Welcome!
Our latest Newsletter is packed with news from across Europe, ranging from Armenia to Spain, Iceland to Turkey - and many sections in between; thank you for sending us your articles detailing projects, events and activities. Do encourage your members to keep records - especially photographs - it really does help us feel part of one organisation. It is also much appreciated if you can supply links to your website and Facebook page if appropriate.
It was a great pleasure to meet so many from the European sections at our meeting in Bologna; the report of this meeting is now available. It was particularly pleasing to be able to welcome Hungary, one of our newest members; we send our best wishes to Bosnia and Herzegovina and look forward to meeting you. However, it is with sadness we report that Portugal is no longer one of our family; let us hope this situation will not last for long. The session was friendly and enjoyable enabling sections to exchange views and opinions. You will see that we were able to make decisions that will move the IBBY Europe website on, ensuring it does become the tool we hope for. The group also expressed an ambition to hold a Europe Region conference in the not -too-distant future. This needs more thought but we hope everyone will be able to support this.
Bologna was exciting. The IBBY stand vibrant and welcoming with the displays of the IBBY Honour List Books and the 2015 selection of Outstanding Books for Young People with Disabilities, as well as Bookbird and the flyers for the 35th Congress in New Zealand. There was great excitement when it was announced that the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award had been given to PRAESA. It was also very satisfying to learn that the wonderful Roger Mello original print auctioned to raise money for Children in Crisis Fund had been won by Nami Island.
Thank you all that have made this newsletter possible - Hasmig Chahinian for her support in creating it; Liz Page who has proofread the material and David Pinter for his attractive, exciting design of the April 2015 header.
Ferelith Hordon and Vagn Plenge
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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! 1. What led you - or, maybe, inspired - you to join IBBY? Well, I think I have been an IBBY member since the late 1980s. I have always been concerned to reflect a global perspective in my library work and teaching, particularly since I lived in India and Nepal in the 1970s. |
2. What do you see as some major achievements of IBBY UK, and what challenges face the section? IBBY UK is a survivor – I am not sure when the section was first established but I know that it has been through many iterations during its long history. I recently met an ex-publisher at a party who had been chair back in the 1970s and he had some interesting stories to tell of the organisation in those days. |
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| Pam Dix, IBBY UK Chair, with Honour Book illustrator Sarah Garland. |
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| The 2012 Congress in London gave us a great deal of local publicity and we have been trying to build on this to raise our profile and demonstrate that our work reflects all sectors of the children’s book world. We have a regular events programme, have consulted widely with members about the various award nominations and we have a programme to meet with potential partners in the UK. We want to make sure that everyone has the chance to see the work of IBBY so we currently have the 2014 Honours List books for the Illustration category, on tour in the UK and we hope to do the same with the latest Disability Collection. Diversity and translation are our two key work focus areas currently. |
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3. How does IBBY UK view the situation of translations of children's books in terms of the range of languages and cultures represented and is it something that an IBBY section should be concerned about, or can do something to improve? The UK is a particular situation and this has had a lot of publicity recently recently. Unlike most European countries only a very small % (about 2) of children’s books published here are translations from other countries. It is one part of our work programme and has a great boost with two BBC Radio 4 programmes recently, one by David Almond and one by Daniel Hahn, plus there was an impassioned plea by Kevin Crossley Holland at the recent Marsh Awards for Children’s Literature in Translation. We have been looking at Mexican Spanish books as Mexico is the market focus at the London Book Fair in April this year. We have some seminars at the LBF and have collaborated with the Guardian children’s books website to showcase some Mexican illustrators from mid April. This could be the start of a country series. It is a wonderful website if you don’t know it. We are equally concerned about the availability of books in other languages in the UK. We have a very diverse population whose children should be able to read books in their own languages and we want to make sure that libraries and schools have books which allow children to develop or maintain fluency in their home language/s. |
