The IBBY Ireland Annual Lecture 2018

IBBY Ireland is pleased to announce Wally De Doncker as Guest Speaker for its annual lecture 2018 to be held in St Patrick’s Campus, DCU on Friday 2 February at 6.30pm.
​To join us for this FREE event, simply book on our Eventbrite page!

Wally De Doncker is an acclaimed children’s writer from Belgium and the current president of the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY International). De Doncker trained as a teacher and served as a special teacher of children’s literature. He began writing full-time in 2001 and since then his books have reached readers in more than thirteen countries worldwide.
De Doncker is a frequent contributor to publications that deal with the international dimension of children’s literature, and is a regular guest in libraries, schools and other settings where children and adults come to enjoy his readings.
De Doncker is particularly passionate about fighting children’s illiteracy all over the world and helping provide true access to books and reading for all. “Literacy is a human right, a tool of personal empowerment and a means for social and human development. Educational opportunities depend on literacy. Literacy is at the heart of basic education for all, and essential for eradicating poverty, reducing child mortality, curbing population growth, achieving gender equality and ensuring sustainable development, peace and democracy. There are good reasons why literacy is at the core of Education for All.”
Wally will be introduced by Laureate na nÓg and IBBY Ireland Patron P.J. Lynch. The lecture will coincide with the formal launch of The IBBY Collection for Young People with Disabilities by IBBY International Executive Director Liz Page. Watch this space for more info on the exhibition!

by IBBY

The IBBY Collection of Outstanding Books for Young People With Disabilities is Coming to Ireland!

We are proud to introduce The IBBY Collection for Young People with Disabilities as it comes to Ireland for the first time!

This collection gathers outstanding examples of international books for and about young people with disabilities. We are delighted to bring to Ireland the 2017 edition, which contains 50 titles in over 20 languages and includes specialised formats such as Braille, PCS and Sign Language and tactile and textile books. The books are for all ages and include titles from Turkey, Japan, Sweden, Ireland and beyond.

The exhibition will visit DCU Cregan Library, Drumcondra Campus in from January 29 and into early February, and will be formally launched by Liz Page, Executive Director of IBBY International, on Friday 2nd February at 6.30pm to coincide with IBBY Ireland’s Annual Lecture (have you booked your ticket to this free event on our Eventbrite page yet?). It will subsequently welcome visitors in various venues on the island of Ireland between February and April, from Belfast to Wexford via South Dublin. All details TBA soon!
Each leg of the exhibition will also include hands-on activities from story time to illustration and writing workshops facilitated by local librarians and writers and illustrators such as Children’s Laureate PJ Lynch and more to be announced.
The exhibition is free and open to all!

by IBBY

Season's Greeting from IBBY Ireland!

IBBY Ireland would like to thank all its members and supporters for their continued encouragement over the past year and wish all a great 2018. May it be peaceful and filled with great books and stories to share!

by IBBY

PJ Lynch announced as new patron for IBBY Ireland

IBBY Ireland is delighted to announce Children’s Laureate and multi-award-winner illustrator PJ Lynch as new patron!
Nearly 20 years after the foundation of IBBY Ireland, PJ Lynch joins original patron Mary McAleese, former President of Ireland.
​​PJ says: “I am very happy and proud to accept the role as Patron of IBBY Ireland. Today, in a world where intolerance and prejudice seem to be everywhere on the rise, I believe that books for children are more important than ever. I passionately believe that we begin to learn to appreciate the world from other points of view when we first lose ourselves in a book. As we get older we learn about other people’s cultures through reading their stories and this is one crucial way in which we learn that everyone has value and dignity just like ourselves. The International Board on Books for Young People takes a global view in its mission to bring children and good books together, and it is an honour to be associated with iBbY Ireland, and its members who are so passionate about sharing their love of books, and sharing the great good that books can do for children far and wide. "
PJ Lynch, Laureate na nÓg

by IBBY

100 Books for Children and Young People in Arabic

A selection of 100 books for children and young people in Arabic from different countries in the Arab-speaking world is now available in English. The list was originally in French and was collated by the Arab World Reading Committee of the journal Takam Tikou, which brings together professionals from different horizons: the French National Library / IBBY France, the Institute of the Arab world, Libraries of the City of Paris... IBBY Ireland is very proud to have been involved alongside IBBY France, IBBY UK and IBBY Europe  in the English translation of this exceptional catalogue.
Organised by genre and in alphabetical order by title in English, this guide also includes a few translations into Arabic of books originally published in different languages, to encourage the building of bridges between languages and cultures.
The selection will be presented in the Frankfurt Bookfair later this week, but the PDF can be downloaded, right away, on the IBBY Europe website, for free.
​And don't forget that on the same website you can find recommendations of great books for children and young people written in all the languages spoken in Europe, including the main languages spoken by migrant or refugee families such as Dari, Farsi and more. What better way to say 'Welcome' than with a book in a language the young new arrivals understand?

by IBBY

IBBY Ireland's Honour List Nominees!

Following on from the announcement of our shortlist a few weeks ago, IBBY Ireland is delighted to reveal the four titles that have been nominated for the Honour List.

Read on for a short extract of the citation accompanying each nominee...
Irelandopedia (John and Fatti Burke), nominated for illustration:
Bold and wonderfully witty illustrations keep the text wonderfully lively, while their deceptive simplicity are an invitation to budding artists to reach for their drawing material.
​A Lonely Note (Kevin Stevens), nominated for writing:
Peace and violence, faith and mistrust, thriller and literary fiction – this is a supreme story of a young man caught between two worlds.
​Ná Gabh ar Scoil! (Myra Zepf & Tarsila Kruse), nominated in the Irish language category:
A witty and humorous take on the classic ‘starting school’ story that has something for everyone.

