Asia in the Heart, World on the Mind

An International One Day - One Story Campaign Pratham Books , a multilingual non-profit children's publishing house in India, is looking for international participants for their One Day - One Story campaign. They have conducted four such events in India, and during the last event, more than 250 volunteers conducted storytelling sessions. This time, they are hoping to make it a bigger campaign by inviting international participants. Are you interested? :o) International Literacy Day is on Sept. 8 and Pratham Books wants to celebrate the joy of reading around this day. Since Sept. 8 is a Sunday, the storytelling sessions will be on Sept. 7 in order to include more schools and organizations.    How Does One Day - One Story Work?   For participants in India, a copy of the book ( Paplu, the Giant by Ramendra Kumar and Zainab Tambawalla) and a banner will be sent by the Pratham Books team. International participants will be sent a PDF copy of the bo...

The 2012 Bologna Ragazzi Awards for the best children's books in terms of graphic and editorial design have been announced. Champagne, cake, confetti, coffee, and CONGRATULATIONS go to: New Horizons - Mentions Misunderstanding , written by Farideh Khalatbaree and illustrated by Ali Boozari (Shabaviz Publishing Company, Tehran – Iran) Waterlife , written and illustrated by Rambharos Jha (Tara Books, Chennai – India) Opera Prima - Winner Tabati , written by Nadine R. L. Touma and illustrated by Lara Assouad Khoury (Dar Onboz, Beirut - Lebanon) Opera Prima - Mention Grimmie's White Canvas , written and illustrated by Hyunjoo Lee (Sang Publishing, Seoul – Republic of Korea) Thanks to my friend Jules , one of the Ragazzi jurors, for this information!

What shall I make? , written by Nandini Nayar and illustrated by Proiti Roy (Tulika Publishers, 2006) Neeraj's mother is making chapatis while Neeraj squeezes, rolls, pokes, pats, pulls, pinches, and presses some of the chapati dough into a snake. . . a mouse. . . a cat. . . a lion! And the entire time Neeraj's mother is playing too, helping Neeraj control the dough animals. "A snake! A snake! It's going to bite me!" Neeraj yells. "Roll it up, quick, quick!" says his mother. Naturally, in the end the dough becomes the best chapati Neeraj has ever eaten. Like a hot chapati, this fun little book about imagination and play is light and puffy, but ultimately warming and filling and satisfying because it is also about quality family bonding time. And like chapatis, What shall I make? should be shared with family, friends, students, and other loved ones. [I bought my own copy of What shall I make? ]

Via Pratham Books and Hindustan Times . Thank you so much for this information!

Happy Book Birthday to You. . . Happy Book Birthday, Happy Book Birthday. . . Happy Book Birthday to You! In Bon Bibi’s Forest , written by Sandhya Rao and illustrated by Proiti Roy (Tulika Books) "When the quiet villages of Sundarban are terrorised by Dokkhin Rai, a monster with wild eyes, sharp teeth, striped skin and pointed nails, Bon Bibi has to step in to look after the people. That’s when she realises that Dokkhin Rai himself needs protection – as do the forests that are his home." The Magic Feather by Roma Singh (Tulika Books) "An owl drops a purple feather in a forest. A little girl picks it up and there begins a journey into magical lands..." Ack! The illustrations for these two books look gorgeous!

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...

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.

"The struggle to fit in is very nearly universal in teen culture, but it’s that much tougher for a lot of young people in the wake of 9/11. Author Neesha Meminger takes on both the topical issue of anti-Muslim racism and the ever-present struggle to be true to yourself in her intense and thoughtful novel Shine, Coconut Moon ." - Colleen Mondor for Bookslut ". . .One day, shortly after 9/11, a man wearing a turban shows up on her doorstep. He is her estranged uncle, and through him, Sam begins to realize how important being Indian American is to her identity. This novel is especially poignant as our country continues to deal with prejudice against South Asians and individuals from the Middle East." - Melanie Koss for Booklist "An important book for young people about coming to terms with identity, prejudice, and family in a post-9/11 world." - Marina Budhos, author of Ask Me No Questions and Tell Us We're Home Click here to read my blog post on Neesha...

The Ramayana was required reading in my all-girls high school and I quite like the idea of a new generation of students studying the great Indian epic using this graphic novel retelling from Sita's point of view. Sita's Ramayana by Samhita Arni and Moyna Chitrakar (Tara Books, 2011)

Check out Jazz in Love by Neesha Meminger (Ignite Books, 2011)!

Watch this OUTSTANDING presentation from Tulika Books about multilingual children's book publishing! Multilingual Publishing - Walking the Tightrope View more presentations from Tulika Books .

Watch the book trailer for Shine, Coconut Moon by Neesha Meminger: Author Neesha Meminger 's debut work is Shine, Coconut Moon , an important and interesting young adult novel about the many complexities of family, identity, and living between two cultures. I've asked Neesha some questions to get to know more about her and her work. Thank you, Neesha, for answering my questions. And thank you very much for Shine, Coconut Moon - my wonderful gateway to learning about Indians, Indian Americans, and Sikhism! Can you please tell us a bit about your South Asian heritage? I was born in Punjab, India and we moved to Canada when I was five. I have been in the west since. My parents didn't speak a word of English, so we spoke only Punjabi at home, and only English at school. I think it took me a while to figure out both, but it's where my fascination with the rhythms of language, the importance of word choice, and the power of the word took root. Growing up, were you more lik...

This was originally posted at Into the Wardrobe on June 3, 2008. It is an honor to host Mitali Perkins at Into the Wardrobe. Mitali is the author of the middle grade novel Rickshaw Girl and the young adult novels The Not-So-Star-Spangled Life of Sunita Sen , Monsoon Summer , First Daughter: Extreme American Makeover , and First Daughter: White House Rules . Mitali is also the author of several short stories and several non-fiction works. She is an excellent writer and a very nice person! And now presenting... my interview with Mitali Perkins! :o) What was it like writing First Daughter: White House Rules ? Did you have "typical" writing days or writing rituals? I wrote under deadline as I signed the contract for the books before they were written, which meant I had to be stern with myself. I forced out 2000 words a day to finish the draft. And when that was done, I needed a couple of writing retreats away from home to revise and finish the story. You studied political s...