Echoes from the European sections
From Sweden
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From Armenia
"Young adults and the environment"contest and workshop In 2014 IBBY Armenia presented its project “Young adults and the environment” for support from the 2015 IBBY-Yamada Fund. In January 2015 the successful projects were announced, amongst which was the project of IBBY Armenia. In the frame of the project there will be a contest and master-classes for the young writers and illustrators given by a well-known writer and an illustrator from aboard. The aim of the project is to develop the professional skills of our young writers and illustrators. The project will be implemented in phases and will take place over the year. The end prize will be the publication of a book based on the best three works in each category. |
The 11th Yerevan Children's Book Fair Book Giving Day has been celebrated on 19th January since 2008 and it has become the tradition among Armenians to give each other books on this day. In 2015, IBBY Armenia, the National Children’s Library of Armenia, and the Armenian Publishers Association, with support of the Ministry of Culture, organized and implemented the 11th Yerevan Children’s Book Fair. The Fair was held 19-21 February. Within the frame of this annual cultural event Armenian publishers presented their best works of recent years. The Fair hosted many writers, intellectuals, school children, teachers, students and guests from various cultural and other organizations. |
Armenia participated in the 17th International Storytelling Festival in Iran The 17th International Storytelling Festival organized by the Iranian Institute for Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults (IIDCYA), was held February 15-20 in the western city of Kermanshah in the cultural centre of KANOON. Among the 12 foreign storytellers was a participant from Armenia: the storyteller from the National Children’s Library, Iskuhi Avetisyan. During the festival she presented two sententious tales. All the participants took part in the master classes and meetings focussed on storytelling. |
Since 1997, International Children’s Book Day has been celebrated on 2 April to celebrate the birth of Hans Christian Andersen. In 2015 IBBY Armenia with the National Children’s Library, organized the Children’s Book and Music week from 26 March to 2 April. The opening ceremony was held at the National Children’s Library after Khnko Aper. At the opening an exhibition of works by the pupils of the Library’s art group was launched. Various events were held in the library during the week, such as book presentations and discussions, musical performances, contests, storytelling and other interesting events. On ICBD - 2 April, the closing day of the week, an event devoted to the 75th anniversary of the Armenian children’s writer Ervand Petrosyan as well as a meeting of writers.
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Within the framework of IBBY Armenia’s activities, various events for children and young people were organized. One of the favourites among the children are the “Storytelling Days”, which are regularly organized during the month in the hall of the Fairy-tales of the National Children’s Library of Armenia. During the event Ambassadors to the Republic of Armenia, Armenian writers, and the storytellers of the National Children’s Library of Armenia read different fairy tales to the children. During these days the children can hear fairy tales from various countries and culture in different languages. The storytellers also told the fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen. |
From France
IBBY France's seminar “Reading in the original language” dedicated this year to Brazil, the guest of honour of the Paris Book Fair 2015, was held on March 24, at the Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, in Paris. An opportunity to embark on a journey to Brazil, to discover its literature for children through the works of renown authors, such as Ana Maria Machado (Hans Christian Andersen award winner in 2000) or Daniel Munduruku, and of famous illustrators, such as Roger Mello (Hans Christian Andersen award winner in 2014). The question of children's access to books in the Favelas and of the presence of Brazilian books in France was also addressed. The seminar was a great opportunity for two IBBY sections to work together : Elizabeth Serra, from Fundação Nacional do Livro Infantil e Juvenil - IBBY Brazil, was IBBY France's major partner in this respect. She contributed to the organization of the event and her presentation, during the seminar, introduced the audience to the long-term work of IBBY Brazil and its positive impact on Brazilian children's literature. The programme can be downloaded here. IBBY Brazil was also of a major help in putting together Cap sur le Brésil, the issue of La Revue des livres pour enfants focused on children's literature and reading in Brazil (n° 281, February 2015). The table of contents and the editorial can be downloaded here. |
