Kids Share Workshops of Central Vermont is the winner of the 2010 Bridge to Understanding Award sponsored by the United States Board of Books for Young People (USBBY), for its innovative arts and book-making projects to raise awareness of global cultures. This prestigious award acknowledges the work of adults who use books to promote international understanding among children. Organizations eligible for this award include schools, libraries, scout troops, clubs and bookstores.

2010 marks the fifth year USBBY has selected an honor list of international books. This list is a valuable resource for librarians, teachers and parents interested in celebrating diversity and intercultural issues in recent children's books. You can see the full list at http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6716600.html

Cultures in Translation: A Celebration of Irish and German Voices in Children's Literature

iBbY Ireland, the Goethe-Institut and Little Island invite you to attend this event at 6pm on Thursday 10th June in the Goethe-Institut, 37 Merrion Square, Dublin 2. There will be presentations by Siobhán Parkinson, Laureate na nÓg, Professor Emer O’Sullivan from Leuphana University Lüneburg, Germany and readings by Little Island authors Renate Ahrens and Burkhard Spinnen. The evening will be conducted in English and all are welcome to attend this free event. RSVP by email to Monika Schlenger: library@dublin.goethe.org.

2010 Jane Adams Children's Book Awards

These awards are given annually to the children's books published the preceding year that effectively promote the cause of peace, social justice, world community, and the equality of the sexes and all races as well as meeting conventional standards for excellence. The winners are Nasreen’s Secret School: A True Story from Afghanistan, written and illustrated by Jeanette Winter and Marching for Freedom:  Walk Together, Children, and Don’t You Grow Weary by Elizabeth Partridge. For more information about the award, see http://www.janeaddamspeace.org

Siobhán Parkinson appointed as the first Laureate na nÓg for 2010-2012

iBbY Ireland is delighted to congratulate Siobhán in her role as Laureate. Laureate na nÓg is an initiative of the Arts Council, with the support of Children’s Books Ireland, the Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs and Poetry Ireland. The honour has been established to engage young people with high quality children’s literature and to underline the importance of children’s literature in our cultural and imaginative life. For more information about Siobhan's plans to champion children's literature, see http://childrenslaureate.ie.

Carnegie Medal and Kate Greenaway Medal shortlist announced

The Carnegie Medal is awarded annually to the writer of an outstanding book for children.The shortlist includes Irish authors works such as Eoin Colfer’s Airman, the late Siobhan Dowd’s Bog Child and Kate Thompson’s Creature of the Night. Picture books shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal include Oliver Jeffers' The Great Paper Caper and Neil Gaiman's Crazy Hair. Both these medals are awarded annually by CILIP: the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals. The 2010 winners will be announced at a ceremony at BAFTA in London on Thursday 24th June.

New online magazine of Caribbean writing and illustration for children  

Anansesem is a new online magazine of Caribbean and related writing and illustration for children, by adults and children. Submissions will be reviewed by prominent Caribbean literature advocates, Anouska Kock, Carol Mitchell, Sandra Sealy and June South-Robinson. Interested contributors can visit the Anansesem website at www.anansesem.com for submission guidelines and more information.

2010 New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards

The New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children and Young Adults reward excellence in children's literature, recognising the best books for children and teenagers published annually in New Zealand. Awards are made in four categories: Young Adult Fiction, Junior Fiction, Non-fiction, Picture Book. For information about awards and the 2010 winners, see http://www.booksellers.co.nz/sites/default/files/Judges%20Report_2010.pdf

Red House Children's Books Award 

American author Suzanne Collins won both the older reader's category and the overall prize with her futuristic story of survival and reality television, The Hunger Games. The other books on the shortlist were Paul Dowswell's Auslander and Suzanne LaFleur's Love, Aubrey. This award orginally started as the Children's Book Award in 1980 and is voted for by children and teenagers. The current award consists of 3 categories - Books for Younger Children, Books for Younger Readers and Books for Older Readers.

Derek Landy's Skulduggery Pleasant wins Irish Book of the Decade award

This competition was devised by the Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards to celebrate the diversity of Irish authors and to discover the nation’s favourite book of the Noughties. The shortlist of 50 Irish books included Irish writers such as Edna O’Brien, William Trevor, Cathy Kelly, Anne Enright, Ross O’Carroll Kelly and Colm Tobin, as well as public figures such as Bill Cullen, Roy Keane, and Eamon Dunphy.

Branford Boase Award shortlist

This award was set up to encourage new writers and is given each year to the most promising work of fiction for children by a first time novelist. The Branford Boase also honours the editor of the winning title and highlights the importance of the editor in nurturing new talent. Books on the shortlist include Lucy Christopher's Stolen, Anna Perera's Guantanamo Boy and Rachel Ward's Numbers. The winner will be announced on 14th July at a ceremony in London.

Irish Library Council announces lists of the most popular library books borrowed by children

Horrid Henry, Julia Donaldson, Jacqueline Wilson and ever-popular authors Enid Blyton, Roger Hargreaves, and Roald Dahl all feature in the top ten books borrowed by children from Irish libraries. The most borrowed Irish author in 2009 for both adults and children at number 13 was Darren Shan, whose tales of vampires and demons have sold 15 million copies worldwide. For more information about these findings, contact Brendan Teeling, Assistant Director, The Library Council: bteeling@librarycouncil.ie.

