Here is the second portion of my reflection on the 40th IBBY World Congress. Ottawa was a great city to host the event, as the proximity made it close enough for me to attend without much difficulty.

40th IBBY World Congress (2026)

August 6-9, 2026

Conference Reflections by Diana Maliszewski

Part 2 of 2 Posts: Reports on Saturday & Sunday

Saturday, August 8, 2026

8:00 a.m. - (Parallel Sessions) Combatting Silence and Erasure: Gender, Sex, and Sexuality

Listening to Tensions: Inclusion and Gendered Voices in Canadian Children’s Literature and School/Public Libraries by Marie D. Martel

Summary: Marie is from the University of Montreal and she examined the 132 documents challenged between 2015-2026 in Canada for patterns.

3 Key Points:

1) There was a big surge in 2022 and again in 2025. There is a difference between the public library and school library response to a challenge; the public libraries tended to retain the book whereas the school library had mixed reactions.

2) There are four main arguments used in book challenges: a) to protect children, b) morality, c) parental rights, and d) representation.

3) This represents three broader tensions: i) between representation and erasure, ii) between safety and access, and iii) between neutrality and social justice.

So What? Now What?

It might be nice to have Marie submit her slides to Treasure Mountain Canada 9.

Media Artifacts

The Quiet that Hurts: Censorship, Love, and the Lost Language of Childhood by Sareh Arzpeima and Ramineh Rezazadeh

Summary: Sareh (who spoke alone because her co-presenter could not come because of the current situation in Iran) talked about her experience as a translator in 1980s Iran.

3 Key Points:

1) Censorship in books available to Iranians is common. They cannot show love, hair, intimacy, dancing, or dogs, for example. To try to circumvent these restrictions, Iranian creators had to use subtext. Layers, codes and metaphors were the only way to show love.

2) There were committees to supervise children's books and anything that referenced the beauty of a woman or her dress or eyes were redacted. Translators had to deal with visual reductions, verbal erasures and emotional regulations. Women were "body-less" in these books.

3) There are no copyright laws in Iran so they freely took other books published elsewhere but when she had to translate, she had to omit many pages because the content was unacceptable. Anything related to same-sex relations was an offence punishable by hanging, even young people in possession of a book like If You Could Be Mine by Sara Farizan.

So What? Now What?

Sareh spoke from the heart and the audience reacted accordingly. Her daughter was there to hear her talk.

Media Artifacts

Reading Without Drama: Collective Care and the Invisible Labour of Reading Mediation by Mel Solórzano

Summary: As a teacher and now children's book store owner, Mel examined some questions about her clientele and wrestled with her assumptions, shifting her perspective. She has a podcast called "Reading Without Drama" that assists.

3 Key Points:

1) Mothers, teachers, and librarians often come to her with questions such as "Why is my child re-reading the same book over and over?" and "Can you recommend a book that has more text?". The conversations blurred together over the years but resulted in the same feeling in Mel: Am I doing enough?

2) Instead of judging, she began to hear the questions behind the questions, noticing that these women carry the weight of providing for the growth and development of young people under their care. Re-reading these questions became another way of listening, and concerns were always about the people.

3) There are assumptions that people bring to reading and literature refuses to become a simple answer, so instead of getting frustrated, she asks them "Can you tell me what makes you ask that?" to ensure she gets to the heart of the matter.

So What? Now What?

This was a good reminder not to react negatively as a knee-jerk reaction when parents ask what might seem like "ridiculous" questions.

What Does “Sexually Explicit” Mean for School Library Materials in Canada—and Who Decides? by Cathy Fowler and Diana Maliszewski

Summary: Cathy and Diana talked about how school libraries operate in Canada, how there have been an increase in book challenges in Alberta with a common focus on what is claimed to be "sexually explicit" material, and considering who should be making the decisions for content in school libraries.

3 Key Points:

1) School libraries fall under provincial jurisdiction but Canadian School Libraries offers collection development guides for areas too small to have their own policies. Where policies exist, such as in the Toronto District School Board, the process for addressing a concern about a learning resource is clear.

2) Alberta has introduced legislation/Ministerial orders that led to the removal of many different titles, all claiming to deal with sexually explicit materials but that unjustly targeted 2SLGBTQIA+ texts. Reaction was positive from certain groups but mostly negative from groups such as ACP, ATA, Center for Freedom of Expression, and CSL.