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| Hasmig Chahinian (IBBY France) interviews Ana Maria Machado. © Joel-Franz Rosell |
Elizabeth Serra (IBBY Brazil) presents a panorama of children's literature in Brazil. © Ioanna Kouki |
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IBBY France's candidates for the 2016 Hans Christian Andersen Award Timothée de Fombelle (writing) and François Place (illustration) are IBBY France's candidates for the 2016 Hans Christian Andersen Award. François Place was shortlisted for the 2014 HCA Award. It's maybe not a coincidence that these two men have already worked together: François Place has illustrated the two volumes of Tobie Lolness as well as Victoria rêve, written by Timothée de Fombelle. They both have a unique talent in storytelling, in words or images; they embark the reader on a journey to unknown lands, unseen times, yet their stories feel real, authentic, profundly human. Their works, translated into several languages, are enthusiasticly loved by readers worldwide. |
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| Timothée de Fombelle. © Marc Ollivier | François Place. © Claire Place | ||
IBBY France invited to Sharjah Children's Reading Festival by UAEBBY
Through this initiative, UAEBBY and IBBY France sought to encourage reading among French-speaking students in the UAE and introduce quality children's literature. Speaking about the visit, Marwa Al Aqroubi, President of the UAEBBY, remarked: "Providing high quality children's books for young people in the region and beyond in order to inspire a love of reading is our main goal. As there is a diverse community of French speakers in the UAE, we want to ensure French children's books and young adult novels are available in all our French schools and educational institutions. The visit from Hasmig Chahinian and some talented members of the French literary community was an effective way stimulating young minds and feeding students' imaginations in Sharjah and Dubai." |
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The French National Centre for Children's Literature (IBBY France) is organizing an international seminar dedicated to criticism in children's literature, its actors in the XX and XXI centuries, the diversity of its forms and the means it uses, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of "La Revue des livres pour enfants", the critical journal on children's literature. |
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From Iceland
International Children's Book Day in Iceland It took us here at the Icelandic IBBY headquarters a few years to figure out how we could celebrate the International Children's Book Day in a manner that would really capture the attention of the nation. In 2011 we found the answer - we commissioned a respected and much-read author to pen a short story for readers aged 6-16 years old. We then asked the schools to set aside time for a national storytime - and at 9:10 every schoolchild aged 6-16 sat down to listen to a brand new short story. Some of them listened to a teacher or a classmate read the story, but most of them listened to a radio broadcast, since the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service joined the project. That way we managed to capture the attention of adult listeners as well, and it is fair to say that most homes in Iceland had at least heard of the story - if not heard it itself - by the end of the day. In 2015 the fifth story was read to the students and this year Gunnar Helgason penned a hilarious story that featured both awkward romance and cringe worthy episodes of flatulence, much to the delight of the audience. |
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Gunnar Helgason, author of Liquorice - Or: Crime and Punishment, |
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The project has grown since we began - we've found a new collaborator: an independent provider of educational materials donates a bundle of projects and worksheets for teachers to use in the classroom after the story has been read. As April 2nd fell on the Easter Holiday this year, we chose to celebrate the day a week later, on April 9th. The festivities ended at the City Library where we held an award ceremony where one of Iceland's best translators was given our highest honour: Sögusteinn. We are, of course, hard at work at all our regular events, but what occupies most of our thoughts now that the ICBD is over is the publication of a new anthology of Icelandic children's literature that we'll give to children starting their schooling this autumn. We've found several supporters for the project and hope to be, in this manner, able to ensure the continued rememberance of some of Iceland's best out-of-print classics. We've secured funding to be able to give the book to all Icelandic children born in 2009 and 2010. The book will also be available for sale in most bookshops. |
