Asia in the Heart, World on the Mind

The 4th Etisalat Award for Arabic Children's Literature is now open for submissions from Arab or international publishing houses that publish Arabic-language books for children ages 0-14. This annual award, sponsored by the Etisalat Telecom Company, is worth Dhs1m, making it one of the most important and the richest award for children's literature in the Arab world. Half of the award money goes to the publisher of the winning book, and the remaining half is divided between the author and illustrator. Books submitted must be written in the Arabic language, must be original works (not translated or reproduced) and must have been published no earlier than three years prior to the year of the call for entries. In addition, entries should not be recipients of any previous local, regional, or international awards. Each publishing house is allowed to submit a maximum of three titles. For more information please email info@uaebby.org.ae, or visit the website of the United Arab Emirate...

Aspiring writers still have time to finalize and submit their entries to the 62nd Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature (Palanca Awards). The Palanca Awards, the Philippines' most prestigious and longest running literary competition, is accepting submissions until 12:00 m.n. of April 30, in the following regular categories: English Division – Short Story, Short Story for Children , Essay, Poetry, Poetry for Children , One-act Play, and Full-length Play; Filipino Division – Maikling Kuwento, Maikling Kuwentong Pambata , Sanaysay, Tula, Tulang Pambata , Dulang May Isang Yugto, Dulang Ganap ang Haba, and Dulang Pampelikula; Regional Languages Division – Short Story-Cebuano, Short Story-Hiligaynon and Short Story-Iluko. Young writers below 18 years old are encouraged to submit essays in the Kabataan Division. This year's theme for the Kabataan Essay is “In the advent of e-books, do I still consider printed books to be an important part of education?” The theme for the Kaba...

Singapore, 20 April 2012 – Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts launched the National Library Board's (NLB) Asian Children's Literature Collection at the Woodlands Regional Library. This is the first time a library will be housing a comprehensive thematic collection. Mrs Elaine Ng, Chief Executive Officer, NLB, said, “The Asian Children's Literature Collection will serve a range of users like researchers with scholarly needs, teachers assembling lesson materials, parents looking for bedtime reads for their children, and the young who love fascinating tales. We can use these fairy tales, folklores and fables to help our children understand our values, beliefs and customs.” With the inclusion of this collection, Woodlands Regional Library has about 181,000 books and other materials in the children's section. Visitors can borrow from a selection of 7,200 books including Chinese, Malay, and Tamil books. There are another 800 books for vis...

Some exciting new things for the 2012 Asian Festival of Children's Content in Singapore: This year the festival has a country focus, and the country to be highlighted is none other than the Philippines! If you have been curious about Philippine children's books, this year's festival will be the perfect opportunity to hear from and network with some Filipino writers, illustrators, and book reviewers. I'd most especially like to invite you to attend the two panels I am facilitating, "Trajectories and Themes in Children's Literature from the Philippines" and "The Art & Science of Writing Book Reviews: Online vs. Print." In "Trajectories and Themes," popular author-illustrators Russell Molina and Jomike Tejido will be sharing the special features of Philippine children's books and trends in the local market, while Candy Gourlay and Isabel Roxas will be sharing their success stories as internationally-recognized children's book ...

Never Fall Down by Patricia McCormick (HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray, 8 May 2012) Book description: When soldiers arrive at his hometown in Cambodia, Arn is just a kid, dancing to rock 'n' roll, hustling for spare change, and selling ice cream with his brother. But after the soldiers march the entire population into the countryside, his life is changed forever. Arn is separated from his family and assigned to a labor camp: working in the rice paddies under a blazing sun, he sees the other children, weak from hunger, malaria, or sheer exhaustion, dying before his eyes. He sees prisoners marched to a nearby mango grove, never to return. And he learns to be invisible to the sadistic Khmer Rouge, who can give or take away life on a whim. One day, the soldiers ask if any of the kids can play an instrument. Arn's never played a note in his life, but he volunteers. In order to survive, he must quickly master the strange revolutionary songs the soldiers demand—and steal food to keep...