Asia in the Heart, World on the Mind

More to reflect on when considering the number of Asian characters in children's and YA books. “You guys know about vampires? … You know, vampires have no reflections in a mirror? There’s this idea that monsters don’t have reflections in a mirror. And what I’ve always thought isn’t that monsters don’t have reflections in a mirror. It’s that if you want to make a human being into a monster, deny them, at the cultural level, any reflection of themselves. And growing up, I felt like a monster in some ways. I didn’t see myself reflected at all. I was like, Yo, is something wrong with me? That the whole society seems to think that people like me don’t exist? And part of what inspired me, was this deep desire that before I died, I would make a couple of mirrors. That I would make some mirrors so that kids like me might see themselves reflected back and might not feel so monstrous for it.” — Junot Diaz I am so glad I am meeting this man in November.

I think this is worth checking out! After all, a fun activity book is always a winner with kids! The World Tour Mystery by Manjula Padmanabhan (Tulika Books, 2011) "As the idea of the Monuments book continued to twitch and grow inside my mind, I and Tulika began to see that difference/sameness are a really important part of traveling too. After all, people in other countries look different and have unique local costumes, yet -- as we see in the book -- tourists look the same wherever they go! When we line up to board an aircraft, we see hundreds of people, some young, some old, some funny, some strange: yet for all the differences, we can also see so much that's the same: we all drink water, for instance; little babies of all nationalities scream in the same language; everyone looks grumpy if there's a long queue for the toilet." Click here to find out more about this puzzle book. :o) Also. . . I wish I could visit. :o( :o( :o( P.S. The cover of The World Tour Myste...

One of the influences and inspirations of this blog is Li and her blog GAL Novelty . Li took a long break from the blogosphere but is now back with a new blog, A World of Paper Hearts . Check it out! ~^o^~

Confetti, cupcakes, champagne, and fireworks for the Asian nominees of the 2012 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (ALMA), the world's largest prize for children's and young adult literature!! A & A Book Trust Organisation India AÇEV (Mother and Child Education Foundation) Organisation Turkey Ahmadi, Ahmad Reza Author Iran Ali, Abdul Razzag Author Maldives Anno, Mitsumasa Illustrator Japan Bunanta, Murti Author/Promoter of reading Indonesia Dashdondog, Jamba Author/Oral storyteller/Promoter of reading Mongolia Donya Children's Research Institute Organisation Iran Ismail, Mohd Yusof Bin Author/Illustrator/Oral storyteller Malaysia Katha Organisation India Liu, Xianping Author China Midhat Kazim, Basarat Author/Promoter of reading Pakistan Murti Bunanta Foundation Organisation/Oral storytellers Indonesia Rahmandoost, Mostafa Author Iran Say, Allen Author/Illustrator USA Sta. Romana-Cruz, Neni Author/Promoter of reading The Philippines Thailand Knowledge Park Organisation Thai...

Congratulations to Thanhha Lai , author of Inside Out & Back Again (HarperCollins, 2011), for being named a finalist of the US National Book Awards (Young People's Literature)!

Check out the October releases from Karadi Tales (India)! Dancing Bear , written by Manasi Subramaniam and illustrated by Gwangjo and Jung-a Park Somu the bear is unusual: He can dance! But Somu wants to be free and unchained. Can his friend Altaf understand this? Will Altaf ever set him free? This poignant story describes the friendship between a young boy and a bear, the boy’s unique understanding of what the bear truly wants, and the true predicament of dancing bears in India. Dorje’s Stripes , written by Anshumani Ruddra and illustrated by Gwangjo and Jung-a Park Dorje is a beautiful Royal Bengal Tiger – but he has no stripes on his body. In a small Buddhist monastery in Tibet, Master Wu, a good-hearted monk, tries to understand the secret of Dorje’s missing stripes. This sensitively written, beautifully illustrated story takes us to Tibet, Bengal, and the heart of the Royal Bengal Tiger. The Moustache Man , written by Priya Ramanathan and illustrated by Garima Gupta Nekgaon is a...

* Fun =D Author/illustrator Grace Lin (sooooooo pretty and talented) has a project leaving pocket Pacys (tiny dolls of the main character in her middle grade novels The Year of the Dog and The Year of the Rat ) in different places in France. She's hoping people will pick up the pocket Pacys and travel with them. * Intriguing! Marc Tyler Nobleman is using his blog to pitch his picture book manuscript featuring WWII navy pilot Nobuo Fujita, the first and still only man to complete an aerial attack on American soil. Link here . Thanks to Greg Pincus for this tip. * Sorry :o( Still haven't finished tagging each blog post by country. >_ * Watch out for . . . My interview with author/illustrator Joyce Wan . She's committed to cuteness! * And ooohhh . . . Tulika Books USA ! Tulika, you really know what you are doing.