3) These complaints do not match any definitions of sexually explicit (either the Canadian Criminal Code or education parameters around sex education). Those who should be involved in decision making include teacher librarians / school library professionals, parents (for their own children alone) and governments (that avoid viewpoint standards and respect the Charter of Rights)

So What? Now What?

I was displeased with the way I presented. Cathy and I had worked together remotely on this presentation for weeks and weeks but we never got around to doing a dry run. We had fifteen minutes and estimated that each section would take three minutes (3x5=15) but my first section took four minutes and the second section had us at the twelve minute mark, with only three minutes left to deal with the rest of the talk. I pride myself on not letting the time limit overshadow the material, but this was also my first time presenting with Cathy and we were on opposite ends of the technology, and I wasn't sure if she was able to see my timer or our moderator's signals, so I felt like I was hurrying her along. We ended up being two minutes over. We had to rush the parts explaining the bogus sexually explicit argument, the consequences of book bans, and the actions to take. Big thanks to Kirsten, our moderator, for kindly shepherding us.

Thankfully, people didn't seem to mind. (All presenters wrestled with the time limits.) I had a good conversation with someone from the Association of Canadian Publishers that I will need to follow up on. Cathy will transform our presentation into a TMC9 paper, so people will have a chance to hear the whole story without interruptions.

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Bridging Word and Image: Ethical Sensibilities in the Historias para todos Picture books by Elena Montalvo Hernández

Summary: Elena, from Peru, talked about the complexities of picture books and how many relate to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). She identified seven themes and stressed that ethical sensibilities are not built through moralizing narratives.

So What? Now What?

After just finishing our talk, I wasn't ready to take thorough notes. Halfway through, Elena switched to Spanish, so I used my Google Translate app to follow along.

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9:35 a.m. - (Parallel Sessions) Digital and AI Storytelling, Creating, and Sharing: Pros and Cons

A Digital Book Club to Promote Reading of YA literature – Listen to Each Other’s Voices by Jenny Edvardsson

Summary: Jenny described the rationale and process for creating a digital book club.

3 Key Points:

1) PISA results suggest that Sweden is not doing as well as it could in reading.

2) She created a digital book club for teachers and librarians to read and discuss YA titles. She conducted a survey afterwards, and 26 teachers and 4 librarians answered. 21/30 said they discovered new authors to read because of the digital book club.

3) The digital nature of the club meant that geography wasn't a restriction and that participants could join in at various times of the day or night. The only limit is they must speak Swedish.

Media Artifacts

AI-Assisted Picture Digital Storytelling for Mental Health Literacy Among Primary and Secondary Students in UAE by Ghadah Al Murshid

Summary: Ghadah talked about how they include AI literacy and AI use in having students write their own stories that address mental wellness.

3 Key Points:

1) One in seven teens in UAE has a diagnosable mental health condition, but there is still some stigma and shame about freely talking about mental health or sexual issues. To address this, the project had students write their own stories (begun in traditional ways) and they co-authored bilingual (English and Arabic) digital stories and, through their AI lessons, showed students how to make images to accompany their stories.

2) In places where the schools did not have the technology to facilitate this, Ghadah would get the information from the students, go back to her hotel and generate what the students wanted.

3) In their work, they had 95 participants and they used thoughtful facilitation of the storytelling process. Their priorities for the program designer were a) to prioritze facilitation over technical training, b) teach critical verification, not unconditional trust, and c) design bilingually and actively.

So What? Now What?

It wasn't until I reviewed the notes that I took that I understood the role AI played in this project. It seems like it was more for the image accompanying the stories, although I could be wrong.

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Voice, Body, Community: Picture Books Shared Reading as a Tool for Inclusion in the Artificial Era by Delia Maria D’Onofrio

Summary: Delia described her work using picture books with migrant women and homeless men.

3 Key Points:

1) The theoretical frameworks underpinning their work include narrative thought, picture books as bridges, third spaces, stigma / power asymmetry and being-with.

2) In the workshop structure where she moderates, they a) read the picture book together, b) create an artifact, and c) share in a circle. An example was the book The Swing by Britta Teckentrup.

