Asia in the Heart, World on the Mind

The Indonesian Board on Books for Young People is hosting the 1st Asia and Oceania Regional International Board on Books for Young People Congress - May 23 to 26 in Bali! This inaugural congress is open to all children’s literature specialists, writers, illustrators, publishers, librarians, storytellers, educators, and promoters, and will focus on how Asia and Oceania regional stories can play in the world children’s literature market and be used to educate children about respect, understanding, and tolerance in the global multicultural society. I hope to attend this congress one year! Who's going? :o)

This was originally posted at Into the Wardrobe on May 8, 2009. Welcome to the sixth stop of the blog tour for Jan Reynolds ' latest non-fiction book for children, Cycle of Rice, Cycle of Life: A Story of Sustainable Farming (Lee & Low Books, 2009)! On Cycle of Rice, Cycle of Life (from the Lee & Low Books website ): On the island of Bali in Southeast Asia, rice farming is a way of life. The people live in tune with the natural rhythms and cycles of the water and the soil. Ingrained in their community and culture, rice farming connects them to the land and one another. Balinese farmers have planted rice using an intricate system of water sharing and crop rotation for more than a thousand years. Intertwined with their spiritual, social, and day-to-day lives, this system has made Bali a leading producer of one of the world’s most important crops. And because Balinese rice farming respects the balances of nature, it serves as a remarkable example of sustainable agricult...