Crown Princess Victoria opened the Astrid Lindgren exhibition in Seoul today

Joohwi Kang at the Embassy of Sweden in Seoul about the exhibition that opened earlier today:

The Embassy of Sweden in Seoul holds the exhibition of <Astrid Lindgren and Pippi> at the National Library of Children and Young Adults on 26 Mar (Thu)- 31 May (Sun). Co-organized by the National Library of Children and Young Adults, the exhibition is to give insights about the Swedish children’s literature to the Korean children and young adults. The exhibition comprises introduction of the life of Astrid Lindgren, Lindgren’s famous stories, Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award and previous laureates of Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, and Children’s corner to play and read.

Today, the Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel of Sweden paid a visit to the library to inaugurate the exhibition during her official visit to the Republic of Korea at the invitation by the Prime Minister Lee Wan-koo. Accompanying the Crown Princess Couple is the Swedish Minister for Social Security, Ms Annika Strandhäll and a small delegation of senior officials.

The opening ceremony took place with the existence of Mr PARK Min-kwon (Vice Minister for Culture, Sports and Tourism), Mr LIM Won-sun (Chief Executive of the National Library of Korea), Ms YEO Wee-sook (Director General of the National Library for Children and Young Adults), Ms KIM Su-jung, President of Korean Board on Books for Young People (KBBY), Ms BAEK Heena (Children’s book writer and ALMA nominee 2015) and many more VIP guests. The participating guests celebrate the opening and the 70th birthday of Pippi who is well known character among Koreans through TV series.

Picture book artists collaboration exhibited at the Nordic Watercolour Museum

Work in progress. Kitty Crowhter and Eva Lindström. Photo: Nordic Watercolour Museum.

Fourth upon a time… Harriët, Eva, Kitty, Nadja, is the title of the new exhibition at the Nordic Watercolour Museum. Four artists and picture book creators, Harriët Van Reek (The Netherlands), Eva Lindström (Sweden), Nadja (France) and 2010 ALMA Laureate Kitty Crowther (Belgium) have chosen to work together and let their different worlds collide and meet in new art, new pictures and new stories.

– The project started out when Kitty Crowther visited the museum a couple of years ago, she wanted to do a collaboration with other invited picture book artistes, says Sofia Olofsson at the Nordic Watercolour Museum.

In the exhibition, the artists will present their books, but also completely different sides of their work. The artists have been working together in a workshop in December and February.

– I´ve actually never done anything like this, Eva Lindström says in an interview with Swedish National Radio. It is a very tolerant atmosphere. What we talked about making the catalogue was that we not were supposed to be polite to each other, rather questioning each other’s pieces to see what that resulted in.

The artists have a deeply personal visual language and create narratives that challenge and cause one to marvel. Kitty Crowther want the audience to meet themselves in the exhibition:

– I love this awkwardness that´s not trying to please, saying “ah, be careful, you´re making books for children, it´s have to be pleasant”, children also have very strong feelings, and I get very annoyed when adults think “oh this is not for children”. Well, do you remember when you were a child? Yes? Well, then let´s talk about it. If you don´t? Well, just step back.

The exhibition is available until May 3^rd.

Photo:
© Nordiska Akvarellmuseet

Photo: Nordiska akvarellmuseet

 

“…a suspicious resemblance to Bambi.”

Sagan om Micky Sammetspäls, written by Barbro Lindgren at the age of 12. Photo: Sölvberget

“…a suspicious resemblance to Bambi.” Barbro Lindgren’s description of the story written by her as a 12-year-old and sent to editor Astrid Lindgren at Raben&Sjögren.
“Those got returned, of course, with some encouraging words from Astrid. She wrote that all authors have their first manuscripts refused, and it was no reason to get discouraged! And indeed I didn’t. I thought just getting a letter was fantastic. And this letter was from Astrid, and it had wax seals! ”
Now the manuscript is exhibited at the ongoing Nordic Children’s Books Convention. #nbbk2015 #sølvberget