3) The people serving the vulnerable populations as well as those members of the population participate in the workshops together, to help the former with burnout and maintaining humanistic attitudes to their clients. For instance, in a three-session unit, eleven men and seven social workers looked at Dawn Watch the World, The Wanderer and Parole. See one of the photos for the results and categories.

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11:00 a.m. - Keynote

‘Las voces de les otres’: Listening through Words and Pictures in Latin American Critical Contexts of Displacement by Evelyn Arizpe

Summary: (taken from program) Evelyn Arizpe is Professor of Children’s Literature at the School of Education, University of Glasgow and the Programme Lead for the Erasmus Mundus Joint Master’s programme, “Children’s Literature, Media and Cultural Entrepreneurship.” She has taught and published widely on topics related to children’s literature, especially picture books and young readers and has co-authored, among other publications, Children Reading Picture books: Interpreting Visual Texts (2003/2016/2023). Her research examines the role of books for children alongside themes of displacement, conflict, and peacebuilding. Evelyn was President of the International Research Society on Children’s Literature (IRSCL) (2019-2023) and was on the jury for the Hans C. Andersen Award in 2022 and 2024.

3 Key Points:

1) 2025 statistics from the UNCR state that there are 41.6 million refugees, 6 million Palestinian refugees, and 68.7 million internally displaced individuals. One out of every five migrants is a child and one out of every ten is an unaccompanied child.

2) Listening is an act of hospitality. In the "refugee abyss", people are treated as voicelss and migrants are depicted as strangers and monsters. We need to develop compassionate listening. Take Shaun Tan's The Arrival. It wordlessly shows the experience of the migrant journey and we can tell with gestures, bodies and glances when the protagonists is being treated with kindness.

3) Check out www.childslitspaces.com. There are short blogs and a toolk kit of good practices and mediators with migrant kids. There's also the Rutas Project. Work needs to be done to reduce stereotypes of new arrivals by locals and even by service providers (e.g. librarians with a deficit view using words like "invasion" or "those poor migrants"). Listening is an act of resistance.

So What? Now What?

Evelyn began her talk by describing when she first came to a congress 34 years ago with 10 000 people in attendance, and only two people attended her talk. That made me feel better about having small audiences for past talks. I'll actually be in touch with Evelyn as I have to send her photos from the costume BBQ.

Media Artifacts

1:30 p.m. - Keynote

(Re)storying Intergenerational Encounters with Climate Action by Fikile Nxumalo

Summary: (taken from program) Fikile Nxumalo is an Associate Professor in the Department of Curriculum, Teaching & Learning at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto, where she directs the Childhood Place Pedagogy Lab and is also affiliated faculty in the School of the Environment and the School of Cities. Fikile is the author of over 60 scholarly publications, including her book Decolonizing Place in Early Childhood Education (Routledge, 2019). Her work seeks to make conceptual, methodological, curricular, and pedagogical contributions in disrupting colonial erasures, anti-Blackness, and anthropocentrism in education, particularly within current conditions of socioecological precarity.

So What? Now What?

I have to be honest. At this point, afternoon of the third day, I was completely tuckered out. After lunch with Cathy and fellow Canadians Shelly Wood and Chelsea Baker, I felt it was the best course of action for me to go back to the dorm room and take a quick nap. Chelsea and Shelly promised that they'd attend and tell me about the talk later.

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2:35 p.m. - (Parallel Sessions) Public and School Libraries: Best Practices for Reading and Listening From a Disability Perspective

Curating Diversity: Exhibits of the Osborne Collection and IBBY Collection for Young People with Disabilities by Naomi Hamer

Summary: Naomi looked at various story museums and how they are constructed. She focused on a Toronto exhibit.

3 Key Points:

1) Story museums are third spaces where children can make meaning with books. Naomi has visited many such museums. There are efforts to decolonize or queer museums but this is often overlooked in children's museums. Critical children's museology exists in a way not to patronize users.

2) There was an exhibit in 2025 called "Child Friendly Cities" at the Osbourne Collection in TPL. It's tricky because it can't be fully inclusive because of the design (e.g. objects in glass cases). OCAD's definition of inclusive design conceptualizes a framework for making things accessible. There's a tension between preservation of texts vs interactive spaces. In the 2019 exhibit, there were interactive braille mazes and audio descriptions. The displays were for and about kids with disabilities; it also had stuff by kids with disabilities but this fact wasn't highlighted.