Wherever It Is Summer (Tamara Bach, translated by Siobhán Parkinson), nominated for translation:
Beautifully translated by Siobhán Parkinson, this touching story of the power of friendship is now available to readers in English.
​Congrats to all!
​To find out more about the Honour List, head over here.

by IBBY

IBBY Ireland's Honour List Shortlist Announced!

Here are the 9 titles making up IBBY Ireland's shortlist for the IBBY Honour List 2018!
​Every two years, the national sections of the International Board on Books for Young People are invited to select books from their country to be featured in the prestigious Honour List in three categories: Writer, Illustrator, Translator. A fourth nomination can be added when more than one language is spoken in the country.
​This is the first time in six years that IBBY Ireland have entered their nominations of Irish-published books selected by a panel of independent experts and we are delighted to share our shortlist with you today.
All the Honour Books will be included in a specially produced catalogue and showcased at the IBBY International Congress in Athens (August-September 2018), the 2019 Bologna Book Fair, as well as in the permanent collections of the International Youth Library in Munich, the Swiss Institute for Child and Youth Media in Zurich, Bibiana in Bratislava and the Japanese Board on Books for Young People.
​Needless to say that the selected books will get plenty of attention way beyond Ireland!
​Stay tuned for the announcement of our final nominees soon!
​To find out more about the Honour List, head over here.

by IBBY

Ireland a the 2017 Biennial of Illustration Bratislava

  Twelve illustrators were chosen to represent Ireland in the 2017 Biennial of Illustration
Bratislava (BIB), “one of the oldest international honours for children’s book illustrators”. The
BIB exhibition is held in conjunction with the IBBY Institute Bratislava Conferences and the BIB
International Symposium.
​Margaret Anne Suggs, a director on the Illustrators Ireland Board and
IBBY Ireland member, presented at a talk at the IBBY Conference: The Identity of the African-
American Child in 20th Century Picture Books.
This was Ireland’s first time submitting illustrations to the award and they were warmly
welcomed by the BIB/ IBBY committee and the Slovak Government.
The illustrators who were chosen to represent Ireland were: Sarah Bowie, Michael Emberley,
Jennifer Farley, Tatyana Feeney, Brian Fitzgerald, Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick, Olivia Golden, PJ
Lynch, Shona Shirley Macdonald, Lauren O'Neill, Margaret Anne Suggs, and Olwyn Whelan. IBBY Ireland was honoured to be part of the selection process before the summer.
The 2017 Grand Prix winner was Ludwig Volbeda from The Netherlands.

by IBBY

'The Identity of the African-American Child in 20th-Century Picture Books'

  director ​on the Illustrators Ireland Board and IBBY Ireland member, Margaret Anne Suggs was in Bratislava recently attending the Biennial of Illustration, where she gave an illustrated presentation on the topic of 'The Identity of the African-American Child in 20th Century Picture books'.  Here she kindly gives us permission to reproduce the abstract of her talk, which should give us all plenty of food for thought...

 

''In America, many groups claim their motherland, or their ancestral home as part of their identity, such as the Irish-Americans, the Italian-Americans, or the African-Americans. While most European immigrants “have been comfortably assimilated into the cultural mainstream”1, African-Americans have not easily assimilated as they are immediately recognised and separated by their skin colour. African-Americans have made an epic journey from being sold as slaves to being a vital part of the fabric of American society and in children’s books today, there is a growing and healthy emphasis on depicting a multiracial American society. But how did that change throughout the 20th century because unfortunately, the illustrations that are found of African-Americans in children’s books have not always been positive?
                 
''In very early examples such as Little Black Sambo, 'Negroes' were often shown as minstrels or ‘golliwogs’ and language used in the writing of the story tended to be derogatory towards people of colour. By the late 1950s, books including minority characters begin to appear in shops and libraries, but they were often still written, illustrated, edited, and published by white people and language was carefully chosen to avoid any offense to minorities. It was truly the examples from the 1960s, as a direct result of the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, that began to show multiracial societies authentically represented through illustration. Finally, by the 1990s, Black people began to appear in children's book illustration as self-appreciating, proud people sometimes using colloquial dialects in the writing of the texts.
''​Children’s books of recent years show a greater mix of races, more shades of skin colour, many hair textures, and the joining of Black and White families. The previously skewed “notions of what was beautiful, appropriate, uplifting, or authentically Negro” have changed and are now being reflected positively and imaginatively in the illustrations, themes, and language of children’s books. This is only one step in the right direction for diversity in children's literature. Hopefully there are more to come.''
​Margaret Anne Suggs

by IBBY

Migrations: An International Illustration Exhibition

''​Artists may not be able to change regimes, influence governments or save the migrants, but they can raise awareness of a reality that has become part of the contemporary socio- political environment. As visual storytellers and communicators, we can continue to pose questions and challenge indifference in the work we make, highlighting the positive impact that the migration of peoples, cultures and ideas has had across the globe.''
​Such was the brief illustrators the world over were given by the Biennial of Illustration Bratislava and the International Centre for the Picture Book in Society, United Kingdom. And the response was immediate and overwhelming with close to 200 postcards featuring in the exhibition, illustrated, designed and sent from all the corners of the globe in an attempt to ''focus attention on the plight of thousands of children and their families who, under oppressing regimes, violence and poverty, are forced to migrate to safer places in the world''.
​This exhibition was supported by IBBY.

              

by IBBY