 Learn about considerations informing their craft in creating stories in both Spanish and English and discover forthcoming titles, from the acclaimed Pam Muñoz Ryan, debut author Lauren Agra Deedy, bilingual advocate Monica Brown, and Cynthia Harmony, whose stories celebrate Mexican life.
About the speakers: Monica Brown, Ph.D. is the Peruvian-American author of many award-winning multicultural books for children that have garnered multiple starred reviews and awards, and are available in a dozen languages. Her books include biographies of writers, musicians, and politicians from throughout Latin America. She writes the Lola Levine series (Little Brown Young Readers), her newest book is Doña Fela's Dream: The Story of Puerto Rico's First Female Mayor (Hachette Book Group) and she has books on musicians like Celia Cruz (My Name is Celia/Me llamo Celia: The Life of Celia Cruz/la vida de Celia Cruz, Cooper Square) and Tito Puente (Tito Puente, Mambo King/Tito Puente, Rey del Mambo, HarperCollins) authors such as Pablo Neruda (Henry Holt) Pablo Neruda: Poet of the People / Poeta del pueblo and Gabriela Garcia Marquez (My Name is Gabito / Me llamo Gabito: The Life of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Cooper Square), and Sharuko: El Arqueólogo Peruano/ Peruvian Archaeologist (Lee & Low) about the first Peruvian Indigenous archeologist, Waiting for the Biblioburro/Esperando al Biblioburro (Tricycle), about a donkey book mobile in Colombia, and El Cuarto Turquesa/The Turquoise Room (Lee & Low). Lauren Agra Deedy is a debut author with Scholastic, whose title New Shoes for Leo is a charming, heartfelt story about a Cuban-American immigrant family. Lauren, who is the daughter of acclaimed and award-winning author and storyteller Carmen Agra Deedy, graduated from Emory University before receiving her MPhil in Literatures of the Americas from Trinity College in Dublin. Like William in the story, Lauren is the child and grandchild of refugees, and grew up helping them make care packages for family still living in communist Cuba. New Shoes for Leo comes out in English in March 2025, and in Spanish in August 2025. Cynthia Harmony is a recent immigrant from Mexico and has two picturebooks, both set in Mexico. Her most recent is A Flicker of Hope: A Story of Migration (Viking Books for Young Readers) about a migrant farm worker and focuses on his family who are waiting on him after his annual migration to work in the U.S. The family await the father’s return to Mexico in an annual migration pattern like the monarchs. Her other picturebook, Mi Ciudad Sings (Penguin Workshop), is about a community coming together to overcome fear after an earthquake the one in Mexico City). Pam Muñoz Ryan is a multi-award-winning author, who is the most recent recipient of the prestigious ALSC Legacy Award. El Niño (Scholastic), which will be simultaneously published in English and Spanish in May 2025, is an adventure story about a young swimmer who’s navigating grief and family relationships in the wake of his sister’s death. After Kai discovers a book of his sister’s about an underwater realm and a mysterious place called the Library of Despair and Sorrow, details from the story begin to appear in his own life: dolphin pods, imposing rock towers, unusual sea creatures, and even Cali’s beloved bracelet. As myth and reality collide, El Niño unleashes its fury, and Kai is swept up in a storm of events that will change his understanding of love, death, grief, and how best to honor those we’ve lost. Following the program, the 2025 Outstanding International Books (OIB) will be announced. Presented by the United States Board of Books for Young People (USBBY) the U.S. section of the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) and the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA).  If you've ever been to an IBBY Regional, you have experienced the special atmosphere of fellowship, learning and pushing the borders and horizons of children's literature across the globe those events inspire. While planning for Boston in November 2025, we want to look ahead to the next biennial event. Read more about the proposal and conference planning process. Applications received by June 15, 2025 will be considered at the midyear board meeting. This is an unparalleled opportunity to bring world class speakers to your campus and community, as well as the showcasing your local area to a expert body of children's literature scholars and practitioners. Contact USBBY President Wendy Stephens with any preliminary questions.  USBBY's NCTE Directors Lauren Liang and Xenia Hadjioannou have planned an exciting program for NCTE attendees!