Henry Ascher in documentary

Henry Ascher. Photo: Stefan Tell

Professor of paediatrics and jury member Henry Ascher is being portrayed in Bo Harringer’s new documentary Aven de döda har ett namn (“Even the dead has a name”), now featured at the Göteborg International Film Festival. The context is really a journey through time. Partly Henry’s political journey from the Vietnam War to his involvement in the Palestine-Israel conflict, but also a trip even further away in time about his parents and grandparents, his entire family on his father’s side who was murdered in Nazi concentration camps. Bo Harringer wants the film to be “an appeal to all people to learn from history and thus fight Islamophobia and anti-Semitism, all oppression of people of different religions. We must learn to say no, we cannot allow the Nazis to march unnoticed on our streets.” An extremely important and urgent issue, not the least today, on the International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

ALMA and Barbro Lindgren to Children’s Book Conference in Stavanger

Library Sölvberget in Stavanger, Norway. Photo: Anne Lise Norheim

The first few days in February nearly 300 writers, illustrators, librarians and publishers representatives will gather in Stavanger, Norway to participate in this year’s Nordic Children’s Book Conference.

ALMA participants are Director Helen Sigeland, 2014 Laureate Barbro Lindgren and jury members Mats Kempe and Anna Höglund. This year’s theme is “Downfall – or transition?” and should be seen as a comment on the seriousness that seems to be growing in literature for children and young people, and the many challenges the field of children’s literature faces in our digital age.

– The goal has been to create a common meeting place for Nordic children’s literature, and it´s incredibly fun that the interest is so huge, says Project manager Siri Odfjell Risdag. The conference will be opened by the Director of the Norwegian National Library, Aslak Sira Myrhe. Furthermore, the recipient of the Nordic Council’s Children and Young People’s Literature Prize2014, Øyvind Torseter and Barbro Lindgren, Laureate of the 2014 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, will participate in the program.

The Nordic Children’s Book Conference will proceed February 2-4.

Barbro Lindgren. Photo: Stefan Tell

Tamer Institute celebrates 25 years by stressing words as tools for survival

The celebration program included a reading by a young Palestinian who is member of the Tamer writing team. Photo: Tamer Institute

“A warm and peaceful celebration of the vision, despite all hardships.” Last week Tamer Institute for Community Education celebrated its 25^th birthday, with the overall theme Words as tools for survival. An extensive program attended by at least 170 writers, illustrators, librarians and talented youths took place at the Mahmoud Darwish Museum in Ramallah.

Since 1989 the Tamer Institute has carried out reading promotion work for children and young people in West Bank and Gaza. It was founded to give children access to books and alternative learning as children’s and young people’s schooling, leisure time and lives suffered from the troubles in the area.

The program included, amongst other things, a reading of a piece by a young Palestinian from Gaza Strip who is a member of Tamer’s writing team, and a speech by Ms. Abla Naseer, the Head of Board members of Tamer.

The celebrations also honored the laureate of the 2014 Itisalat Award, Palestinian author and storyteller Sonia Nimer, whose book “Wonderful Trips in Mysterious Worlds” was published by Tamer Institute.

Link to Tamer Institute here.

Summary on YouTube:

The staff of the Tamer Institute.

Sonia Nimer amused the audience with her imaginative and laughter provocative speech. Here surrounded by young adults.

ALMA seminar in Istanbul

Photo: Elina Druker

The Swedish Consulate General in Istanbul on Thursday hosted a presentation of Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award to coincide with the 25^th anniversary of the United Nations Convention. Helen Sigeland emphasized the importance of the nominating bodies and Elina Druker, PhD in literature and jury member, gave a presentation of Barbro Lindgren. Prof and jury member Henry Ascher concluded the evening by talking about Astrid Lindgren’s humanistic values and the UN convention of the rights of the child. Invited to the event were reading promoters, librarians, teachers and representatives of writers’ organisations. Maybe some of the guests are future nominating bodies!

Turkish illustrator Feridun Oral and Elina Druker.

 

Photo: Henry Ascher

Lecture with Elina Druker. Photo: Henry Ascher

Lecture with Henry Ascher. Photo: Elina Druker

Will Barbro Lindgren’s latest children’s book be rewarded tonight?

Cover of Nu leker vi den fula ankungen. Eva Lindström and Barbro Lingren. Photo: Rabén & Sjögren.

