 Conferences, joint sessions, author/illustrator panels, Skype appearances, lit festivals, committees, webcasts, congresses, book signings, board meetings, school outreach, ICBD, and more - book people crave and thrive on connection. USBBY/IBBY is defined by it.
In this issue of Bridges, Cynthia Leitich Smith describes how literary connection took her from mentor to mentee and back again. Brenda Dales relates how illustrators from all over the world, including three from the U.S., make connections to new and familiar audiences in Bratislava. Pat Mora shares exciting news on the Día front, helping to connect children and books all over the United States; and Anne Pellowski reflects on the connections her Cloth Books Project has fostered all over the world. Shanetia Clark, Patrick Gall and Karen Perry check in about recent conference highlights; and this issue contains updated information about the World Congress in Moscow, September 2020, and the Regional Conference in Nashville, March 2021.
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Hearing authors and illustrators talk about who inspires them, who teaches them, what role models did (or didn’t) exist for them as young readers and artists brings to life just how pivotal connection to other creators can be. The following is an extension of a conversation begun at the Regional Conference in Austin by the invaluable Cynthia Leitich Smith:
The newly-formed USBBY Biennial of Illustration Bratislava (BIB) Nominating Committee selected three children’s book illustrators from the United States to send original picture book art to Bratislava for the 27th Bienále Ilustrácií Bratislava this past October. Brenda Dales, 2018-2019 Chair of the USBBY BIB Nominating Committee, reports here:
 In November, USBBY and NCTE hosted a joint session during NCTE’s annual conference, coordinated by USBBY/NCTE members Shanetia Clark, Deanna Day, and Terrell Young. Imagination and Inquiry: Celebrating and Honoring International Stories for Children and Adolescents featured author and translator Alexandria Giardino and Pura Belpré Award winner Rebecca Balcárcel. It was an outstanding session!
Many thanks to Shanetia Clark for the picture of the two together!  The 15th annual Outstanding International Books List was announced at the USBBY session of ALA Midwinter on Friday, January 24.
Throughout the course of the year, committee members get the opportunity to cull through hundreds of titles of countries and publishers from all over the world, whose books have been imported by U.S. houses for domestic distribution. Committee members in attendance gave book talks regarding themes that connected many of the chosen books. Chair Patrick Gall shares the following about the list:  USBBY nominated author Jacqueline Woodson, and illustrator Allen Say for the Hans Christian Andersen Award, and are thrilled to announce that Woodson has been shortlisted for the 2020 HCA, which will be announced at the Fair. The 2020 BolognaRagazzi Awards have already been announced!
Is there any more magical and inspiring place for international children’s book lovers than the Bologna Book Fair? Many USBBY members are attending - for board meetings, for browsing, for rights discussions, for awards, for pleasure - and are bracing themselves for awe.  International Children’s Book Day is April 2, 2020. The 2020 poster and message, HUNGER FOR WORDS, sponsored by IBBY Slovenia, can be found at: https://www.ibby.org/awards-activities/activities/international-childrens-book-day/2020-icbd-slovenia
 As the 24th anniversary of Día approaches, founder, poet, children’s book author, and invaluable friend of USBBY/IBBY, Pat Mora shares exciting news on the bookjoy front:
Children's Day, Book Day is a year-long initiative with culminating celebrations April 30th. Early news is that the Texas Center for the Book at the Texas State Library and Archives in partnership with First Book is awarding book grants, and the El Paso Public Library in my hometown of El Paso, Texas, has teamed up with Chick-fil-A for a book drive. Thanks to a donor, the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), First Book, and We Need Diverse Books are working on national promotions to celebrate all our children and excite them about bookjoy. We hope that celebrating all our children and connecting them to the pleasure and importance of reading is becoming a national tradition. USBBY joins in Pat Mora’s tireless efforts toward “growing a democracy of readers.”  State Ambassadors
USBBY warmly welcomes the following members to their new roles as State Ambassadors! Gabriela Alejandra Olmos Rosas (Alaska) Yvonne Maisel de St. Croix (Connecticut) Jen Cullerton Johnson (Illinois) Sophie Ladd (Nevada) Elizabeth Swaggerty (North Carolina) To find out more information about what kinds of opportunities being a State Ambassador offers, as well as how to become one, contact Kathy Short at [email protected] . World Congress - September 2020 The deadline to submit a proposal for the IBBY Congress in Moscow has been extended to March 1, 2020. More information can be found at: https://ibbycongress2020.org/en/. Regional Conference - March 2021 The 14th Biennial Regional Conference, revolving around the theme of the Music of Words, takes place in Nashville in just over a year, March 5-7, 2021! Follow this link to submit breakout session proposals. |
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