Asia in the Heart, World on the Mind

Write and submit a poem to this landmark anthology! The editors of the forthcoming anthology of Philippine children’s poetry, Ginto’t Pilak, Namumulaklak: Antolohiya ng mga Tula, Berso at Awit Pambata sa Pilipinas , are extending their last day of submissions to July 31, 2013. Any form of children’s poetry will be accepted (rhymed and metered, free verse, shape/form poetry, narrative poetry, etc.). The anthology will also accept submissions from other Philippine languages aside from Filipino, such as Iloko, Pangasinense, Pampango, Bikol, Hiligaynon, Cebuano/Bisaya, Waray, Chavacano, Tausug, etc., provided they have an accompanying translation in Filipino. Writers are encouraged to write into poetry the colorful life, traditions, and culture of Filipino children wherever they are. Email your poems to tulangpambataantolohiya@gmail.com with the heading “SUBMISSION FOR ANTHOLOGY” or “TULANG PAMBATA” along with a biographical note and contact number. Contributors are also encouraged to vi...

Where are the youth who will consecrate their budding years, their idealism and enthusiasm for the welfare of their country? Where are the youth who will generously pour out their blood to wash away so much shame, so much crime, so much abomination? Pure and spotless must the victim be that the sacrifice may be acceptable. Where are you, youth who will embody in yourselves the vigor of life that has lifted our veins, the purity of ideas that has been contaminated in our hearts? We await you, youth. Come, for we await you.

The Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature, the Philippines' longest-running literary competition, aims to help develop Philippine literature by providing incentives for writers to craft their most outstanding literary works, serving as a treasury of Philippine literary gems, and assisting in the dissemination of Philippine literature to the public. Writers may now submit their entries for this year's competition, in categories including: English Division - Short Story for Children English Division - Poetry for Children Filipino Division - Maikling Kuwentong Pambata Filipino Division - Tulang Pambata English Kabataan Division (writers below 18 years old) - Kabataan Essay: “In the advent of e-books, do I still consider printed books to be an important part of education?” Filipino Kabataan Division (writers below 18 years old) - Kabataan Sanaysay: “Sa paglaganap ng e-books, maituturing ko pa bang mahalagang bahagi ng edukasyon ang mga nakalimbag na aklat?” The competition ...

Congratulations to the finalists of the 2011 Children's and Young Adult Bloggers' Literary Awards (the Cybils)! For this blog, I would like to highlight the following finalists. =D Middle Grade Fiction The Friendship Doll by Kirby Larson (Delacorte Press Books for Young Readers) The Great Wall of Lucy Wu by Wendy Wan-Long Shang (Scholastic) Warp Speed by Lisa Yee (Arthur A. Levine) Words in the Dust by Trent Reedy (Arthur A. Levine) Fantasy & Science Fiction (Middle Grade) The Inquisitor's Apprentice by Chris Moriarty (Harcourt) Poetry Requiem: Poems of the Terezin Ghetto by Paul B. Janeczko (Candlewick Press) Graphic Novels Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword by Barry Deutsch (Amulet) Sidekicks by Dan Santat (Arthur A. Levine) Level Up by Gene Luen Yang and Thien Pham (First Second Books) Fantasy & Science Fiction (Young Adult) Angelfall by Susan Ee (Feral Dream) Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake (Tor Teen) The winners will be announced on Valentine...

Orchards by Holly Thompson (Delacorte Books for Young Readers) After a classmate commits suicide, Kana Goldberg — a half-Japanese, half-Jewish American — wonders who is responsible. She and her cliquey friends said some thoughtless things to the girl. Hoping that Kana will reflect on her behavior, her parents pack her off to her mother's ancestral home in Japan for the summer. There Kana spends hours under the hot sun tending to her family's mikan orange groves. Kana's mixed heritage makes it hard to fit in at first, especially under the critical eye of her traditional grandmother, who has never accepted Kana's father. But as the summer unfolds, Kana gets to know her relatives, Japan, and village culture, and she begins to process the pain and guilt she feels about the tragedy back home. Then news about a friend sends her world spinning out of orbit all over again.