2010 Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards

Presented annually since 1967, the Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards reward excellence in international children’s and young adult literature and are given in three categories: Fiction and Poetry, Nonfiction, and Picture Book. Winners include Elizabeth Partridge's Marching for Freedom: Walk Together, Children, and Don’t You Grow Weary and Jerry Pinkney's The Lion and the Mouse. You can see the full list of winners at http://www.hbook.com/bghb/current.asp

Frances Lincoln Diverse Voices Children's Book Award 2010

Teacher Tom Avery has won this year’s Frances Lincoln Diverse Voices Children’s Book Award with his novel Too Much Trouble for 8-12 year olds. The Award was founded jointly by Frances Lincoln Limited and the Seven Stories Centre, Newcastle, in memory of Frances Lincoln to encourage and promote diversity in children's fiction. 

Storytelling workshop with Liz Warren

An intensive Storytelling Workshop with Liz Warren will be held on 19th and 20th June in The Teachers' Club, 36 Parnell Square, Dublin 2. Liz Warren is a storyteller, teacher, writer and co-founder of the South Mountain Community College Storytelling Institute in Phoenix, Arizona, where she lectures on Multicultural Folktales, Mythology, The Irish Storytelling Tradition, Sacred Stories from Around the World, and Creating and Telling Epic Length Stories. Liz is one of the founders of Going Deep: The Long Traditional Storytelling Festival and a producer of the annual Mesa Storytelling festival held at the Mesa Arts Center. Contact Susie Minto for full details about the workshop susie_minto@ciaracom.ie or see www.storytellersofireland.org for more information.

The Ark summer season visual arts programme

This summer at The Ark, it’s ART 360, where you get the chance to encounter a range of visual arts activities: making art, with all kinds of diverse materials, and exhibiting your work. The 'Feast for the Senses' workshops with artist Jane Groves will take place from 8th to 12th July for 3 to 14 year-old children. 'Exhibit Me!' will take place from 14th July to 22nd August for 2 to 14-year-olds when artist Terry O’Farrell will guide you and inspire you to create your very own artworks exploring the theme of FAMILY. You can then have your work showcased in The Ark gallery with Terry’s work in an evolving exhibition, curated by Ashleigh Downey, The Ark’s Visual Arts Programmer, in collaboration with the artist. Full programme details and booking information is available at www.ark.ie

Call for poems for poetry anthology on 'Childhood'

WordAid is inviting submissions for an anthology of poetry on the theme of 'Childhood' to be published in November 2010 in aid of Children in Need. The anthology will be launched with a reading and event in Canterbury as part of the University of Kent's Tuesday Reading Series. Submitted poems must have a maximum length of 40 lines and should be emailed tosubmissions@wordaid.org.uk. The deadline is 10th July. Contributors whose poems are selected will be informed by 31st August 2010. All poets who submit a poem will be invited to the launch events and will have the opportunity to buy multiple copies at a discount. The judging penal of WordAid members are Patricia Debney, Jo Field, Nicky Gould, Jen Kahawatte and Vicky Wilson.

Essays are invited for this collection which will explore the filmic imagining of the dark side of childhood. Proposals could address sugested topics like the works of Neil Jordan, Danny Boyle, Guillermo Del Toro or Stephen Spielberg. Contributors should send a 200-500 word abstract, a short biography, and complete contact information to Debbie Olson, debbieo@okstate.edu by the deadline of
1st August 2010. Full essays are due no later than 31st December 2010.

CS Lewis: The Chronicles of Narnia Casebook

Abstracts are invited for this collection of critical essays
Send commissioned by Palgrave Macmillan as part of their new casebook series in children’s literature. Possible topics for essays include, but are not limited to the influence of C. S. Lewis’s series on other fantasy authors; gender, race, class, and sexuality in Narnia; Narnia in visual culture: movies, television, radio; Narnia in the classroom; pedagogical approaches to the series; Narnia’s use of magic, adventure, and the fantastic; Narnia fandom, fanfiction, and participatory culture; the commercialization and commodification of Narnia: toys, games, clothes, etc.; Narnia in non-Western cultures. Email 400 words proposals plus a CV to Michelle Ann Abate at mabate@hollins.edu by the deadline of 15th July 2010.

Alterity: Conceptualising Counter-Hegemonic Sites, Practices and Narratives

This two day international conference for postgraduate and early career researchers at the University of Nottingham, UK from 28th-29th April 2011 will explore interdisciplinary conceptions and representations of radical, counter-hegemonic space. Possible research questions could include: What estranging utopian, dystopian, post-apocalyptic and science fiction spaces of alterity are being utilised in contemporary aesthetic and cultural productions, e.g. film, literature, TV, art, computer games? What are the relationships between textual spaces of alterity and non-textual forums, communities and dialogues? What political, artistic, or scientific practices can such spaces foster? Abstracts of 300 words should be emailed as a Word attachment to spacesofalterity@gmail.com by 3rd November and should include name, affiliation, e-mail address, title of paper and 4 keywords.

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