lion with illustrations by Volodymyr Shtanko as well as Romana Romanyshyn's and Andrij Lesiv's illustrative interpretation of a traditional Ukrainian folk tale The Mitten were included in the White Ravens 2012.
A Tale about an Old Lion		The Mitten

The Third International Symposium "Literature. Children. Time"

The Third International Symposium "Literature. Children. Time" was held from May 23 till May 25, 2012 in the town of Zhovkva, in the Lviv region of Ukraine. Organized by the non-profit organizations The Ukrainian Research Center for Children's and Young Adult Literature and The Foundation for Socio-cultural Development, the Symposium focused on the theme of "Literature for Children and Youth and the New Social Reality," which centered on various interpretations of major trends for the future development of Ukrainian literature for children and young adults and the transition to meet new societal changes.

The Committee members Uliana Hnidets, Marianna Kiyanovska, and Marjana Savka organized a number of concurrent sessions and round tables that brought together scholars, librarians, educators, authors, and parents from different parts of Ukraine. The discussants reviewed the major criteria of children's literature and its theoretical perspectives; singled out changes in contemporary literary topics and the interconnections of children's books with the Internet; highlighted the modes of digital literacy; and stressed the process of the development of children's readership and literacy for modernity.

"Besides its theoretical component, the Symposium became an umbrella for awarding a literary prize "The Great Hedgehog," which became the first independently financed Ukrainian literary award for an author of a book for children or young adults in Ukraine. On May 25, the Head of the prize committee, Marianna Kiyanovska, announced the winner. Valentyn Berdt, a writer of teen fiction, was awarded "The Great Hedgehog" for his book My Friend Yurko Tsyrkul and Others. The prize was 1000 €.

"The Great Hedgehog" aims to focus the attention of all Ukrainians on literature for children and young adults and to ensure commercial success for books that promote a humanistic system of values that are traditional for Ukrainian literature. The Committee members believe that ensuring the popularity of a high-quality literature for children and young adults will motivate children to read.

 

© Oleksandr Novitsky

The Committee also selected nine finalists among books for children and young adults:

In the poetry category:

• Hryhoriv, Mykhailo. The Green Flower of Silence. Kyiv: Grani-T, 2010.
  
• Holoborodko, Vasyl. A Mitten Full Of Poems. Kyiv: Grani-T, 2010.
  
• Skyba, Roman. Balamutynky. Lviv: The Old Lion Publishing House, 2011.

In the children's books and young adult books category:

• Berdt, Valentyn. My Friend Yurko Tsyrkul and Others. Lviv: The Old Lion Publishing House, 2010.
  
• Dermansky, Sashko. A Wonderful Monster in a Country of Beasts. Kyiv: A-BA-BA-HA-LA-MA-HA, 2010.
  
• Matiyash, Dzvenyslava. Pyatynka's Tales. Kyiv: Grani-T, 2010.
  
• Rosich, Oleksa. Giovanni Trapatoni. Lviv: The Old Lion Publishing House, 2010.
  
• Pavlenko, Maryna. A series of four teen novels. The Mermaid from the 7th Grade. Vinnytsya: Teza, 2004-2011.

Ukraine received a diploma in the "The Art of Books" International Contest

The Grani-T Ukrainian publishing house was awarded a third-grade diploma in the nomination category of "A Book for Children and Young Adults" for the book Salty and Chef Tara-pata, written by co-authors Oksana Lushchevska and Lana Svitankova at the International competition "The Art of Books," which was held in Astana, Kazakhstan.

An Award for Presentation of Historical Themes

On June 1 Volodymyr Rutkivsky, a prominent award-winning Ukrainian writer of historical fiction for children and young adults, and a laureate of the Shevchenko National Literature Award, created the first private literary award "Dzhury" for authors, illustrators, and researchers, who represent historical and national themes in their writings, art, or research.

 

From Russia

IBBY Russia at the Moscow International Book Fair

5-11, September, 2012 IBBY Russia jointly with its Saint-Petersburg branch traditionally took part in the Moscow International Book Fair (MIBF), the largest book forum in Russia. There were more than 1450 exhibitors from 45 countries of the world. The honourable guest of this jubilee 25th MIBF was France, the country with brilliant literary traditions. The main exhibitor of this Fair was Armenia. Its capital, Yerevan, was announced by UNESCO the World Book's capital – 2012. Byelorussia, Germany, Italy, Norway, Israel and many others countries participated in the international programme of the Fair.

