Asia in the Heart, World on the Mind

It says "Part 2" up there in the title because this is actually my second interview with Sergio Bumatay III , Filipino artist, graphic designer, and illustrator. Thank you, Serj! You can click here to read my first interview with Serj. =D In the first interview, I asked him about his influences and his creative process and I hope that serves as a good introduction to his truly amazing work. For this interview, Serj and I focused on his illustrations for the Philippine National Children's Book Award-winning picture book Tuwing Sabado , which was written by Russell Molina. (Click here to read my interview with Russell Molina and here to read about Tuwing Sabado and the Philippine National Children's Book Awards). For this interview, Serj also gave a tour of his studio (which he calls his play room)!! Hello again, Serj! =D What did you most like or find most interesting about Tuwing Sabado ? Aside from the big surprise towards the end, the story is interesting b...

I'd like to introduce all of you fabulous readers to Filipino children's book author Russell Molina. Russell has just won two - TWO!! - Philippine National Children's Book Awards for penning Tuwing Sabado (Lampara, 2009), a picture book about a unique and touching father-son relationship, and Lub-Dub, Lub-Dub (Bookmark, 2008), an excellent biography of the founder of the first pediatric hospital in the Philippines. (Click here to read reviews of the books.) I hope you enjoy reading my interview with Russell below! I think you'll find his thoughts on writing children's books inspiring. I sure did! Hi, Russell! Why do you write children's literature? I have so much respect for children. I think they are the most original and most creative thinkers in the world. They are never afraid of challenging convention and breaking rules. Every single day, I strive to be like them -- be child-like in the way I approach life. I think you get truly insightful ideas just by ...

Over at Color Online today I posted a Women Writers of Color feature on Taiwanese American children's book author and illustrator Grace Lin. Grace Lin and her work are always so charming you can never overdose on Grace Lin interviews. Make sure you also check out this recent interview of Grace at the Smithsonian's BookDragon blog, and my own interview with her here . And this video interview of Grace is for your viewing pleasure:

I'm a fan of Thai American children's book illustrator Dan Santat . The man and his work are SO FUNNY. For a proper introduction, watch Mr. Santat's video portfolio below:

To all Asian children's book writers and children's book writers of Asian descent: Have you been working on your manuscripts for the Scholastic Asian Book Award , hmmm? I sure hope so! Remember. . . The Scholastic Asian Book Award will be given each year to an unpublished manuscript in English (original or translation), set in Asia and targeted at children ages 6 to 12, written by a writer in Asia or of Asian origin. The award-winning manuscript will get a prize of S$10,000 and a plaque, and will be considered by Scholastic Asia for publication. The first and second runners-up will each get a plaque and be offered advice by Scholastic Asia on editing their manuscripts to submit for publication. Entries for the inaugural Scholastic Asian Book Award must be submitted by December 31, 2010 at 5 p.m., to the National Book Development Council of Singapore . Now go, write! I can't wait to read the winning story. Who knows, it might be YOURS. =D

I was sooo EXCITED to read this news from the Singapore Book Council : We invite writers, illustrators, preschool and primary school teachers, publishers, libraries, literary agents, distributors and retailers, translators, technology solution providers, and other media professionals to take part in this festival. * Deadline: November 30, 2010 * Geographical coverage: Worldwide * Content: on Asia for children * Accepts (genre): papers * Contact: regina@bookcouncil.sg The festival aims to: i) Provide the world’s children with quality Asian content for education and entertainment. ii) Foster excellence in the creation, production, and publication of children’s materials with Asian content in all formats and to facilitate their distribution and access, first in Asia and then to children worldwide. Types of sessions possible: a) Workshops (60 mins. or 180 mins.) The purpose of a workshop is to provide the opportunity for participants to learn by doing and reflection. b)...

Tarie Sabido: I have visited Malaysia only once, but I completely fell in love with the country and the people. HEAD-OVER-HEELS in love. So it's only natural that I am curious about the children's literature scene in Malaysia. I invited Malaysian children's book expert Daphne Lee to guest blog today for Asia in the Heart, World on the Mind. I hope you enjoy her post below! Thank you, Daphne! Daphne Lee: I was recently at my second son’s school to get his mid-year report. There were a few stalls selling books and I thought I would buy some Bahasa Melayu ones for him. (His class has a half hour every week when they read a story book in BM. There is also half an hour for a story book in English.) When I think of Malaysian children’s literature, specifically children’s story books in Bahasa Melayu, I’m afraid that the phrase “dodgy quality” comes to mind. What I saw being sold at the stalls only confirmed this belief. The books (featuring local folktales or translations of Wes...