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Dear Book Lovers, Welcome! I am delighted that you have found The Through the Looking Glass blog. For over twenty years I reviewed children's literature titles for my online journal, which came out six times a year. Every book review written for that publication can be found on the Through the Looking Glass website (the link is below). I am now moving in a different direction, though the columns that I write are still book-centric. Instead of writing reviews, I'm offering you columns on topics that have been inspired by wonderful books that I have read. I tell you about the books in question, and describe how they have have impacted me. This may sound peculiar to some of you, but the books that I tend to choose are ones that resonate with me on some level. Therefore, when I read the last page and close the covers, I am not quite the same person that I was when first I started reading the book. The shift in my perspective might be miniscule, but it is still there. The books I am looking are both about adult and children's titles. Some of the children's titles will appeal to adults, while others will not. Some of the adult titles will appeal to younger readers, particularly those who are eager to expand their horizons.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Hans Christian Andersen Award winners and IBBY-Asahi Reading Promotion Award winners are announced





The International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) Names
David Almond and Jutta Bauer 2010 Hans Christian Andersen Award Winners

Bologna, Italy...The Hans Christian Andersen Award Jury of the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY), has announced thatDavid Almond, from the United Kingdom is the winner of the 2010 Hans Christian Andersen Author Award and that Jutta Bauer, from Germany is the winner of the 2010 Hans Christian Andersen Illustrator Award. The announcement was made at the Bologna International Children's Book Fair, and the Andersen medals and diplomas will be presented to the winners on Saturday, 11 September 2010 at the international IBBY congress in Santiago de Compostela, Spain.

The Hans Christian Andersen Award is the highest international recognition given to an author and an illustrator of children's books. In awarding the 2010 Hans Christian Andersen Medal for writing to David Almond, the jury has recognized the unique voice of a creator of magic realism for children. Almond captures his young readers' imagination and motivates them to read, think and be critical.  His use of language is sophisticated and reaches across the ages. 

The 2010 Hans Christian Andersen Medal for illustration recognizes Jutta Bauer as a powerful narrator who blends real life with legend through her pictures.  The jury admired her philosophical approach, originality, creativity as well as her ability to communicate with young readers.

David Almond was selected from 28 authors for the award. The four finalists were: Ahmad Reza Ahmadi from Iran, Bartolomeu Campos de Queiros from Brazil, Lennart Hellsing from Sweden and Louis Jensen from Denmark.

Jutta Bauer was selected from 27 illustrators nominated. The four finalists were Carll Cneut from Belgium, Etienne Delessert from Switzerland, Svjetlan Junakovic from Croatia and Roger Mello from Brazil. The full list of candidates can be read at www.ibby.org.

The ten members of the 2010 Jury, led by Jury President Zohreh Ghaeni from Iran, met in Basel, Switzerland on 13 and 14 March 2010.  The Jury of children's literature experts comprised Ernest Bond (USA), Karen Coeman (Mexico), Nadia El Kholy (Egypt), Maria Jesus Gil (Spain), Jan Hansson (Sweden), Annemie Leysen (Belgium), Darja Mazi-Leskovar (Slovenia), Alicia Salvi (Argentina), Helene Schar (Switzerland) and Regina Zilberman (Brazil). Elda Nogueira from Brazil representing IBBY and Liz Page as Jury Secretary attended the meeting ex officio.

The Hans Christian Andersen Award is considered the most prestigious in international children's literature, is given biennially by IBBY to a living author and illustrator whose complete works are judged to have made lasting contributions to children's literature. Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II of Denmark is the Patron of the Andersen Awards.  The Author's Award has been given since 1956 and the Illustrator's Award since 1966. Nami Island Inc. is the sponsor of the Hans Christian Andersen Awards. Information, including a history of the awards is available at www.ibby.org.


Winners of IBBY-Asahi Reading Promotion Award Announced
2010 Marks Twentieth Anniversary

March 23, Bologna, Italy...The International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) today announced the winners of the 2010 IBBY-Asahi Reading Promotion Awards. This is the 20th Anniversary of the award given by IBBY and the Asahi Shimbun newspaper company for international projects run by groups or institutions judged to be making a lasting contribution to reading for young people. The Award is given every other year to two organizations. The 2010 winners are The Osu Children's Library Fund, Ghana, http://www.osuchildrenslibraryfun d.ca, and Convenio de Cooperacion al Plan de Lectura, Medellin, Colombia, http://bit.ly/9kSlvg.

Each will receive $10,000 US, which will be presented at the 32nd IBBY Congress in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, at a special event on September 10th. The Osu Children's Library Fund (OCLF) consists of two teams one in Canada and the other in Africa--that share the mission of bringing books and literacy skills to African children and adults. OCLF works at the grassroots level, seeking support and participation of elders and members of the host community.

Convenio de Cooperacion al Plan de Lectura is a non-profit organization that encourages reading and literary creation by means of awareness, training and research programs, including workshops, storytelling and sessions with authors and illustrators. 
Other nominees were:
  • Alola Literacy & Reading Programme, Dili, Timor-Leste
  • Indigenous Children's Literature Writers' Meeting, Brazil
  • Visible Readings for Invisible Children, Medell~n, Colombia
  • Room to Read, USA
  • Kamishibai - To build a culture of peace in the world, Japan
  • Justita Arenas Reading Room, Mexico City, Mexico
  • Mama, Tata & ...Myself Campaign, Nowa Iwiczna, Poland
  • Roma People, invited to the library, Metlika, Slovenia
  • White Elephant / Domrei Sor, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
  • Akili TrustKenya

Members of the 2010 jury are Jury President Hannelore Daubert (Germany)Anastasia Arkhipova (Russia), Nikki Gamble (Great Britain), Jehan Helou (Palestine), Ahmad Redza Khairuddin (Malaysia) and James Tumusiime (Uganda).

The International Board on Books for Young People, www.ibby.org, is a non-profit organization which represents an international network of people from all over the world committed to bringing books and children together.

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