How to attract children's and young people's attention to the book was a very special item in the MIBF programme. September 8 was the Children's Day at the Fair. All visitors could take part in the festival "Living book's illustrations" and in the meeting "Children's books are an open window to the world". The Russian IBBY stand was constantly busy with numerous specialists and MIBF visitors of all ages. This year the unique 2012 IBBY Honour List books were exhibited on the stand as well as the books of 2012 H.C. Andersen Award laureates – Maria Teresa Andruetto and Peter Sís; the books of Russian Andersen nominee Gennady Spirin and the books of the Russian 2012 IBBY HL laureates – Andrey Usachev, Igor Oleinikov and Lubov' Gorlina.

At IBBY Russia Stand. Angela Lebedeva, Director of IBBY Russia and Ekaterina Zagorskaya, Chief of the Department of Cultural Programmes at Central City Children's Library named after A.Pushkin, Secretary of Saint-Petersburg branch of IBBY Russia. © Oleg Kumanov, Pionerskaya Pravda children's newspaper.

At IBBY Russia's stand were the books of the laureates of the 1st and 2nd Competition named after Sergey Mihalkov for the best literary works for adolescents, which was established by Russian Cultural Foundation and IBBY Russia in 2007 (www.svmihalkov.ru). Lately this contest was transformed to the large project with the slogan "Children – today, the people – tomorrow" . Within this project during last year children's libraries named after Sergey Mihalkov opened in Magnitogorsk, Kaliningrad (Russia), Tskhinvali (South Ossetia), and Bilgoraj (Poland).

The fifth solemn ceremony of “The Image of a Book” the All-Russian Contest of Book Illustrations took place in the frames of MIBF.  We are proud to announce that at this ceremony IBBY Russia President, Honoured Artist of Russia, Victor Chizhikov was awarded by the Jury a special diploma –“For outstanding contribution to the art of book’s illustration and faithfulness to the aesthetic principles”.

As we all know, the participation and work at book fairs is always a great experience fornew meetings, professional contacts, new ideas, plans and projects. At this Moscow Fair among visitors to the IBBY Russia stand were writers and illustrators, publishers and librarians, editors and other specialists from Russia and abroad. Most of them were not only looking with great interest at the IBBY Honour List – 2012, but examined them with the words of thanks for the opportunity to see so many beautiful books from all over the world.

From Germany

Translator's Workshop Kein Kinderspiel! – No Child's Play!
16th to 21st September 2012 in Hamburg

This summer the Arbeitskreis für Jugendliteratur (IBBY Germany) with financial sponsor the Robert Bosch Foundation, organized for the third time a workshop focusing on translation of literature for young readers and the role of the translator. Regina Pantos, former president of IBBY Germany, conducted the workshop.

This workshop offer is a unique event as there are no comparable workshops for translators of children's books. For the three workshops IBBY Germany received 230 applications from all over the world, which shows that this kind of support and exchange is much needed by professional translators.

Translating literature for young readers requires special abilities and deserves high recognition. But quite often translators are not mentioned at all in the work they have translated. Yet they are mediators who open up the world of international literature to our children at an early age. Kein Kinderspiel! is a workshop for translators of German-language literature for young readers. Its purpose is to enable 15 translators from different countries who translate children's and youth literature from German into their native languages to gather for a one-week, all-expenses-paid workshop. There, supported by German translator Tobias Scheffel, they focused on such issues as youth jargon, comedy and irony, cultural and political taboos and the ethical responsibility of the translator.

Dr. Maja Pflüger from the Robert Bosch Stiftung (2nd from left), Regina Pantos (7th from left)
and translator Tobias Scheffel (5th from right) together with participants of Kein Kinderspiel! 2012. © AKJ

Coming from a wide range of nationalities – this summer participants were from Brazil, Egypt, France, Georgia, Greece, India, Iran, Italy, Montenegro, Poland, Spain, Russia and Taiwan. During the workshop participants discussed these topics from their very diverse perspectives. Parallel to the main programme, the translators were offered readings by the German authors Isabel Abedi and Andreas Steinhöfel, conversations with publishers and booksellers, visits to illustrators and they also met with the group of young readers who were former members of the young adult jury of the German Children's Literature Award. In a series of lectures the participants received information on trends of the German book market and on current book reviewing in literary journals and on the Internet.

Information about the current conditions for translators of children's and youth literature in Germany and opportunities for financial subsidies completed the programme. The workshop will be offered again in August 2013, information will be available in March 2013 at www.jugendliteratur.org. The application deadline is May 2nd, 2013.