Barbro Lindgren’s Nu leker vi den fula ankungen (Let´s play the ugly duckling, illustrations by Eva Lindström, Rabén & Sjögren 2014) are one of the nominated candidates in the category for Best Swedish Children’s Book of the Year at tonight’s August Prize gala.

The citation of the jury (our translation):

Anything is possible in children’s play. When Barbro Lindgren let children play H.C. Andersen’s Ugly Duckling, something happens. The humorous childlike dialogue reshapes the whole story. The moral change. The duckling transforms from an outcast to a unique creature, but on new terms. The untidy duckling’s fragile appearance stands out in both the throng of ducklings and on spreads with large, pure color fields in a dim range of colors. Eva Lindström captures the little bird’s vulnerability to perfection. But also its inner growth.

The August Prize was founded by the Swedish Publishers’ Association in 1989, to institute an annual award for the best Swedish books of the year in order to increase public interest in Swedish contemporary literature. The other three categories which will be announced tonight is: Best Swedish Fiction Book of the Year, Best Swedish Non-Fiction Book of the Year and the August Prize for Young Writers.

You can follow the August Prize gala live here starting 5:30 pm CET!

Guardian celebrates cultural and ethnic diversity in children’s books

Cover from The Arrival.

Yesterday, Guardian Children’s Books released a list of the 50 best children’s books published from 1950 to the present day that celebrate cultural and ethnic diversity. Behind the list is Seven Stories, The National Centre for Children’s Books for sharing the list with us today – and to the experts they called on to pull it together: Julia Eccleshare (the Guardian children’s books editor), Jake Hope (from Youth Libraries Group),  Library specialist Sarah Smith and Katherine Woodfine from the Book Trust.

One of the books is 2011 ALMA Laureate Shaun Tan’s graphic novel The arrival, which follows a man who leaves his home and his family and emigrates to a foreign land, where he struggles to settle in, while always dreaming of being reunited with his family.

The Guardian children’s Books web has in fact dedicated the whole week to exploring diversity of all kinds in children’s books. Why? Here´s their own words:

First things first. What makes a diverse book? This means books by and about all kinds of people, as the UK and the world are full of all kinds of people. So that means boys, girls, all different colours, all different races and religions, all different sexualities and all different disabilities and anything else you can think of – so our books don’t leave anyone out.

Now here are some shocking stats: of the 3,200 children’s books published in 2013, only 93 were about black people, 34 about Native Americans, 69 about Asians and 57 about Latinos (people from South America). Not too good!

Our amazing children’s laureate Malorie Blackman told site member Megan TheBookAddictedGirl: “Growing up I wanted to read books that featured people of colour but having adventures and having stories; that’s a major part of the reason that I thought ‘there seem to be none, I’m going to write them myself.’”

Link to the entire text and this week’s programme.

Here´s a clip were children’s laureate Malorie Blackman introduces her book, Boys Don’t Cry and talks about the importance of cultural diversity in books & writing.

In this clip, produced by the Guardian, she´s interviewed by teenager Megan Quibell at the very first Young Adult Lit Convention (YALC) held at Comic Con in July.

 

From The Arrival

 

Book by Barbro Lindgren in Happy Meal book project

Julia wants a pet (illustrated by Eva Eriksson) Rabén & Sjögren

The Happy Meal book project is a collaboration between Swedish reading promotion organisation “Läsrörelsen” (approx. The reading movement) and Mc Donalds. Going on since 2001, the motto is “Give your children a language”. The books, distributed in all Happy meals during a defined period, are chosen by children’s book expert Marianne von Baumgarten-Lindberg, member of the Läsrörelsen board. This year’s Happy Meal Book project is going on between October 17 and November 13. The first book to be distributed is Barbro Lindgren’s Julia wants a pet (illustrated by Eva Eriksson).

Elisabet Reslegård

– To understand and make yourself understood is a prerequisite for democracy, says Elisabeth Reslegård, Chairman of Läsrörelsen. A vivid and rich language is established during children’s pre-school age. Reading aloud is very important when it comes to fighting against language poverty, and to be able to reach out through the McDonald’s arena is really fantastic.

Läsrörlsen’s brilliant poster from the Göteborg Book Fair. “Whitout a language other expressions will take over.”