International Children's Book Day opens up the world of books and story in so many ways from place to place and child to child. USBBY is THRILLED to be the sponsor for 2021!
CLICK HERE to read the message and inspiration from author and poet,  Margarita Engle, and author and illustrator,  Roger Mello. The vibrancy they each create is a treasure.

To lead you into ICBD,  please delight in this poem from Margarita Engle:

The Music of Words
When we read, our minds grow wings.
When we write, our fingers sing.


Words are drumbeats and flutes on the page,
soaring songbirds and trumpeting elephants,
rivers that flow, waterfalls tumbling,
butterflies that twirl
high in the sky!


Words invite us to dance---rhythms, rhymes, heartbeats,
hoofbeats, and wingbeats, old tales and new ones,
fantasies and true ones.


Whether you are cozy at home
or racing across borders toward a new land
and a strange language, stories and poems
belong to you.


When we share words, our voices
become the music of the future,
peace, joy and friendship,
a melody
of hope.


Written by Margarita Engle
Poster illustrated by Roger Mello 

What are YOU doing in your community for International Children's Book Day this year? PLEASE CONTACT newsletter editor, Bindy Fleischman, by April 20 to report on what you did for ICBD - to share pictures, videos, collateral from the day - so your work can be highlighted in the May 2021 issue of BRIDGES!

One example of how members are using their USBBY/IBBY awareness to inform and support their communities comes to us from South Carolina State Ambassador, Yang Wang.

She explains:
My daughter went to Kindergarten at a dual-language immersion school in the beginning of the pandemic. It was so hard for many children to keep the language learning environment in remote learning. They didn’t have live instruction at that time. She was one of the two Asian children in the class. The other 20 are Caucasian, African American and Latino. So we had this idea of reading books for her friends. I also shared the link with the other dual language immersion school in town. We tried to use the authentic trade books. However, we had a few translated fun books in there, too. We two had a great bonding time and it’s unbelievable to see how much she grew as a reader. We still read together and update our channel slowly. 

We brought most of those books we read from China. All books are in Chinese only. There are some books translated from English to Chinese (for example, Peppa Pig). 

This playlist is a collection of traditional Chinese stories. Those stories of famous people in history and folklores are passed down from the ancient time. The small sized books came as two sets and are recreated by a publisher. They didn’t identify the illustrators. 

This playlist includes videos of reading aloud contemporary books. Those are written by Chinese authors and illustrators except one is written by a Taiwanese author. 

Here is the video she made for A New Year's Reunion by Yu Li-Qiong (Candlewick, 2011.)

Her endeavor also resulted in using several titles from our USBBY friends at Candied Plums. Click on the bold titles to get to publisher info. Click on the "Read With CoCo" links to access the videos.


Picking Turnips/Read With CoCo - Picking Turnips

CeeCee/Read With CoCo - CeeCee

Flame/Recording soon!

An’s Seed/Recording soon!

What a WONDERFUL bridge Yang Wang - and CoCo - helped to create!

Have you done USBBY/IBBY outreach lately? Please free to send a brief description to newsletter editor, Bindy Fleischman,  for consideration in a future quarterly issue of BRIDGES.

​Looking for more ways to get involved?  

1. THINK REGIONAL 2022! If you have an idea for a breakout session you'd like to faciliate, relating international books and the conference theme of The Music of Words,  please submit your proposal here.
2. Want to serve on one of USBBY's many volunteer committees? Please contact USBBY President, Evie Freeman, to express your interest.
3. Know of someone you think would love to be involved in promoting international children's books, but isn't yet a member? Please direct them to the USBBY membership page, or, better yet, surprise them with the gift of membership.

Wonder who represents you and your interests in USBBY?
Here is the extraordinary 2021 Board -

Officers
President:  Evelyn Freeman
President-Elect:  Tucker Stone
Past President:  Terrell Young
Secretary:  Wendy Stephens
Treasurer:  Jim Stiles

Elected Directors
Shanetia Clark
Laretta Henderson
Claudette McLinn
Susan Polos

Appointed Directors
Children’s Book Council:  Ellen Myrick and Lizette Serrano
American Library Association:  Jade Valenzuela and Caroline Ward
International Literacy Association:  Isaac Larison and Deborah Wooten
National Council of Teachers of English:  Amy McClure and Ebony Thomas

Ex Officio
Executive Director:  V. Ellis Vance
Secretariat:  Christina Hoover Moorehead and Junko Yokota
Webmaster:  Marion Rocco
“Bridges” newsletter editor:  Bindy Fleischman
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