USBBY is proud to nominate Gene Luen Yang and Mitali Perkins for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. The award was created in 2002 by the Swedish government to promote every child’s right to great stories and is given annually to a person or organization for their outstanding contribution to children’s and young adult literature. Administrated by the Swedish Arts Council. and with a prize of five million Swedish kronor, it is the largest award of its kind. 

Thanks to Chair Vicky Smith and Member Susan Marston for pulling together these excellent dossiers reflecting the work of two accomplished American authors with global reach.
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IBBY’s 39th International Congress convened in Trieste, Italy, from August 30 to September 1, 2024. At the intersection of Latin and Slovak cultures and with a rich literary history and gorgeous backdrop on the Gulf of Trieste, it was an impressive venue to host an event that brought librarians, educators, authors, illustrators, translators, publishers, and other individuals involved in children’s literature together from all over the world. The Congress also welcomed new IBBY sections from such countries as Ethiopia, Portugal, Nigeria, and the Philippines.

IBBY President, Sylvia Vardell, put her personal touch on the Congress, opening with a poem by Naomi Shihab Nye. Poetry was also at the forefront throughout the first day with a keynote speech by British poet and author Michael Rosen, who emphasized how literature can be a driver for change, and a tandem reading of poems about the sea by Italian poet Chiara Carminati and accompanying on-the-spot illustration by Italian illustrator Alessandro Sanna. The second and third days brought a busy and enlightening mixture of oral sessions, poster sessions, round tables, and lectures featuring global scholarship and programming on a wide range of topics related to children’s literature, libraries, literacy, and reading.

A personal highlight was attending the Presentation of the Hans Christian Andersen Award, the highest international recognition of an author’s and illustrator’s lasting contribution to children’s literature. Author Award winner, Heinz Janisch, from Austria, related the power of books through their “fire” and “silky shine,” while Illustrator Award winner, Sydney Smith, from Canada, described how his illustrations anticipate the emotional reaction of the reader and invite them into a sacred place. The event was comparable to the Newbery-Caldecott speeches, with participants laughing and tearing up in equal measure in reaction to the award winners’ candor, humor, and respect of their craft and child readers.

Another standout session was a round table on translating poetry into a foreign language with children’s poets from different countries. One poet spoke about looking for what’s important and having to let some information go when translating rhymes. Another poet offered a contrasting perspective, describing how information comes last when translating “the meringue” or “delicious nothingness” of nonsense poetry.

Since this was my first time at IBBY, I was nervous about finding and making new friends, but after a few minutes, I had nothing to worry about! The closeness of IBBY, which assembled hundreds rather than thousands of attendees like ALA, fostered quicker and more lasting connections with colleagues from all over the globe. I also saw plenty of familiar faces from USBBY, including USBBY President Wendy Stephens, Junko Yokota, Ellen Myrick, Christina Moorehead, Tucker Stone, Elizabeth Poe, Susan Polos, and Evelyn Freeman. Thom Barthelmess gave an outstanding presentation on leveraging youth literature to normalize conversations with young people about death and loss as well. Kathy Short’s presentation on transformative approaches to community-based literacy was also thought-provoking.

Here are some tips I learned as a first-timer:

Most of the speeches and presentations were in English, but there were still speakers in Italian, the host city’s language. Simultaneous English translation was available through a listening device, but you had to leave your passport as a form of security. I was reluctant to part with my passport, but caved in so I could follow the speakers. Next time I will bring a second form of identification, like a driver’s license, to use in this case.

Unlike ALA, the IBBY conference generously included lunch and coffee breaks every day. By American standards, however, lunch was served late and had small portions. I learned to snack during the coffee breaks and ask for an extra scoop of an enjoyable dish at lunchtime. Packing a snack or two could also be helpful for attendees who are used to eating by American timelines.

Most Americans are also used to carrying water bottles and refilling them as needed. This event did not have any water filling stations. I also learned to bring a full water bottle and take advantage of water during coffee and snack services.

As in many conference venues, the temperature varied widely from room to room. I was glad to have a light jacket to layer as needed.

My biggest parting tip is simply to say and hello and start a conversation with the person beside you. One of the first attendees I met is from New Zealand and a longtime member of IBBY. She instantly became a conference mentor, and now we are planning when I can come to visit her picture book center and attend one of her seminars in New Zealand next year!

Library for Refugees Project
"To fulfill the primary objective of IBBY, which is to introduce children to quality books, LBBY is creating and rebuilding libraries in Lebanese public schools in collaboration with UNESCO. By June 2022, eleven public schools had been successfully rebuilt, and they had received library materials. Additionally, Book Aid International, IBBY Canada, and IBBY France gave high-quality books to more than 29 schools. The project also included phase two which had the goal of organizing training sessions and workshops for the librarians at each of these schools on managing and promoting libraries, as well as providing documentation of books in each school on computers donated by UNESCO."
Read the complete report from the Tahaddi Education Center. 
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​UNESCO - LBBY Phase II  Project
"The project aims to reach its ultimate goal that is promoting reading and
connection between children and books through progressive steps and to a broader range of children. Those steps are noticed by each of the Nine schools (3,163 students) targeted and mentioned in the first section of this report that have been renovated and/or provided with resources to form a better environment for the children at the library, especially that, as seen in the “before” pictures, many were inappropriate for the children to use. This was in addition to providing different schools with Arabic books bought locally, as well as English books donated from Book Aid International."

Read the complete report about the Children in Crisis Rehabilitation of Public Schools' Libraries

From Jocelyne Trouillot
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IBBY Haiti has been able to have a few workshops even though the funds from IBBY were late in arriving. The other workshops and book distribution in the capital are going on. We will reach some other cities from next week until mid-June. We will send you a full report then, especially that we will be going for the first time in Cap Haitian and two other cities in the North. Cap Haitian is the second largest city in Haiti.

Things are still very bad here. Last week in Port au Prince, a young student was killed by a bullet. He was carrying his school bag, wearing his uniform, after leaving school. Adults die every day here with the gangs omni present. But every time it is a child who is murdered, one feels hopeless. People from a department cannot go to another part of the country without paying a ransom to the bandits or risk their lives.  I am taking the small planes to go to the North. However, we will still continue. People start to waking up, taking things in their own hands.  The government is not helping, the police have no means to control the gangs who have more sophisticated arms and the international community does not want to intervene, although supporting the actual illegal regime. Eventually, our people will fight but we have a long way to go.
We will keep in touch. Thank you so much for USBBY’s support.