Change in the Language and More: Translating and Editing Books for Hope and the Heart Translating children’s books requires dancing with languages and understanding childhood and cultural nuances. Award-winning translators and editors introduce educators to the unique transformation of books from one language to another, along with the challenges and rewards. The creation of multiple communities who can share in the reading of a book connects humanity and increases communication. This panel presentation will feature author and translator Lawrence Schimel, recipient of numerous USBBY Outstanding International Books (OIB) recognitions, as well as Andie Krawczyk and Gelsey Phaneuf from North-South Books. Past OIB Chair Sara Parrish will share last year's list of the best international books for children to round out the session. Join us in Room 251 at the Convention Center, Saturday November 23 4:15-5:30 EST.  We are planning an exciting program for the next IBBY Regional, to be held in Boston, Massachusetts November 7-9, 2025, with the theme "Hands-On in the Hub: A Call to Action." Stayed tuned for more information about registration, pre- and post-conference opportunities, and more. Contact Bindy Fleischman to become part of the local arrangements committee spearheading this event. All members in good standing will be invited via email to affirm the 2024 Election until November 1, 2024. Please email the Secretariat to check on your membership status if you do not receive a link to vote by Friday, October 11. Many thanks to the nominating committee Bettie Parsons Barger, Claudia Bedrick, Shanetia Clark, and Chair Tucker Stone. FOR ELECTED DIRECTOR, 2025-26:  Jared S. Crossley, Ph.D. Jared S. Crossley, Ph.D. is an assistant professor of Literacy and Literature for Children and Adolescents at The Ohio State University, Marion Campus. Before joining Ohio State, he taught 4th and 5th grades for Alpine School District in Utah for seven years. Dr. Crossley is most widely known for his work as the director of a documentary film on children’s author Lloyd Alexander, which was sponsored by Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group, Penguin Young Readers Group and the Harold B. Lee Library at Brigham Young University. He served on USBBY’s Outstanding Books for Young Reader’s with Disabilities Committee from 2018 – 2023, including chairing that committee in 2020-2021. He currently serves on the Notable Children’s Recordings Committee for ALSC. His research interests are in children’s literature, with emphases in middle-grade literature, diversity in children’s literature, children’s book awards, and the history of children’s literature.  Emilie Robert Wong Emilie Robert Wong is an associate editor at Enchanted Lion, where she edits many works in translation. Growing up in a French Chinese American family, she attended school in the French national education system before studying comparative literature and neuroscience at Harvard College. In addition to the French picture book At the Drop of a Cat (a Kirkus Best Book of 2023 and a NYPL Best Children's Book of 2023), she co-translated Beatrice Alemagna's You Can't Kill Snow White, in a translation praised by the New York Times as "lucid" and shortlisted for the Global Literature in Libraries Initiative's Translated Young Adult Book Prize. Her favorite stories inspire wonder and realization, imagination and connection. FOR PRESIDENT, 2026-27:  Susan Polos Susan Polos has served on the board of USBBY for four terms, two as an ALA appointed Director (AASL and YALSA) and two as an elected Director. She is currently serving as the assistant chair of the 2025 Outstanding International Book Committee. Susan is the middle school librarian and a DEI coordinator at Greenwich Country Day School, Greenwich, CT. She is involved in library organizations at the local, state, and national levels, and is a past president of the School Librarian Section of the New York Library Association. Susan has served on many American Library Association committees, including the 2014 Newbery Medal Committee, the 2018 Pura Belpré Award Committee, and the 2020 and 2021Coretta Scott King Book Award juries; she chaired the Newbery 100th Anniversary Celebration Task Force. Susan is a board member of the Center for the Study of Multicultural Children's Literature.
 Want to network with your colleagues interested in sharing international children's literature? Join our new, private LinkedIn Group today. Many thanks to New Jersey State Ambassador Jackie Garcia for starting this conversation and community! USBBY Board Endorses IBBY Statement on the ongoing violations of children's Rights in gaza7/12/2024
At the June meeting, the USBBY Board of Directors voted to endorse the Statement on the Ongoing Violations of Children's Rights issued by the IBBY Executive Committee on July 17, 2024. Find the text of the Statement below:
Statement on the ongoing violations of children’s rights in Gaza The International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) stands by the principles endorsed in the United Nations Human Rights Conventions, especially the Convention on the Rights of the Child and urges all global leaders to work together on behalf of the children of Gaza. IBBY was born in the aftermath of World War II with the unflinching belief that international understanding is a necessary condition for tolerance and world peace. By promoting quality children’s books and reading, it has contributed to making the ideals of solidarity, respect, and cooperation known to children and young people all around the world. IBBY has helped build and grow libraries and reading programmes for children worldwide, including in Beit Hanoun and Rafah in Palestine. Established in 2008, these were safe places filled with more than five thousand books where children could read, share thoughts, write poems, meet authors, and even win awards – such as the UNESCO "World Tales" competition won by a young member of the al-Shawka library in Rafah in 2021. Those libraries have now been destroyed, but the loss of these cultural and childhood touchstones is only a small part of the tragedy in Palestine. As we watch the continuing violence and destruction in Gaza, we mourn for the children and families who are killed, injured, displaced, and orphaned. We deplore the chaos and confusion that dominates their daily lives, and the lack of basic human necessities of food, water, shelter, and medical aid. Every child in the world deserves to be protected and nurtured. We condemn the ongoing violations of children’s basic rights in Gaza. IBBY adds its voice to the urgent calls for access to humanitarian aid and life-saving supplies for the people of Gaza. Further, we strongly urge the leaders of Israel and Hamas to comply with the international rulings and resolutions to enact an immediate ceasefire. The International Board on Books for Young People Executive Committee 17 June 2024 Roger Mello, friend of USBBY and illustrator for the 2021 U.S. International Children's Book Day (ICBD) poster, will deliver the 2024 Mary Nagel Sweetser Lecture for the Eric Carle Museum for Picture Book Art on July 25, 2024 at 7 - 8 pm EDT. .
