I was so lucky to attend the 39th IBBY Congress in late August. There were 650 delegates from around the world and with keynotes, over 100 Oral sessions, round tables, award presentations, and also over 100 posters to peruse. This reel will give you a flavour of the congress and if you watch it carefully you might spy me and my friend Dr Robin Morrow!
Keynotes:
- Michael Rosen 'Literature as a Driver of Change' - check out my previous post.
- Roberto Piumini 'The Words to Say'
- Telmo Pievani 'Disseminating Science in Children's Books'
- Stanislas Dehaene 'Reading in the Brain' and Kate Nation 'Reading for the Brain'
Round Table (there were several but this is the one I attended):
- Picturing Picture Books: a conversation about history, critic, censorship and poetic perspectives on the topic - Leonard Marcus
Awards presentations:
- IBBY-Asahi Reading Promotion Award ATD Fourth World’s Street Libraries, nominated by IBBY France. Read more here.
Over 60 ATD Street Libraries can be found throughout France, the majority being located in “priority neighbourhoods” as defined by the French Government. ATD stands for All Together in Dignity. The programme has grown out of ATD Fourth World's conviction that the most effective way to support children to break out of the cycle of poverty is to nurture their desire to learn, and to assist in the development of their creativity.
The Award aims to encourage further investment by individuals, organizations and governments in the promotion of children’s reading and will stimulate educational innovation, give much greater access to children’s books and an enhanced profile for children’s reading promotion – key tools in global, social, economic and cultural development – all in the context of Article 17(C) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The winners of the 2024 IBBY-iRead Outstanding Reading Promoter Award are: Ms Basarat Kazim from Pakistan, nominated by IBBY Pakistan, and Ms Irene Vasco from Colombia, nominated by IBBY Canada.
- Hans Christian Andersen Award - Sydney Smith and Heniz Janisch Read more here.
Here is my previous post about the 2024 short listed authors and illustrators. You can read Sydney Smith's acceptance speech here which he presented at the Hans Christian Andersen award dinner in Trieste.
- 2024 IBBY Honour List - this was a terrific part of the congress and I was cheering loudly for our Australian titles but also for the fabulous books from Canada! Read more here. And watch the video.
The 2024 Honour List includes 184 nominations in 52 different languages from 59 countries. Selected for the 2024 list are 68 entries in the category of Writing; 55 in the category Illustration; and 61 in the category Translation.
Some personal Oral Session highlights:
- Let Fiction be part of every school subject - Sweden
- The right to remain silent: wordless picture books as drivers of social and linguistic change in an Early childhood setting - Norway
- Respecting children's names and cultural roots - USA
- Museums as actors of change in promoting children's books - Italy
- Parents book-reading to preterm born infants in Neonatal Intensive Care - Italy
- Healing power of literature: encouraging teenage boys in Juvenile Detention in reading and writing - Turkey
- Reading with newcomer children: an IBBY Canada 'Reading Club' for immigrant and refugee children aged 5-12 - Canada
Sadly, there was no bookshop at the congress but there were displays of the Honour books,
the silent books, art from Roberto Innocenti (HCAA 2008), books by Gianni Rodari (HCAA 1970). There was also a very moving display entitled "Sailing across oceans of stories".
While the conference was running at the Convention Center there was also a brilliant exhibition to honour Jella Lepman.
Translation from Italian:
The exhibition is a tribute in images to the intuition of Jella Lepman, who after the horrors of World War II was able to see in books a bridge of relationship to set the imagination in motion again and bring together different geographies; was curated by Silvana Sola, Paola Vassalli and David Tolin, who involved twenty illustrators, ten Italians and ten from the rest of the world, who — as Paola Vassalli recalled — "have created works full of life and movement, confirming that all art is a practice of depth and movement even when it speaks to us from the pages of a book, even and especially when he speaks to the youngest." The artists gave substance to all the most important aspects of the life of the founder of IBBY, a true revolutionary: "revolutionary," said Silvana Sola, "was to think that books were bridges, that they were the necessary response to the difficulties of German children who had come out of a devastating war in body and spirit. It was revolutionary to move on an international level, seeking alliances between the powerful of the earth and fellow travelers. It was revolutionary to create, together with others, an association that provided good practices to spread good books and reading. An association that operates in many parts of the world and that today meets in the 39th Congress that opens."
The walls of the exhibition were filled with quotes from Jella Lepman and illustrations described above.
"It became increasingly clear to me that I should not look backwards, but forwards, and that I should start with the children ... what about children's books. Oh there were practically no children's books left at the end; those are needed more than anything else."
Here are a few more:
The other half of this exhibition consisted of book plates with work by contemporary illustrators and their interpretation of classic children's books such as Pinocchio; Pippi Longstocking; Winnie -the-Pooh; Emil and the detectives; Heidi and Little Lord Fauntleroy. You can see a few in this
Facebook reel. The books featured in the book plates were the books Jella Lepman displayed in her famous 1946 exhibition.
We are looking for ways to introduce children in Germany to the children's books of other nations. German children have almost no books left after the children's and youth literature of the Hitler era was eliminated. Educators and publishers also need books from the free world for their orientation. Children are not to blame for this war, so let your books be the first messengers of peace! They are to be compiled into an exhibition that will first travel to Germany, and later perhaps to other countries. To overcome foreign language difficulties, we ask above all for picture books and illustrated books. But good narrative literature should also be made accessible to the children in group work. We hope that German publishers will be able to acquire the translation rights to many of these books. We also ask your country for children's drawings and children's paintings. These pictures speak an international language and will delight the children. (Lepman 1964, 51 f.)
The 40th Congress will be held in Canada. I love their poster with an image by The Fan Brothers.
The theme of the 40th IBBY World Congress is “Listening to Each Other’s Voices,” expressed as “Écouter la voix de l’autre” in French and “Pizindàdidà Ekidong” in Algonquin. In a world that is often divisive, this theme speaks to IBBY’s core values of plurality and inclusion and will anchor the Congress programming. Diverse voices will engage with six intersectional topics: disability; gender, sex, and sexuality; migrants, immigrants, and refugees; Black, Indigenous and People of Colour; mental health; and sustainability in children’s literature and reading promotions. ... The public will be invited to participate in free events for children’s literature fans of all ages, including an exhibition titled “From Sea to Sea to Sea: Celebrating Indigenous Picture Books,” which will highlight 175 beautiful, thought-provoking Indigenous picture books published in Canada over the past 40 years, and a boisterous book parade followed by a picnic and read-alouds of great books from across the Americas!
“Holding the 40th IBBY World Congress in Canada is fantastic for Canadian creators and publishers,” says Stephanie Wells, Executive Director of the Canadian Children’s Book Centre. “Canada is well-situated to act as host to passionate advocates for children’s books from around the globe, as we boast a strong children’s book community that creates world-class books. The Congress will also shine a spotlight on Canadian authors, illustrators, and publishers and amplify the diverse voices that are represented in Canadian books.”
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