Join us, Local & Regional Events, The Pura Belpré Award, Links I´m Liking

Howdy, y'all! There are so many cool events coming up in the next few months. Finish slurping that pumpkin spice latte, sign up, and join us! And if you aren't already part of our Facebook group, join that too!  

Join us

JOIN US Wednesday, October 26th at 10 a.m. in the College Station Barnes & Noble for our monthly meeting.Our topic this month is:

Westerns: More than "Cowboys and Indians"

We'll also discuss news and provide encouragement. Gentle critique begins at 9:30 a.m. Bring copies of 5 double-spaced pages of your work in progress. Those who have time may go to lunch at a local restaurant. Members and friends welcome.

Local/Regional Events

OCTOBER 17- SCBWI Social

Can't make the regular daytime meeting? Join us for our monthly mini-meeting at 7 p.m. at Starbucks, Hwy. 6 at Rock Prairie Road.

October 22 - SCBWI Houston Conference
Registration is still open for the upcoming conference in Houston! The day's theme is "Surrender to the Story." 

We'll organize carpooling on our SCBWI Brazos Valley Facebook group.

November 11-13th - Work-on-your-own Beach Retreat

Can't concentrate at home? Then join us for a work on your own beach retreat.

Writers and illustrators! Join us for a weekend retreat to concentrate on your work-in-progress or start that new project. Refresh your perspective and enjoy the company of other creatives. We'll stay on the beach at the Mustang Towers condos in Port Aransas, Texas, where we can fix our own breakfasts and lunches. We'll go out for dinner and set aside time for everyone to share their work.

Housing for 10 attendees in 2 units—2 in single rooms, 8 in shared quarters.

Total for two nights: $159 single or $79.50 shared. Additional registration fee of $15 for members and $25 for non-members.

Deadline to register is Oct. 29. Cancel by Nov. 4 for room fee refund. $10 of registration fee is non-refundable. Based on registration a third unit could be rented. Food costs to be borne by attendees. 

REGISTER BY OCTOBER 29! 

The Pura Belpré Award

 

As children's book writers and illustrators we have all heard of the prestigious Caldecott and Newberry medals. We think of them the way an aspiring actor thinks of an Oscar. The holy grail, on par with getting picked up my the Scholastic book fair. But there are other awards out there, ones that award a subset of books aimed at a specific population. If you have a specific group you write for, it is worth checking out what literary award focuses on books aimed at said group. In my case, that would be the Pura Belpre Award. 

Established in 1996, the Pura Belpré Award is given to "a Latino/Latina writer and illustrator whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth." Each year one book receives the Narrative medal and another the Illustration medal and there are a few honors in both categories as well. Who was Pura Belpré? She was the New York Public Library´s first Latina librarian. As we've mentioned before, librarians are a key resource for guiding children to just the right book. Thanks to the Pura Belpré Award, there are now 20 years worth of award winning books for librarians, teachers and parents to easily recommend to Latino children as well as anyone wishing to connect with the Latino experience. 

If you're interested in learning more about the books that have received the Pura Belpré Award or further resources check out: 

•   The TeachingBooks.net Belpré Resource Center which has resources such as author interviews and lesson plans (I plan to try and shift my mindless Facebooking time to time on this site)
•  The Pura Belpré Award 1996-2016: 20 Years of Outstanding Latino Children's Literature. This book covers all of the award and honor winners for each year since 1996. Each winner writes a little about either the book or themselves and there is a picture of the author/illustrator winners and book titles (great if you are a visual learner and also if you plan to ever pick them out of a conference crowd!).   

 Links I´m liking this month

Here are a handful of stories and posts I enjoyed running across in the past couple of weeks: 

• The New York Times published a great piece listing children´s books that tackle race and ethnicity. Check out the article by María Russo here. Included in the list are classics like "The Snowy Day" and recent award winner "Last Stop on Market Street." 
•  In late September El Paso author Pat Mora won the Texas Institute of Letters' Lon Tinkle Award for Lifetime Achievement. In addition to being a prolific Latina writer, Pat Mora created the child literacy event "El día de los niños, el día de los libros/ Children´s Day, Book Day." Read more about Pat Mora here and on her own website, www.Patmora.com
•  Did you know that October is National Bullying Prevention Month? Me neither. Check out A Mighty Girl´s list of bullying prevention books for young children. 

That's it for this month's Scratch! 

           

 Disclaimer: The views expressed here are my own, and not necessarily those of the SCBWI.