Anniversary of Bob Hayes' Gold Medal Win

On this day in 1964, Bob Hayes won the Gold Medal in the 100 meter race in the Olympic Games here in Tokyo. He was drafted as a wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys after the Olympics. He won a Super Bowl ring and was later elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Running like Bob Hayes is mentioned in J-Boys: Kazuo's World, Tokyo, 1965, the middle grade novel written by Shogo Oketani and translated into English by Avery Fischer Udagawa. I read it this summer and really enjoyed it!

The story takes place in 1965. You might be surprised to find American TV shows and products mentioned in daily life here back then. It is a great look into the world of Japanese boys and Japanese culture of the time. I highly recommend it. For all ages.

For more information about the book go to the website, J-Boys.
To buy the book go here.

To watch a clip of the race from Kon Ichikawa's documentary, Tokyo Olympiad 1964, click here.

Mikan for ORCHARDS

Across Japan (and the world, I guess), authors and illustrators and friends are eating mikan or clementines to celebrate the launch of Holly Thompson's young adult novel, Orchards. This is the bag I bought for the occasion.

Usually, mikan come in an orange net bag, but for some reason they are in a plastic bag at our grocery store this season. Bags of small, medium and large mikan were piled up in two different displays. Sorry, they won't let me take photos in the store.

I bought a bag of small mikan because it reminded me of Holly telling us at lunch once that the mikan farmer she knew tossed really small ones aside. They were probably much smaller than these. I dug out a quarter to show you how small/big they are. See it there?

These mikan were expensive, but they were worth every penny, I mean, yen. They are sweet and juicy. Itadakimasu! And congratulations to Holly!

Kids Web Japan-- itadakimasu

Holly Thompson's ORCHARDS

Holly Thompson's book, Orchards, launches today. Click here to get your copy. Mine hasn't arrived yet. I believe most of the story takes place on a a mikan orchard in Japan. Click on the label below for HTJ posts about mikan, Holly Thompson, SCBWI and other books by authors and illustrators who have come through Japan.

J-Boys: Kazuo's World, Tokyo 1965

J-Boys: Kazuo's World, Tokyo, 1965, a middle grade novel written by Shogo Oketani, has been translated into English by SCBWI member Avery Fischer Udagawa. It will be available this July. It sounds really interesting and I can't wait to read it!

Click here to find out more about it and how to pre-order it. Click here for a website devoted to the book.

Frane Lessac and Mark Greenwood

Frane Lessac is an author and illustrator. She has illustrated books with other authors including her husband Mark Greenwood.

They came to visit our SCBWI chapter here in Tokyo. Frane Lessac talked about illustrating and writing and their travel and research on projects. I love all the small details in her illustrations, and I especially liked hearing the story behind Simpson's Donkey, a book she and Mark Greenwood worked on together. Have a look at Frane Lessac's website and blog and Mark Greenwood's website.

Patrick Gannon--SCBWI Presentation

Patrick Gannon gave a presentation about cut paper art. It was fantastic! And fun! We got a chance to make one ourselves. I did mine at home. I like doing it.

Check out his beautiful art at his website here. His art has appeared in Cricket Magazine, TIME Asia, and other publications.

Kerry Martin's SCBWI Presentation

Kerry Martin, senior design editor for Clarion Books, was in Tokyo this month. She visited our SCBWI chapter and gave a presentation about the process of bringing art and text together for picture books. Some of her favorite picture books are The Boy Who Couldn't Swim by Deb Lucke, Wave by Suzy Lee, The Gardener by Sarah Stewart, A Chair for My Mother by Vera B. Williams and I am Dodo by Kae Nishimura.

Author/illustrator Kae Nishimura was in the audience! Here she is with Kerry Martin. They went to Parsons School of Design in New York together. Click here for Kae Nishimura's website. It is in Japanese but maybe you can switch it over to English through Blogger.

SCBWI member illustrator Midori Mori was also in town. Click here for her website.

SCBWI member illustrator Patrik Washburn translated from English into Japanese. His website is here.

SCBWI Tokyo Presentations

Suzanne Kamata (left), author of Playing for Papa was presented with a plaque from SCBWI Tokyo regional advisor Holly Thompson (right). Suzanne Kamata's novella, "Pilgrimmage" published in Cicada Magazine, won the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators' Magazine Merit Award. Congratulations, Suzanne!

Laura Rennert (center) a senior agent from the Andrea Brown Literary Agency came to our SCBWI Tokyo chapter to do a presentation about writing fiction. It was great! I learned a lot. Her picture book, Buying, Training and Caring for Your Dinosaur, will come out October 2009. It looks fun.

Teri Suzanne an author/illustrator in our chapter received a Letter of Merit for illustration in the selection of the 2005 Magazine Merit Award. Click here to see samples of her paper cuts. She is not in this picture.

Thanks, again, Holly Thompson (right) for organizing a great event! Holly is a great SCBWI advisor and author. Check out her picture book, Wakame Gatherers, a Sakura Medal nominee.

Jon Agee's Workshop

Jon Agee came to Tokyo to visit international schools. He visited our SCBWI Tokyo chapter, too. Here he is with advisor, Holly Thompson, and illustrator member, Patrik Washburn. That's member illustrator Patrick Gannon looking on.

He gave a presentation showing us how ideas evolve. He talked and drew at the same time! It was amazing. His stories are great. They are funny and have surprise endings. Look at his books on his website. More of his books are available at Amazon.