I'd like to share a few pictures from the signing of the memorandum of agreement between the National Book Development Board - Philippines and the Philippine Board on Books for Young People for the 1st National Children's Book Awards. All photos and information are courtesy of children's and young adult book editor Ramón "Rayvi" Sunico, the publishing representative to the Philippine Board on Books for Young People. Thank you, Rayvi! This is the logo of the National Children's Book Awards, designed by children's book illustrator Ruben “Totet” De Jesus . And this is a model of the trophy for the awards. Isn't it adorable?! The final version will be a ceramic trophy mounted on a mahogany base with a brass plate. Here are members of the National Book Development Board - Philippines and the Philippine Board on Books for Young People discussing the awards before the signing of the memorandum of agreement. And here are pictures of the actual signing! Click...

Thanks to my lovely co-worker and poet friend Chloe who let me know about this: A Journey Round My Skull has three blog posts featuring some illustrations from Iranian children's books. If you are interested, as I most certainly am, click here for the first post, here for the second, and here for the third. I particularly like the third batch of illustrations. Below is my favorite featured illustration. It's from Long Neck Gazelle written by Djamsheed Sepahi and illustrated by Yoota Azargeen. Simple, unique, fun, playful, and expressive. Most of the illustrations are from the 70s. Now I can't help but be intrigued about the children's and young adult literature scene in Iran in the 70s as compared to the scene there now. Bonus: A Journey Round My Skull also has a blog post on an illustrated Iranian book of poetry for children from the 70s . Happy exploring!

This was originally posted at Into the Wardrobe on May 30, 2009. Each page in Shanghai Messenger (Lee & Low Books, 2005) has red Chinese screens framing poetry by Andrea Cheng and art by Ed Young . This beautiful picture book for children in the third to sixth grades tells the story of Chinese American Xiao Mei's first trip to China to visit her relatives. I see my face in the rice water, two braids hanging down, fuzzy curls all around, half Chinese half not. In China will people stare at my eyes with green flecks like Dad's? Will they ask why didn't Grandmother teach me Chinese? Cheng's stirring free verse poems evoke Xiao Mei's fear about traveling to China all by herself, and her doubts from being surrounded by a language, people, and lifestyle that are strange to her. We also see Xiao Mei's love for her life in Shanghai really grow. When she returns to Ohio, Xiao Mei misses all of her relatives and longs for her family in America and her family in Chi...

This was originally posted at Into the Wardrobe on May 23, 2009. Story and haiku translations by Matthew Gollub Illustrations by Kazuko G. Stone Calligraphy by Keiko Smith Cool melons -- turn to frogs! If people should come near. Cool Melons -- Turn to Frogs!: The Life and Poems of Issa (Lee and Low Books, 1998) is so beautiful that I got teary-eyed the first time I looked through it. This picture book tells the story of Kobayashi Yataro, the haiku master otherwise known as Issa. Issa was born in Kashiwabara, a small mountain village in Japan, in 1763. He liked observing birds and insects, and spent a lot of time playing alone in the woods. It seems natural then that he started writing haiku as a young boy. (Traditional haiku describe a single moment in nature.) Issa's mother died when he was three and his father remarried when he was seven. Issa and his stepmother didn't get along at all, so when Issa was only fourteen, he was sent away from his home. He went to Edo, which i...

This was originally posted at Into the Wardrobe on May 1, 2009. "Sixteen-year-old Emily Wu is a good daughter, good student, good artist, and good friend. She works hard at school and in the Chinese restaurant she helps her parents run. But her life, which once seemed as sweet as the bao zi dumplings she and her mother make together, now feels stifling. Just as her paintings transform a canvas, Emily wants to create a new self. Then Nick, a sexy transfer student, asks her out. His kisses and the other girls' envious glances give Emily a thrilling, disconcerting new vision of herself, so different from the one she sees in the eyes of her parents and friends. Which Emily is the real Emily?" Happy Asian Pacific American Heritage Month! This month, Into the Wardrobe's reviews and interviews will be celebrating Asian and Asian American children's and young adult books and their authors and illustrators. So I hope you'll stop by often to join the conversation on As...