Asia in the Heart, World on the Mind

While doing a bit of research on Malaysian children's and YA books, I came across a video introducing Yusof Gajah , an artist and award-winning children's book writer and illustrator. Yusof also represents Malaysian writers, illustrators, and publishers of children's and YA books for international rights. (Woohoo - Malaysia in the heart, world on the mind!) These books from Yusof are on my Christmas wish list. I LOVE HIS ART AND ILLUSTRATIONS. Check out the video below. A couple of parts are in Malaysian, but most of it is in English.

Here's something I really want to attend. REALLY. WANT. TO. ATTEND. The very first Asian Festival of Children's Content will be held in Singapore on May 6 - 9, 2010. It will be organized by the Singapore Book Council and The Arts House . The vision of the festival is t o provide the world’s children with quality Asian content for education and entertainment. Its mission is to 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. The objectives of the festival are to: Develop children’s materials with Asian content for information, education, and entertainment Promote the publishing of Asian children’s content in all formats Provide children in Asia and the world with ready and easy access to Asian content Now, if that doesn't say "Asia in the heart, world on the mind," I don't know what does. Here a...

Tall Story is about Bernardo, an 8 ft. tall boy (a giant!) in the Philippines, and his half-sister Andi in the UK. I really enjoyed reading Tall Story . It's an interesting story and I love so many things about it: How it is about family, Filipino legends and superstitions, and basketball. Its melding of British humor and Filipino humor. Andi's strong and fresh voice. How the main characters seem so real that a part of me thinks there really is an 8 ft. tall boy named Bernardo in the Philippines with a sister named Andi in the UK. I love how in Tall Story there is the question of how belief in legends and superstitions affects how one reacts to events... And does something happen (or not happen) because of a person's belief (or lack thereof) in a legend or superstition? Tall Story is for children aged 10+ and will be published by David Fickling Books in the UK (June 2010) and the US (early 2011), and by Cacho Publishing House in the Philippines (date to be announced). To...

I love "I Hate My Mother!": Magnetic levitation, a grain of rice & 3 women (Cacho Publishing, 2007), so I feel honored today to be able to interview its author, Perpilili Vivienne Tiongson ("Perpi"). "I Hate My Mother!" is emotionally powerful young adult fiction with an authentic voice. Click here to read my blog post about the novel and here to read my review of it for PaperTigers.org. And now introducing... Perpilili Vivienne Tiongson! Welcome to Asia in the Heart, World on the Mind, Perpi! Why do you write for young readers? Why not? I regard this question as if I am being asked, "why invest in the young?" Whether they are readers or not is not as important to me as the fact that they are young. Many have said it in so many ways: The children are our future. So we should invest in them. I have children of my own, and when I think about the world that they will inherit, I have to do everything I can to ensure that it's a w...

Thank you very much for your interest in this blog! Asia in the Heart, World on the Mind is a children's and YA book blog about: children's and YA books set in Asia, children's and YA books with Asian characters, children's and YA books with characters of Asian descent, Asian children's and YA book authors and illustrators, and children's and YA book authors and illustrators of Asian descent. Books I happily accept books for review. If you would like to send me a book for review, please email me so that I can give you my mailing address. I will feature every book I receive (through a review or an author/illustrator interview, etc.). However, I cannot promise a positive feature for a book. I will be honest about both the strengths and weaknesses of the book. I also cannot promise a specific date for posting about the book. But every book will get featured. E-Books Yes, I accept electronic copies of books for review. Please email me before sending an electronic co...

Press release (originally posted at Into the Wardrobe on November 13, 2009): David Fickling Books is enormously proud to announce the acquisition of a new stand-(tall)-alone novel, TALL STORY! TALL STORY by Candy Gourlay is an outstanding and highly original novel for 10yrs+. The deal was negotiated by Hilary Delamere from The Agency and David Fickling. This is a book about Bernardo, a boy who lives in the Philippines, and Bernardo is tall. Not just tall, he’s 8ft tall. Bernardo is actually a GIANT! In a novel packed with humour and quirkiness, Gourlay explores a touching sibling relationship and the comedic results of two very different cultures colliding. Editorial director, Bella Pearson, knew there was something special from the first page: “It isn't often that I am in fits of laughter one minute and in tears the next - TALL STORY is one of the warmest, funniest, most moving books I've read in a long time - and Candy Gourlay is a rare and new voice in children's fictio...

This was originally posted at Into the Wardrobe on November 11, 2009. Today, I welcome debut author Sang Pak to Into the Wardrobe! Sang has English and Psychology degrees from the University of Georgia and is a denizen of Georgia, Southern California, and Seoul. His coming-of-age novel, Wait Until Twilight , was published in August. :o) Sang, what motivates and inspires you to be a writer? Writing makes me feel connected and gives me a sense of purpose and meaning. Can you tell us a bit about your debut novel? Wait Until Twilight is a story about a high school boy, Samuel, who comes across a set of deformed triplets and their psychotic adult brother. Samuel finds himself obsessing about the triplets, though he is repulsed by them. All this coincides with re-emerging emotional memories of his dead mother. It’s a southern gothic / coming of age tale full of grotesques, adolescent life, and violence. Why did you write Wait Until Twilight ? What's the story behind the story? The sto...