Bookbird 2 / 2019

Contents

This issue of Bookbird asks us to think about slowing down, reading and asking provocative questions. The writers in this issue ask these questions. Kathy Short asks about the dangers of reading globally – provocative for sure – she asks us to think about the social responsibility of bookmakers, readers and educators when this responsibility is taken lightly. Perry Nodelman’s keynote speech from the 36^th IBBY Congress in Athens last year, asks whether picture books that feature anthropomorphic animals encourage to ignore the “otherness”, might they shape how children think about different kinds of people? Ann Alston asks about the portrayal of female genital mutilation in children’s literature. Vassiliki Vassiloudi asks about the promotion by international and local relief organizations of children’s and young adults’ narratives as refugees. Other articles explore what it currently means to write about sexual assault, the rape culture, and violence against women and girls. The 2018 IBBY-Asahi Reading Promotion Award Winner has provocative questions about how blind children read the world, and how this is changing. And finally how Kamishibi can shock and alienate certain audiences. 

Regular features include Focus IBBY, Letters, Books on Books, and the Postcard reviews.