Asia in the Heart, World on the Mind

On Valentine's Day, I will be celebrating my love for books and children by participating in International Book Giving Day ! International Book Giving Day is a volunteer initiative aimed at increasing children’s access to and enthusiasm for books. You are invited to participate too by: 1. Giving a book to a friend or relative. Is there a child in your life who would enjoy receiving a book on February 14? In lieu of or in addition to a card or box of chocolates, choose a good book to give to your child, grandchild, friend, or neighbor. 2. Leaving a book in a waiting room or lobby. Choose a waiting room where kids are stuck waiting and there are few to no good books available. Purchase a good book and deposit your book covertly or overtly in your waiting room of choice. 3. Donating a book. Wrap up a box of children’s books that your kids have outgrown and get them into the hands of children who could really use a book or two. Donate your books to your local second ha...

The Philippine Board on Books for Young People (PBBY) declared Michael Jude C. Tumamac as the Grand Prize winner of the 2013 PBBY-Salanga Prize . Tumamac’s winning story, “Ngumiti si Andoy,” is a story inspired by the life of Andres Bonifacio . Tumamac is a teacher and a proud member of Kuwentista ng mga Tsikiting (KUTING) and Linangan sa Imahen, Retorika, at Anyo (LIRA) .  Honorable mentions went to Mark Anthony Angeles for his story “Si Andoy, Batang Tondo” and April Jade Biglaen for her story “Ang Supremo at ang Kuweba.” Tumamac shall receive twenty-five thousand pesos and a medal. Prizes will be awarded during the celebration of National Children’s Book Day in July 2013. For inquiries about the contest, contact the PBBY Secretariat at pbby@adarna.com.ph .

We are looking for children’s book illustrators from countries around the world to design bookplates for International Book Giving Day 2013! If you are interested in designing a bookplate, please contact Amy Broadmoore at amy dot broadmoore at gmail dot com. International Book Giving Day is a grassroots, 100% volunteer initiative to encourage people to give books to children on February 14, 2013. To celebrate, people are invited to 1) give a book to a friend or family member, 2) leave a book in a waiting room for children to read, or 3) donate a book to an organization that distributes books to children in need. Children’s book illustrators are invited to design bookplates that celebrants can attach to books they give to children. We welcome bookplates written in a variety of languages. The bookplates must be 11.4 cm x 6.9 cm (or 4.5 inches x 2.7 inches) in size. We will make the bookplates available for free at the International Book Giving Day websit...

Where are the youth who will consecrate their budding years, their idealism and enthusiasm for the welfare of their country? Where are the youth who will generously pour out their blood to wash away so much shame, so much crime, so much abomination? Pure and spotless must the victim be that the sacrifice may be acceptable. Where are you, youth who will embody in yourselves the vigor of life that has lifted our veins, the purity of ideas that has been contaminated in our hearts? We await you, youth. Come, for we await you.

International Book Giving Day is a volunteer initiative aimed at getting books in the hands of as many children as possible on February 14, 2013.  International Book Giving Day’s focus is on encouraging people worldwide to engage in simple acts of giving. We will invite individuals to: 1) give a book to a friend or family member, 2) leave a book in a waiting room for children to read, or 3) donate a book to a local hospital, shelter or library or to an organization that distributes used books to children internationally. In addition, we will encourage people to support the work of nonprofit organizations (i.e. charities) that work year round to give books to children, such as Room to Read, Books for Africa, Book Aid International, The Book Bus, Indigenous Literacy Foundation and Pratham Books. For more, see International Book Giving Day’s new website:  http://bookgivingday.com !

To Naoko Stoop for her debut picture book Red Knit Cap Girl (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers) being named one of the New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Books of 2012! To learn a bit more about the book, please watch the video below: Linkage: Naoko's blog Naoko's Twitter account The complete list of the New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Books of 2012

Mechanics: 1. HEIGHTS’ KUWENTONG PAMBATA call for entries is open to students, faculty, and alumni of the Ateneo de Manila University except for the panelists and Editorial Board of Heights. 2. The entry of not more than 500 words, either in English or in Filipino, may deal with any subject but it must be appropriate for the grade-school reading level of children ages 7-12. 3. The entry must be in either Rich Text Format (.rtf) or in a Microsoft Word Document (.doc), double-spaced on 8.5” x 11” bond paper, with a one-inch margin on all sides. The font to be used may be Arial size 11, Times New Roman size 12, or Calibri size 12. 4. A separate document must include the following: the author’s name, pseudonym, a photo (preferably 1×1 or 2×2), a write-up about the author in 2-5 sentences, and the story’s synopsis not exceeding 100 words. 5. The English entries must be attached to an e-mail sent to heights.english@gmail.com with the subject head KUWENTONG PAMBATA on or before September 30, ...