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From Cyprus
Cyprus IBBY organized many events this season, celebrating its 40 years of existence and contribution. Events were organized to promote children’s literature in various ways, addressing to a wide range of audiences: |
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Words, thoughts... Come and play with us! (Lexeis, skepseis... Ela gia na paixeis!) A creative writing seminar for senior elementary school children in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Culture, the Pedagogical Institute and many prominent authors of Cyprus. Authors and children united to play with words and thoughts and create stories, fairy tales and poetry entering the paths of literature and creativity. The authors and organizers of the "Words, thoughts... Come and play with us!" seminar. |
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A Bookmind workshop meeting for teachers: The Psychosocial Health of Children and Teenagers Using the books of Child and Teenager Psychosocial Health Corporation, the Cyprus Assosiation on Books for Young People organized a series of workshops for teachers and educators with Greek and Cypriot authors and illustrators to promote the utilization of books that can provide psychological support to youngsters. |
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The three Hierarchs – Saints of Education: |
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Woman's Day and literature: May I have some tea with my book please? International Poetry Day: Literature, men and poetry |
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Cyprus IBBY seminar: My country’s ABCs |
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From Turkey
20th anniversary dinner Turkish IBBY (CGYD) members celebrated their 20th anniversary. The celebrations took place during the first day of Istanbul Book Fair. The party started with a vibrant cocktail, during which interviews were held with the members. These interviews were turned into a short video to be used for the campaign to create awareness for CGYD. Musicians who are students of Göknil Genc (musician and children's book author) gave a short concert. After the concert, a storyteller took stage. The party concluded with the 20th anniversary cake. Another video of a metaphorical story about the preparation of the cake, symbolizing the establishment of CGYD, was prepared to raise funds for the association. |
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Cem Gülgel (viola) and Sinancan Caglar (violin) |
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Stone painting breakfast With the sponsorship of Redhouse Kidz Publishing, Turkish IBBY (CGYD) organized a "Stone Painting Breakfast". Illustrators, writers and editors gathered and painted the most creative and colourful stones along with coffee, tea, sandwiches and a lot of laughter. The painted stones were exhibited and sold during the association's 20th Anniversary Celebration Dinner. The funds raised will be used for various activities of CGYD. Getting ready for two major events While CGYD was getting ready for the 36th IBBY Congress which will be held in Istanbul in 2018, the members were delighted with the news that Turkey will be the Guest of Honour in 2020 in Bologna Children's Book Fair. Apparently Turkish children's book industry will be quite busy for the next five years. |
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From Austria
From Estonia
From Germany
From Ukraine
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Bookbird. Issue 53.1, 2015 On the cover of Bookbird 53.1 readers can see Andrea Offerman’s illustration of a man and woman standing back to back, joined by bolts and wheels and machinery. The one is intently reading; the other is gleefully holding a man on a bike in his hand. At the same time they seem to be manipulated themselves by dolls (or is the other way round?) standing above them like miniature puppet masters. This image encapsulates the special theme of the issue – “Machines, Monsters and Animals: Posthuman Children’s Literature.” As guest editor Dr Zoe Jaques points out in her scholarly introduction, Posthuman children’s literature is concerned with human and animal ethics, utopia/dystopia, anthropomorphism, and ecocriticism. Five articles follow. We go from “Uglies” to “Gracelings” via the human-simian Eva. And the articles range from the “(post)human animal body” in Harry Potter to the early posthumanism in Elizabeth Stuart Phelps’s writings. In the Letter-section we find a description of “Strange creatures and mechanical marvels from Canada,” which coincidentally fits the special theme perfectly too. But we of course also find texts that go well beyond the theme in the Letter and Postcard-sections, as well as in the reviews found in Books on Books. In the Focus IBBY section we get the most important news with a bearing on our organization. Finally, in the Children and Their Books-section we find an article on the Bolivian “Biblioteca Th’uruchapitas,” reminding us of the hard hands-on work for literacy that is being carried out all over the world. |