Here are some of the people who attended the workshop. Most of them are holding up the work they did at the workshop. We all enjoyed it. He is very entertaining. He does school visits. To find out more click here.

BTW, that's not the moon shadow that's been following me around lately. It's Holly's arm. She was standing on a chair to take a picture of the group.

John Shelley's In Town

Author & Illustrator John Shelley did a presentation for our Tokyo chapter of SCBWI, Society of Children Book Writers and Illustrators. I was able to get him to autograph a copy of his book, The House of the World (Bennesse). It's not available in the United States but maybe it will be in the future. It's a nice story and the illustrations are fantastic. Check out his other work here.

Alison Lester

Author/illustrator Alison Lester disappeared for a few moments in Tokyo the evening of the 23rd. She was here to visit international schools. She came to our SCBWI Tokyo chapter to speak to us.

After her presentation, on our way to dinner, she saw a member's electric bicycle and wanted to ride it. She took off and disappeared around the corner. When she reappeared, I took this picture of her as she rode past me. She disappeared again! She's a blur in this picture not because she was going so fast but because there wasn't enough light.

Here she is earlier in the evening autographing a book. She autographed mine and drew a picture of her dog, Fatty.

Alison Lester is a lot of fun. She showed us photos of her trips to Antarctica and talked to us about her other projects and books. She has done a lot of work with the indigenous people of her native land, Australia. She's funny and interesting. You might want to invite her to your school for a visit.

Linda Gerber's Now and Zen

Linda Gerber was in Tokyo on the 18th of October. She gave a workshop on SCBWI's Writers' Day. She has written several books. Here's one that is set in Japan. It is for young adults so you may want to put it on your list of "books for future reading."
It's worth the wait!

Kids Web Japan--Book Week

Author/Illustrator Keiko Kasza

Author-illustrator Keiko Kasza had lunch with us yesterday, too. Check this link to see her books.

Kids Web Japan--Book Week

Author Kierin Meehan

Australian author Kierin Meehan is visiting Nagoya for several months. She was in Tokyo today. Some SCBWI Tokyo members and international school librarians met her for lunch at Fujimamas in Omotesando. It's a great restaurant.

Ms. Meehan's first book, Hannah's Winter, is coming out in the United States in March 2009. Check out her other books here.

Kids Web Japan--Book Week

Tanya Robyn Batt

Tanya Robyn Batt, author of The Princess and the Bear King (a Sakura Medal 2006 nominee) told us stories at the SCBWI Writers' Day on October 18th. She is a great storyteller. Click on the book title in blue to link into her website. She does school visits and workshops. I bought this book for her to sign. It's a great story and the illustrations are lovely.

Click here to find the list for the Sakura Medal picture book nominees for 2009. The Wakame Gatherers by Holly Thompson, SCBWI Tokyo Advisor, is on the list!

It's still Book Week here in Japan.

Kids Web Japan--Book Week

Keiko Okamoto

Big Sister and I went to Keiko Okamoto's exhibition today. It was in a nice location. The gallery and a coffee shop was in an old house. Her artwork was very nice and the story was interesting. It would be a great picture book!

Keiko Okamoto's Exhibition "Let's Wear A Kimono"

“Let’s Wear a Kimono” – A Book from Twelve-year Holiday Cards by Keiko Okamoto, a member of SCBWI (Society of Children book Writers and Illustrators) Tokyo.

Keiko Okamoto wrote to me saying, "This is a story about the Japanese zodiac animals preparing their favorite kimonos for the coming New Year. The show will be held in English because the story was originally made for English-speaking people who showed interest in my illustrations."

The gallery is a renovated living room of a 77-year-old Japanese house standing in a traditional area of Ya-Ne-Sen (Yanaka, Nezu, & Sendagi.) The building and the neighborhood often appear in Kimono magazines. The visitors of the gallery can also enjoy the atmosphere of a retrospective Japanese town. Nezu Jinja Shrine will have the Tsutsuji Matsuri Festival and the shopping area will have the Furu Hon Antique Book Fair at the time of the exhibition.

Here's the information:

"Let's Wear a Kimono" - A Book from Twelve-year Holiday Cards
Date: Apr. 24, 2008 - Apr. 29, 2008
Time: 10:00-18:00 (Fir. 11:00-19:00)
At: Gallery Aizome
Map: www.d4.dion.ne.jp/~keiko_o
Direction: Ex. 2 at Nezu Station on Chiyoda line
Take a small path between two Dry Cleaners
Three blocks on the left,
A house with a black wall



Keiko Okamoto

Martha Hamilton & Mitch Weiss

What's this all about? They're telling a story! Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss, Beauty and The Beast Storytellers, came to Japan to visit international schools. They travel around the world telling stories and teaching children and teachers how to tell stories. They were great! They have also written many books, too. Check the post below.

Books by Martha Hamilton & Mitch Weiss

Sorry about the glare!

Check out Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss's website Beauty and the Beast Storytellers and their publisher, August House. They have lots of stories to tell!

Holly Thompson & Mitch Weiss

Here's our SCBWI Tokyo advisor, Holly Thompson, with Mitch Weiss. Holly Thompson does a great job for our SCBWI chapter. She travels all the way from Yokohama to Shibuya* with all this stuff! The bag on top has a projector in it. Mitch Weiss and Martha Hamilton had a documentary about their storytelling program to show us.

*that's where the Hachiko statue is