The German Children's Literature Award 2012 On October 12th, 2012 the State secretary Lutz Stroppe, Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, announced the prize winners of the German Children's Literature Award 2012 to an audience of 1,200 guests at the Frankfurt Book Fair. The Award is the only state-sponsored prize for fiction in Germany and has been awarded since 1956 and is sponsored by the Federal Ministry of Family, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth. The 2012 Sonderpreis (special award for lifetime achievement) was given to the illustrator Norman Junge on account of "the  beauty and freedom that his work embodies and its acknowledgment of the reality of fantasy" and his “distinctive and memorable pictures which express the language of phantasy”. The prize is a statue of Momo and 10,000 €. The Jury of Adult Critics awarded the following books:
	Special Award Winner for Illustration Norman Junge giving his acceptance speech. © AKJ / José Poblete
In the picture book category: Mia schläft woanders (Mia’s first sleep-over) by Pija Lindenbaum, translated from Swedish by Kerstin Behnken. In the children's books category: Frerk, du Zwerg! (Frerk, you dwarf!) by Finn-Ole Heinrich, illustrated by Rán Flygenring. In the category young adult books: Es war einmal Indianerland (Once upon a time there was Indian’s land) by Nils Mohl. In the non-fiction for children and youth category: Was, wenn es nur so aussieht, als wäre ich da? (What, if it just looks like I’m here?) by Oscar Brenifier, illustrated by Jacques Després, translated from French by Norbert Bolz.
Members of the Young Adult Jury present all their nominations and finally their winner on stage © AKJ / José Poblete	The Young Adult Jury honoured Sieben Minuten nach Mitternacht (A Monster Calls) by Patrick Ness, illustrated by Jim Kay, translated from English by Bettina Abarbanell. All five awards include prize money of 8,000 € and a Momo. For more information visit: www.djlp.jugendliteratur.org/preistraeger_bilderbuch-14.html
Apart from the award ceremony the Arbeitskreis für Jugendliteratur (AKJ, German IBBY section) hosted a number of other events at the Frankfurt Book Fair. During the book fair the AKJ presented all nominated books for the German’s Children’s Literature Award at its booth, which is also the representation for IBBY at the book fair. All nominees were invited to a reception before the ceremony and the winners joined Susanne Helene Becker, chair of the Jury of Adult Critics, for a talk at the Lesezelt (reading tent) on Saturday morning. Afterwards the winner of the children’s books category, Finn-Ole Heinrich, presented his book at the Azubistro, a special stage organized by bookseller trainees. Thanks to a cooperation with the German Translator’s Union (Verband deutschsprachiger Übersetzer) another talk and book presentation took place on Friday morning in the Translator’s Lounge (Weltempfang) of the book fair. Iwona Chmielewska and her translator and publisher Adam Jaromir presented their picture book Blumkas Tagebuch. Vom Leben in Janusz Korczaks Waisenhaus (Blumkas Diary. About the life in Janusz Korczak’s orphanage). The AKJ invited members of the Jury of Adult Critics and the Young Adult Jury to a get-together where they had an active discussion about their jury work.
Group photo with all award winners and some members of the jurys © AKJ / José Poblete

From the United Kingdom

Chinese illustrators in London

Links between IBBY UK and the Chinese Section of IBBY (CBBY) were firmly established at the London Book Fair at Earls Court in April this year when we co-hosted a seminar featuring both Chinese and UK illustrators. The seminar was the highlight of what became a series of meetings between illustrators from both countries. Two exhibitions featuring the work of the visiting illustrators were held, one of reproductions at the M.P. Birla Gallery, near Earls Court, and the other, of original works, at the British Museum.

The Birla Gallery was the venue for an exhibition of China’s contemporary children’s illustrations and picture books. On the morning of the Book Fair seminar, UK illustrators John Burningham, Michael Foreman and Carol Thompson (a member of the IBBY UK committee) had an opportunity to meet their Chinese counterparts: Jiang Jianwen, Xiong Liang and Liam Peilong, to look at their work and discuss art training and publishing opportunities in each country. The picture book is not an established genre in China and it is only with the exposure to western books in recent years that there has been an increased interest in this art form. Mingzhou Zhang, (Vice-President of CBBY) was instrumental in the organisation of all aspects of this exchange and facilitated these discussions.

The afternoon seminar at the Book Fair was entitled ‘Forum of Children’s Picture Books Art in China and Western Countries’ and attracted a lot of interest with more than 80 people attending. Michael Foreman presented illustrations of drawings made during his travels in China and Asia and showed how some of these drawings became finished art work in his later books. Clive Barnes (Chair of IBBY UK) and John Burningham did a double-act in presenting illustrations from his key works, accompanied by John’s comments. The Chinese illustrators – Jiang Jianwen, Xiong Liang and Liam Peilong – presented their work which often draws on traditional styles and materials, including the technique of painting on rice paper. They all shared an appreciation for British picture books and were enjoying their experience of visiting London.

