Between Village Mentality and Cultural Hybridity: Mapping the Immigrant Self in German Children's Literature
Gina Weinkauff

Take Your Childhood and Run, You Will Not Get Another One: Autobiographical Writing
Mirjam Pressler

Other Voices
Slovene Teenage Readers and American Young Adult Novels: The Relevance of Setting
Darja Mazi-Leskovar

Multiculturalism and Political Correctness in Children's Books: A View from India
Sandhya Rao

Regular Features
Focus IBBY
What They Do: IBBY National Sections o Finnish IBBY Visit St. Petersburg Book Salon o Tove Jansson in Memoriam o IBBY Jubilee Congress Main Speakers o Africa, Here We Come!

Reading Promotion: Little Circles, Big Circles: The Programs of IBBY in Indonesia
Anne Pellowski

Author Spotlight: Everyday Wonder: Women and Pregnancy in the Picture Book Illustrations of Julie Vivas
Megan Lambert

International Children's Books of Note: White Ravens, Part II
Professional Literature
News and Announcements

Dear Bookbird Reader,
This issue of Bookbird features articles that focus on "Autobiographical Writing about Childhood." Authors and illustrators often draw upon childhood experiences as they create the texts and art found in children's literature. In the preface to his autobiography, Tomi: A Childhood under the Nazis (Boulder: Roberts Rinehart, 1998), Hans Christian Andersen Award recipient Tomi Ungerer writes: "Living through those times, however, has had a profound effect on me in my adult life and I have become, in my own way, a passionate advocate of peace and nonviolence. My art, books, posters, and pamphlets exist to testify how, in an obsessive way, I have been inspired by the horrors of injustice and violence" (vii). Thus, Ungerer acknowledges the autobiographical nature of his work. While many authors and illustrators experienced deeply disturbing childhood events that profoundly influence their creative endeavors, others have backgrounds that are varied and more benign.

Several children's authors from three continents reflect on the relationship between their childhood and their professional work as adults. Mem Fox from Australia asks the question, "So Whom Are We Writing For?" and answers with her personal philosophy that guides her as she writes books for children. In "Writing and Plumbing," Canadian author Sarah Ellis describes the role of childhood observation and experimentation in shaping herself and other famous authors into the kind of writers they became as adults. German author Mirjam Pressler discusses the role of autobiographical writing as evidenced in her own children's books and in the work of Anne Frank in the article "Take Your Childhood and Run, You Will Not Get Another One: About Autobiographical Writing." Pressler has given us permission to translate this article, which she wrote for a German publication, and reprint it in English. In her article "Between Village Mentality and Cultural Hybridity: Mapping the Immigrant Self in German Children's Literature," German scholar Gina Weinkauff analyzes the influences of early life experiences and literary traditions on the work of three immigrant children's authors living in Germany: Rafik Schami, Ghazi Abdel-Qadir, and Yüksel Pazarkaya.

Two articles in the Other Voices section highlight perspectives on other topics from Slovenia and India. In "Slovene Teenage Readers and American Young Adult Novels: The Relevance of Setting," Darja Mazi-Leskovar discusses how settings in three American novels share similarities and differences to locations in Slovenia and their connection to the lives of Slovene young adult readers. Sandhya Rao provides insights into how terms like multiculturalism and political correctness are problematic because what they represent in one culture or place may be viewed very differently when children's books are translated and published elsewhere. She argues, in "Multiculturalism and Political Correctness in Children's Books: A View from India," that rather than trying to please all readers everywhere, books should be honest depictions of particular settings and be judged in that context.

This issue includes our regular features. Focus IBBY brings information about the programs and activities of IBBY worldwide, and the Reading Promotion column describes projects of the IBBY National Section in Indonesia. Australian illustrator Julie Vivas, who received an IBBY Honour Diploma for Illustration in 1986, is featured in the Author's Spotlight. The second part of the White Ravens 2001 Special Mentions is found in the International Children's Books of Note, and Jeffrey Garrett's column reviews recent professional literature. The News and Announcements column is also included.

The experiences of children's book authors and illustrators are as varied as those of children around the world. In international literature, we need the multitude of narratives and images that these creators can provide to resonate with the manifold lives of young readers. In this issue, we hope you discover the background influences behind some of these children's literature creators that will enable you to appreciate their work more fully.

The Bookbird Editors:
Evelyn B. Freeman, Barbara A. Lehman, Lilia Ratcheva-Stratieva, Patricia L. Scharer

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