Asia in the Heart, World on the Mind

Every year, the Asian Festival of Children's Content (AFCC) in Singapore sets up a wonderful bookstore for the festival attendees. This year, the bookstore was the best it's ever been because it was run by Bookaburra , a specialist children's bookseller in Singapore that believes in "good books and even finer children." There was a greater variety of the latest children's and young adult books from all over the world and the people from Bookaburra were doing a great job hand-selling. This, of course, was dangerous for the wallets of all the festival attendees! While in Singapore for the AFCC, I made sure to visit Woods in the Books , an independent picture book shop for all ages. The shop had a well-curated collection of new and classic board books, picture books, comics, and graphic novels from around the world. The Sunday afternoon I was there, there were so many customers: artists, families with very small children, and young professionals (I could even h...

I am PaperTiger 's guest blogger for the month of June! For my first PaperTigers post, I report on how the Philippines was the country focus of this year's Asian Festival of Children's Content (AFCC). Please click here to read my report! A week after the AFCC ended, the Philippine delegates already missed each other (and the delegates from other countries!), so we decided to have a little reunion. Over Mexican food and drinks, Tahanan Books editor Frances Ong, author Russell Molina, blogger and illustrator Blooey Singson, author-illustrator Jomike Tejido, author Candy Gourlay (through FaceTime because she was in the UK!), and I reminisced on the AFCC and planned on hanging out together much more often. Adarna House marketing officer Vanessa Estares and illustrator Isabel Roxas were with us in spirit! I am so proud of the success of the Philippine booth and the Philippine speakers at the AFCC! And I congratulate the organizers of the AFCC for the success of the entire event...

I'm back from the 3rd Asian Festival of Children's Content (AFCC)! One of the highlights of the AFCC this year was meeting Singaporean YA book blogger Liyana ( LiyanaLand ). We were derping all over the hotel lobby and fangirling over YA authors and K-pop! Do check out her blog. . . And Asian bloggers, Liyana and I want a blogger meet up during next year's AFCC! What say you? =D

Last week, I took a little field trip down to the office of Tahanan Books , a publisher committed to nurturing young people's passion for learning with books that celebrate Philippine culture and history. That's Josie, the sales manager. ~^o^~ I was excited because it was my first time at the Tahanan office and I was meeting with Tahanan editor Frances Ong to talk about the Philippine booth for the Asian Festival of Children's Content (AFCC) ! Isn't she a cutie?! We talked about illustrations we could display. . . Books to bring. . . Then over "Wicked Truffled Mac n' Cheese" we talked more about the booth for the AFCC and the possibility of the Philippines hosting the AFCC one year. (Okay, okay, I admit we actually started planning it.) If you will be at the AFCC in Singapore, May 26-29, please visit the Philippine booth. Meet authors, illustrators, publishers, and book reviewers from the Philippines! Check out our books and illustrations! Books of wonde...

Three Green Dreams , written by Roshni Menon and illustrated by Yusof Majid and Seeling Tan (Small Print, 11 August 2012) "A little girl goes on a glorious green journey full of sights familiar yet unusual, curious yet fun. Where will she go? Who will she meet? It's a green adventure not to be missed, so, step inside . . . and join her green dreams . . ." Looking forward to this "all Malaysian" picture book! ["Waiting On Wednesday" is a weekly event hosted at Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases book bloggers are eagerly anticipating.]

The first of The Adventures of BB and Sam , an ebook series from Dubai-based Bon Education , takes children to Thailand! I'm thinking of checking it out! [Edited to add: The illustrator for the ebook is from the Philippines!!!]

Congratulations to Sarah Jamila Stevenson! Her novel The Latte Rebellion (Flux Books, 2011) won the bronze medal in the children's multicultural fiction category of the 2012 Independent Publisher Book Awards. "Hoping to raise money for a post-graduation trip to London, Asha Jamison [who is half Indian, a quarter Mexican, and a quarter Irish] and her best friend Carey [who is half Chinese and half Caucasian] decide to sell T-shirts promoting the Latte Rebellion, a club that raises awareness of mixed-race students. But seemingly overnight, their 'cause' goes viral and the T-shirts become a nationwide social movement. As new chapters spring up from coast to coast, Asha realizes that her simple marketing plan has taken on a life of its own—and it's starting to ruin hers. Asha's once-stellar grades begin to slip, threatening her Ivy League dreams, while her friendship with Carey hangs by a thread. And when the peaceful underground movement spins out of control, Ash...