The final element of the visit took place two days later at the British Museum where Anthony Browne spent two hours with the Chinese illustrators, viewing the main exhibition there and discussing his work and theirs in some detail, as well as being interviewed by a Chinese TV company.

We hope the contacts made during the visit will help to encourage further publication of British picture books in mainland China (many are already published in Taiwan). CBBY is associated with an ambitious project to publish the work of the Hans Christian Andersen Award recipients and nominees in China, including Anthony Browne, Michael Foreman and John Burningham, within the next few years. We hope, too, that it will lead to Chinese illustration for children becoming better known in this country.

Left to right: Xiong Liang, Sue Mansfield, Jiang Jianwen, Clive Barnes, John Burningham, Penni Cotton,
Mingzhou Zhang, Liang Peilong, Michael Foreman and Carol Thompson. © John Dunne

Poetry

The book of the presentations and workshop papers given at the 18th IBBY UK/NCRCL MA annual conference ‘It Doesn’t Have to Rhyme: Children and Poetry’ will be published in October by Pied Piper Publishing. The book is edited by Bridget Carrington and Jennifer Harding. It contains the presentations given by Morag Styles, Jacqueline Wilson, Michael Rosen, Susan Bassnett and Philip Gross; reports from the publishers on the panel; and workshop papers given by students, academics and others from a wide-variety of sectors.

The winner of the 2011 CLPE Poetry Award was Philip Gross for Off Road to Everywhere, illustrated by Jonathan Gross, Salt Publishing. Philip Gross is a novelist, poet, playwright and broadcaster. He is Professor of Creative Writing at Glamorgan University, Wales. This award is presented annually for a book of poetry published in the preceding year. It is administered by the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education.

2011 Kate Greenaway and Carnegie Medals For the first time the same book has won the Carnegie and Kate Greenaway medals. The book is A Monster Calls (Walker Books), with the Carnegie medal going to the author Patrick Ness and the Kate Greenaway medal going to the illustrator Jim Kay. It is also the second consecutive award of the Carnegie for Patrick Ness, his book Monsters of Men being the 2011 winner. Only once before has the Carnegie been won by the same author in consecutive years – by Peter Dickinson in 1979 and 1980. These medals are considered the most prestigious of UK awards. The awards are annual and are administered by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP). The Carnegie is awarded to the author of an outstanding book for children and young people. The winner of each receives a golden medal and £500 worth of books to donate to a library of their choice. No personal remuneration is given for the Carnegie. The Kate Greenaway is awarded annually for an outstanding book in terms of illustration for children and young people. Since 2000, the winner of the Kate Greenaway Medal has also been awarded the £5000 Colin Mears Award.

© 2011 Jim Kay

2011 Costa Children’s Book Award

The prize has been won by Moira Young for Blood Red Road (Marion Lloyd Books). This debut novel by a former chorus girl is a dystopian thriller. Before becoming a writer, she had also been an actress, comedian, opera singer, dancer and teacher. She came to London from her native Canada to perform on the stage. In 2003 she enrolled on a writing for children course.

The Costa Book Awards recognise the most enjoyable books of the last year by writers based in the UK and Ireland. The awards are administered by the Costa Coffee Company.

From Sweden

Ho Baek Lee wins the 2012 Peter Pan Award At the Gothenburg Book Fair on the 26th of September, the Swedish section of IBBY presented Ho Baek Lee with the 2012 Peter Pan Award. Ho Baek Lee is a South Korean picture book artist, who's book Ensam Hemma (While we were out) has been translated into several languages. The book features a rabbit who has plenty of fun alone at home while the family has gone to grandma's. The Peter Pan Award is given annually to a high quality children's book translated from a language or depicting a culture not highly represented among children's books published in Swedish. The aim is to encourage and spread awareness of books that enrich the selection of books presented to Swedish children. Receiving the Peter Pan Award means that IBBY Sweden and Gothenburg Book Fair invite the winner to Sweden to participate in the book fair and meet with children, writers, illustrators and publishers. IBBY Sweden also sends the book to all its members.