Hosted by Simmons University and Carle, the lecture marks the launch of the 50th anniversary year of Children’s Literature studies at Simmons. Mello will be joined by Cathryn Mercier, director for the Center for the Study of Children’s Literature at Simmons. The 2024 Sweetser Lecture is associated with Mello's first exhibition in the United States; Fuzuê! Invention & Imagination in the Art of Roger Mello, on view at The Carle from June 16, 2024 - January 5, 2025. Learn more and register for the virtual program. To: All IBBY Members
Cc. Executive Committee Dear Friends, We are living difficult days, and hardly imaginable levels of horror have invaded our screens and the pages of our newspapers. Mostly women and children were among the victims of the air strikes and subsequent fire that destroyed a refugee camp in Rafah on the night of Sunday. With our to protect the rights of the child at hear, such blatant violations of Humanitarian law—repeatedly denounced by the United Nations, the International Penal Court and the global civil society—result even more intolerable. In this heartbreaking context, I am sharing news sent by IBBY Palestine President Jehan Helou in the past couple of days regarding the living conditions of our two colleagues in Gaza, both of whom worked at the IBBY Libraries of Rafah and Beit Hanoun: More than 800,000 Palestinian have been displaced from Rafah with no safe place to go to, no house, no shelter not even a tent There is barely food, water and medical care if any! An ongoing genocide of endless killing is accompanied by severe measures of tormenting civilians and denying their basic needs for survival. The families of our two IBBY librarians face the same horrific situation, lack of safety and survival needs. As we were desperate, we [IBBY Palestine] made contacts with some of the relief organizations working in Gaza to provide urgent needs. No one could provide a tent and no humanitarian aid has been allowed for more than two weeks, and barely the aid entering Gaza before did not cover the basic needs for All. Sadly, all what was provided is a bag for newly born babies and sanitary cleaning kit. The family of Mahmood who is from Rafah but had to be displaced, luckily had a tent. While Abla, the librarian of the destroyed library in Beit Hanoun, and her family were homeless for three days, they were displaced for a fourth time since the beginning of the war, from Rafah to El Mawasi. Abla last wrote to us [IBBY Palestine] on Saturday 25 April: "We were displaced from Rafah to the Al-Mawasi area, which directly overlooks the sea. After very, very difficult days we were able to set up a tent, but it is small in size, and the situation is very bad due to the sand and lack of cleanliness. The health situation is difficult, as everyone suffers from diseases and the lack of water, and if it is available, it is polluted and salty, and the weather is hot. We returned as if it were the first days of the war, and even there is no calm, as the gunboats are bombing are continuous. Fear increases every day, and in addition to that, there is no liquidity in the region, and what is available takes a great advantage, that is, our salaries are 300 dollars, and when we receive them from any exchange office, 50 dollars are deducted. Prices have become as expensive as the beginning of the war, and most of the food is not available. My children are unable to recover, they have all become sick, and even my little baby is ill, and there is no treatment so far. After much effort we received a health package from the Ma’an Center but no food was available. We hope to get more aid, the situation is extremely difficult!" We [IBBY Palestine] can never know if they are safe as the heavy bombing continues all over Gaza in addition to terrible displacement conditions as you hear and read from Abla. For few days no contact…we have to nervously wait. So painful to feel helpless! More information can be found on the IBBY Palestine Facebook page. The Executive Committee will be discussing possible next steps for action in the coming days and a regular meeting is scheduled next Wednesday. Your inputs and suggestions to the EC are welcome during this time. Messages of support are also important in these horrifying times. They can be sent directly to IBBY Palestine ([email protected] and [email protected]), or directed to the Secretariat, from where they will be forwarded. Hoping for better days, Carolina Carolina Ballester IBBY Executive Director  In today’s interconnected world, exposing students to diverse cultures, perspectives, and experiences is paramount. This free ILA Webinar, held in partnership with the United States Board on Books for Young People (USBBY), will highlight international children’s and young adult literature that can accomplish this goal by offering rich cultural insights and powerful narratives from around the world. David Bowles (author of Ancient Night) and Boris Dralyuk (translator of Who Will Make the Snow)—whose books were named to USBBY’s 2024 Outstanding International Book List—will discuss their creative processes and the opportunities international literature presents to build cross-cultural understanding.
Participants will gain insight into
Who should register: School-based educators, librarians/media specialists, principals, teacher educators, and preservice teachers Registration: FREE FOR EVERYONE |