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Bookbird. Issue 53.2, 2015 The articles featured in this issue of BOOKBIRD span a great many topics, approaches, genres and locations. Geographically, two of the articles concern children’s literature of the West Indies. There are also two articles with Australian settings. A New Zealand perspective is provided in one article. There is also one article on South African Youth Literature. But there is also great variety when it comes to the kinds of books being discussed. Two of the articles, for instance, focus specifically on the picture book, including one concerning Anthony Browne’s Little Beauty. (Gorilla, from that book, can be seen swinging through a room on the cover of this Bookbird.) In this issue you will also find an entirely new feature: “Authors and Illustrators and their Books.” Here, the Swedish author Monica Zak shares her experience with The Ostrich Boy, an adventure that takes her to the refugee camps in Western Sahara. The Ostrich Boy, as she tells it, turns out to be a true “bookbird.” Culturally and linguistically it flits and flies between languages and nations. It is a story that the author picks up in Africa, writes about in Swedish, then returns it in a third language (Arabic), and takes it back to its source. There it acquires new meaning in the building and affirmation of identity and culture. And in the Letter-section we find a text that connects to Zak’s article in interesting ways: Hala Bizri’s Letter “The Children’s Literature of the Arab Countries,” and that is that both of these texts deal with the central, but also complex role, that Arabic plays in many countries when it comes to children’s books. Bookbird can be read on-line through Project Muse. |
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Outstanding Books for Young People with Disabilities 2015 Every two years the IBBY National Sections nominate books for young people with disabilities to be added to the Collection. A selection of Outstanding Books (approximately 50) is then made and this selection is summarized in a catalogue. Print copies of the annotated catalogues, past and present, can be ordered from the IBBY Secretariat. The catalogue of Outstanding Books for Young People with Disabilities 2015 is available online (PDF 1.9MB). Earlier catalogues can be found online at the IBBY Archives at ALO. |
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| « Max et les Maximonstres a 50 ans » Réception et influence des œuvres de Maurice Sendak en France et en Europe (Where the wild things are is 50 years old. Reception and influence of Maurice Sendak's work in France and in Europe)
Where the Wild Things Are (Max et les Maximonstres), published in the United States of America in 1963, is part of our common culture. The international seminar that took place on 12-13 December 2013 was an opportunity for researchers and specialists from various academic fields to present their findings regarding the reception of Maurice Sendak's work in Europe, from the early days to the present day. This seminar was organized by the Bibliothèque nationale de France / Centre national de la littérature pour la jeunesse and the Université d'Artois, with the collaboration of l'Association française de recherche sur les livres et objets culturels de l'enfance (Afreloce) et le soutien de l'Ecole normale supérieure (Afreloce) and the support of the Ecole normale supérieure (Paris). The proceedings have been published, the table of contents is available here. « Max et les Maximonstres a 50 ans » Réception et influence des œuvres de Maurice Sendak en France et en Europe, BnF/CNLJ, Paris, 2015, 200 p., ISBN 978-2-35494-060-7, 23 €. |
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| May, September, October 2015 |
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 1 May to 30 September 2015
Miffy Art parade, Utrecht, The Netherlands Netherlands Utrecht For more information: http://www.nijntjeartparade.nl/ |
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Presentation of the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, Stockholm, Sweden For more information: http://www.alma.se/en/ |
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Biennial of illustration Bratislava, Bratislava, Slovakia 50th anniversary of BIB For more information: http://www.bibiana.sk |
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International literature festival, Berlin, Germany |
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Frankfurt Book Fair, Germany For more information: http://www.buchmesse.de/en/fbf/ |
Nara Adjemyan (IBBY Armenia)
Federica Azzanutto (IBBY Italy)
Ana Mª Cendán Doce (IBBY Spain)
Hasmig Chahinian (IBBY France)
Carolin Farbmacher (IBBY Germany)
Sabine Fuchs (IBBY Austria)
Ferelith Hordon (IBBY UK)
Tülin Kozikoğlu (IBBY Turkey)
Oksana Lushchevska (the University of Georgia) for IBBY Ukraine
To subscribe to the IBBY European Newsletter, please send an e.mail to: subscribe.
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