From Belgium

For the 8th time, the French Branch of IBBY Belgium has awarded its favourite novels and illustrated books Since 2005, the French Branch of IBBY Belgium organizes the yearly LIBBYLIT awards. These awards result from a selection of favourite books listed and appraised within the fortnightly magazine LIBBYLIT. Two juries are made up of people contributing to youth literature promotion (librarians, booksellers, teachers and storytellers). One of the jury centres on illustrated books while the other one centres on novels. The awards consist in chocolate statuettes of Manneken Pis (the most famous little boy in Belgium) and the winners are presented during the Belgian youth bookfair in Namur.
	Manneken Pis made of chocolate © R. Schmidt and D. Harvengt
In 2012, there were 3 awarded illustrated books. The jury decided to award Mélanie Rutten as Best Belgian illustrated book for Nour le moment venu (Nour, when the time comes), published by Editions Memo. Poetry, harmony and tenderness are the main keywords for this book, and Melanie Rutten knows how to create a world where time goes by slowly. Her characters are confronted with life torments, but friendship and love triumph over all ordeals. The Best illustrated book for early childhood has been given to Les mains de Papa (Daddy's hands), written and illustrated by Emile Jadoul and published by Pastel/L'Ecole des loisirs. This book was universally chosen because of its tenderness: what could be more protective than Daddy's hands embracing his baby? With a few onomatopoeias, joy and pleasure are at the heart of this book, introducing the central father figure of baby's first months. Fabrizio Silei (author) and Maurizio A.C. Quarello (illustrator) have been both awarded Best illustrated book for Le bus de Rosa (Rosa's bus), published by Sarbacane/Amnesty International. This story is about Rosa Parks, the first Afro-American who dared to sit on a bus set aside for white people only . A grandfather tells this soul-stirring story to his grandson: he was on the bus as well, but he was too cowardly and couldn't help admiring Rosa's courage. Warm colours contrast with black & white and guide us through the past and the present. Besides the History, scenes of everyday life contribute to change the world and the human rights. Emile Jadoul. © R. Schmidt and D. Harvengt

 Recent publications

IBBY Congress, London: British Children's Literature in the Twenty-First Century, Bookbird, Vol. 50. Issue 3 The third issue of Bookbird in 2012 brings together readings of contemporary British texts for children to help celebrate the 33rd IBBY Congress, hosted in London by IBBY UK. The feature articles offer studies of race, class, environmentalism, and colonial histories in recently published British children's books. The Children & Their Books columns focus on writing for young people by author Beverly Naidoo; on the Seven Stories collection from one of its librarians, Sarah Lawrence; on children's perspectives on their books, by Fiona Maine; and on being the Children's Laureate, by current Laureate Julia Donaldson. Studies of Donaldson, Jacqueline Wilson, and Mini Grey comprise the Letters, and several reviews of scholarly texts and new books for children, and Focus IBBY round out the issue.

Hans Christian Andersen Award Winners and Shortlist. Bookbird, Vol. 50. Issue 4  The final issue of 2012 offers studies of this year’s HCA Award-winning author, María Teresa Andruetto , and illustrator, Peter Sís, and of each of the wonderful artists and writers who comprise the rest of the HCA shortlist: Mohammed Ali Baniasadi, John Burningham, Roger Mello, Javier Zabala, Paul Fleischman, Bart Moeyaert, Jean-Claude Mourlevat and Bianca Pitzorno. The issue also includes columns on SIPAR and Abuelas Cuentacuentos, the organizations that won this year’s IBBY-Asahi Reading Promotion awards. Scholarly articles on a graphic novel, “game” books, and children as agents of social justice; a Letter on Chinese environmental author Liu Xianping; reviews of secondary texts and books for children, and Focus IBBY complete the issue. Bookbird can be read on-line through Project Muse. To subscribe, please fill out this form. More information on: IBBY's website.

Upcoming events

November 2012, March 2013

November
	30 November 2012 3rd European Encounter on Children's Literature, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris, France These biennial meetings bring together various experts from all over Europe who work in the field of books for young people. Through discussions and exchanges, authors and illustrators, editors, researchers, librarians and teachers will reflect on the creation of comparative literature in Europe, as well as publishing practices, mediation and promotion, from the point of view of a common professional culture, founded on mutual knowledge. Simultaneous translation in French and English will be provided. Contact: Nathalie Beau
	28 November - 3 December 2012 Montreuil Book Fair, France Theme: Adventure For more information: www.salon-livre-presse-jeunesse.net/accueil.html
March
	22 - 25 March 2013 Paris Book Fair, France Guests of honour: Romania and the city of Barcelona. For more information: http://www.salondulivreparis.com
	25 - 28 March 2013 Bologna Children's Book Fair, Italy 50th anniversary. Guest of honour: Sweden. For more information: http://www.bookfair.bolognafiere.it