Tuesday, April 2, 2024

International Children's Book Day IBBY

 




IBBY Japan created the poster for ICBD 2024. 
Here are photos of Eiko Kadono who wrote the poem below and Nana Furiya 
who designed the art for the poster.

Kadono says "to start reading a book is like opening a door to a different world. It doesn't close at the end of the story, another door is always waiting there to be opened. People will start to look at the world in a different way after reading a story, and it's the beginning in a sense. And I think that is the true pleasure of reading. I do hope everyone will start building their own new story from here and now".

Eiko Kadono won the Hans Christian Andersen award in 2018.  I previously talked about her book:

Since 1967, on or around Hans Christian Andersen's birthday, 2 April, International Children's Book Day (ICBD) is celebrated to inspire a love of reading and to call attention to children's books. Each year a different National Section of IBBY has the opportunity to be the international sponsor of ICBD. It decides upon a theme and invites a prominent author from the host country to write a message to the children of the world and a well-known illustrator to design a poster. 



ICBD Poem for 2024

Stories travel, riding on wings,
Longing to hear the joyful beat of your heart.
I’m a traveling story. I fly anywhere.
On wings of wind, or wings of waves, or sometimes on tiny wings of sand. Of course, I also ride the wings of migratory birds. And even those of jet planes.
I sit beside you. Opening the pages, I tell you a story, the one you want to hear.
Would you like a strange and wondrous story?
Or how about a sad one, a scary one, or a funny one?
If you don’t feel like listening right now, that’s fine too. But I know someday you will. When you do, just call out, “Traveling story, come. Sit beside me!”
And I’ll fly right there.
 
I have so many stories to share.
How about a story of a little island tired of being alone who learned to swim and set off to find a friend?
Or the tale of a mysterious night when two moons appeared.
Or the one about Santa Claus getting lost.
 
Oh, I can hear your heart. It’s beating faster.
Flitter-flutter, thumpity-thump, pitter-patter, bumpety-bump.
The traveling story has jumped inside and set your heart racing.
You’ll become one yourself next, spreading your wings to fly.
And so, another traveling story is born.


In 1994, founding president of IBBY Australia, Ena Noël OAM (1910–2003), established her own biennial prize – the Ena Noël Award – to encourage young, emerging writers and illustrators for young people. The name not only honours Ena Noël’s contributions but makes it apparent that she wished to use her reputation to champion support for emerging Australian creators. The award is a silver medallion designed by the first winner of the award, the esteemed artist, Arone Raymond Meeks (1957–2021).

Here is the 2024 short list. In 2024 there will be two awards - one for writing and one for illustration.



The 2024 winners are:

Writing - joint winners Meg Gatland-Veness and Holden Sheppard.
Illustration - Sher Rill Ng



We were sent this book when I was a CBCA judge. Here are my comments:

How wonderful to have a dual language text (English and Mandarin) submitted for our judging. The refection image on the cover is a brilliant way to show the boy and his reality versus his dream/desire. The end papers are minimal and interesting and, in some ways, bracket the book’s timeline. The title page hat rack image is intriguing. Sher Rill Ng captures every emotion of this little boy in such a powerful way especially on the pages where Xiao Xin looks directly at the reader. The glossy pages soak up the deep blues and greens, moving between light and dark shades, while little Xiao Xin stands out defiantly in his red puffer jacket. Dressing him in this large puffer jacket adds to the themes of over protection – cushioning him in case of a fall, cocooning him so he stays small. Red is also a lucky and auspicious colour in Chinese culture. The illustrations add so much more to this story – such as the unspoken mud shapes portraying his family as shadow-demons haunting Xiao Xin with their own worries. Why are the family so overprotective? We are given fragments, tiny glimpses into Xiao Xin’s family’s past and their journey as refugees. We can see into Xiao Xin’s imagination and his dream to be a brave warrior. Repeating the shadow on the final page gives this book both a sense of completion and hope for the future.


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