The International Youth Library was established in Germany in the aftermath of World War II. Founder Jella Lepman strongly believed that children\u2019s books were one of the best vehicles with which to raise children in a world of empathy and understanding.<\/p>\n
Today, Julie Kline tears up when she thinks about that mission.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are a lot of people in children\u2019s books with good will who are really keen to make connections,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s one of the reasons she and Natasha Borges Sugiyama were so excited to virtually host children\u2019s authors for this year\u2019s annual CLACS summer series.<\/p>\n
Kline is the associate director of the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at 51ÁÔÆæ, and Borges Sugiyama is its director. As part of the Center\u2019s mission to provide outreach and support for Latin American education in the region and around the world, they organize the CLACS summer series each year, which focuses on a unique aspect or issue pertaining to Latin America.<\/p>\n
This year, the focus was on children\u2019s authors. CLACS was well-poised for such an event; for 18 years, the Center administered the Americas Award for Children\u2019s and Young Adult Books which recognizes authors who \u201cauthentically and engagingly portray Latin America, the Caribbean, or Latinos in the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n
The summer series spanned six sessions, each held virtually in both English and Spanish. Starting in June and taking place periodically throughout the summer, each talk was hosted by a moderator and invited book authors and illustrators to discuss their stories.<\/p>\n
Kline worked closely with the International Youth Library to coordinate the events.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the largest of international children\u2019s books in the world. It\u2019s an associated project of UNESCO,\u201d Kline explained. \u201cI wrote to Jochen Weber, the person there in charge of the Latin American section, and said, I have this idea; could we work together?\u201d<\/p>\n
Weber was delighted; he suggested six authors and also suggested moderators to lead the sessions, resulting in lively conversations.<\/p>\n
\u201cA partnership with an organization in Germany to identify authors based in Latin America \u2013 it\u2019s really this global reach that Julie was able to pull off, which is so incredible,\u201d Borges Sugiyama said.<\/p>\n
Meeting each author was inspiring and educational, but for Kline, Brazilian illustrator Roger Mello particularly stood out.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe has a lot of books that deal with social justice issues in Brazil and youth. One of his books is called \u2018Charcoal Boys.\u2019 It examines youth who make their living by producing charcoal,\u201d Kline said. \u201cThe visuals are so incredible. It takes you into a story you likely didn\u2019t know before.\u201d<\/p>\n
The one downside to discovering so many wonderful new Latin American book creators, she added, is that so few of the books are available to audiences in the U.S. Many have not yet been translated to English.<\/p>\n
But this was exactly the point of the CLACS summer series, said Kline \u2013 to expose attendees from around the world to literature they may have never seen before.<\/p>\n
And truly, she said, they were from around the world. As the series wrapped up, CLACS counted 500 unique guests from more than 35 countries and every continent except for Antarctica. All attended via Zoom, with some exceptions.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had some Cuban participants sign up at the very beginning. I had not known that Zoom was not accessible to Cubans in their country,\u201d said Kline. \u201cWe did some playing around and set up Facebook Live for them, because they could access Facebook.\u201d<\/p>\n
Audience members, especially those from Latin America, were excited to see a U.S. university shine a thoughtful spotlight on Latin American culture and literature.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe series has provided a true mosaic of current Latin American literature for children and young people. It has brought together some of the most representative voices and has managed to cover different literary genres,\u201d wrote Denise Ocampo Alvarez, a faculty member at the University of Havana in Cuba. \u201cIn short, the series has been an example of quality and plurality and an extraordinary opportunity for its audience.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even though the summer series has concluded, the world will still be able to learn about these authors and illustrators. The U.S. Board on Books for Young People has asked to link to CLACS\u2019 recordings of each talk, and a foundation in Chile has expressed an interest in doing so as well.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a gratifying feeling, said Borges Sugiyama.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe might often think about films and music and dance, but I do think another piece of that cultural production \u2026 that maybe is underrecognized, is the young adult and children\u2019s book field,\u201d she said. \u201cThis is such a great opportunity for us to highlight different stories, different voices, different perspectives.\u201d<\/p>\n
By Sarah Vickery<\/strong>, College of Letters & Science<\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The International Youth Library was established in Germany in the aftermath of World War II. Founder Jella Lepman strongly believed that children\u2019s books were one of the best vehicles with which to raise children in a world of empathy and …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28112,"featured_media":16307,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","uwm_wg_additional_authors":[]},"categories":[1715],"tags":[1859],"class_list":["post-16275","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-in-focus-2021","tag-september"],"yoast_head":"\n