Asia in the Heart, World on the Mind

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!

Congratulations for being named some of the Best Children's Books of 2011 ! Coral Reefs by Jason Chin (Flash Point) Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai (HarperCollins) Drawing From Memory by Allen Say (Scholastic Press)

Congratulations to Thanhha Lai for winning the National Book Award - Young People's Literature for Inside Out & Back Again!!!

With Joo Hee Yoon at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast !

Congratulations to illustrator Zhu Cheng Liang and author Yu Li Qiong! Their picture book A New Year’s Reunion (Candlewick Press) made it on the New York Times list of the 10 Best Illustrated Children’s Books of 2011 !

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.