3) Interactivity and engagement still fits the quiet socialization mold of museums; there are others who are pushing boundaries (e.g. hosting raves in galleries). By engaging with the senses and involving kids as co-designers, maybe intersectional identities will be reached more mindfully.

So What? Now What?

I should visit the Osbourne Collection again. It's in my city, after all.

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Rethinking Reading Spaces for Inclusion: Teachers’ Perspectives on a Neuroarchitecture-inspired Book truck Project by Margarida Castellano-Sanz

Summary: Margarida helped transform a whole school into a library, including having a book truck, which itself brought a host of benefits.

3 Key Points:

1) The frameworks used for this project were UDL, reading mediation and neuro architecture. They walked the school with students, identifying calm vs stressful spaces, and involved families in the process too. Halls were often seen as stress places. Students said they wanted to read in the playground but were afraid they'd get hit by balls, which is where the book truck idea originated.

2) They partnered with a nearby vocational school to transform an old van into a book truck (so they could move it to be in the shade). There was lots of math and language learning and it took a year to complete. The vocational students also read with the elementary school students.

3) The books in the book truck change every month and there's 30-40 titles. (There's a photo detailing the results of the project.)

So What? Now What?

This is like a dream - with school libraries in danger in Ontario, over in Valencia they are trying to make the entire school more like a library!

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Reading with All the Senses: The Public Library as a Gateway to Inclusive Reading through Sensory Spaces by Iris González Afonso

Summary: Iris described how they created an inviting space for neuro-divergent children in their public library.

3 Key Points:

1) Libraries can be overstimulating for autistic children; Iris' own niece could not come to visit her at work. These changes to a sensory area benefit not just the neurodiversity population but also people with dementia and those experiencing stress, anxiety and in need of emotional regulation.

2) Four elements had to be considered: i) lighting control, ii) acoustic insulation, iii) tactile and proprioceptive elements, and iv) adaptive furniture.

3) For reading, there's a wide range of options; special education schools helped them and publishers allowed an interactive readings/copies of their books, allowing a real right of access as well as public innovation and community integration.

So What? Now What?

I wonder if there are any spaces like this in Canada.

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Public and School Libraries: Best Practices for Reading and Listening from a Disability Perspectives by Chiara Ramero

Summary: Chiara gave an overview of changes and options, focused on France and Italy.

3 Key Points:

1) She asked some key questions: How does children's and YA literature address disability? What prominence does it give to subjects? What representation of disability are found in these works?

2) Chiara cited books such as Simple/My Brother Stump by Marie-Aude Murail from 2022 and Rare Birds by Marie Colo that feature a prominent character with an intellectual disability.

3) There's telling the truth vs telling a story (some of these stories written in Italy are by parents and teachers of people with disabilities). Books make minds work.

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5:00 p.m. - Honour List Presentation and Once Upon a Saturday Evening

Summary: (taken from program) Presentation of the 2026 Honour List, featuring 25 honourees in attendance from more than 20 countries. ... After the Honour List presentation, join us for a barbecue and get ready for music and celebration! We encourage everyone to wear a costume or accessory inspired by a children’s book character. It’s going to be a party!

So What? Now What?

Cathy dressed as Pete the Cat and I was the Paper Bag Princess. There were four of us dressed as the classic Robert Munsch / Michael Martchenko character. We found each other and took a group photo. Mine was extra special because I brought the dragon and I had a copy of the book. I re-told the plot of the book to at least four different people who were unfamiliar with the tale.

I had the chance to chat with Danny Neville, who was dressed as Max from Where the Wild Things Are, Barbara Reid, who was dressed as the Subway Mouse from her book, and many others.

The best moment from the congress happened when we were outside, taking a break from the music. Cathy, Danny and I were chatting with Christina and Clara from Sweden, who were both dressed as Pippi Longstockings. Someone told me, "There's a little girl over there with her grandparents, and she wants to talk to you because you are dressed as a character from a book she likes." She went over and we had a wonderful conversation. I showed her that there were four paper bag princesses at the party, plus someone dressed as Stephanie from the Munsch book, Stephanie's Ponytail. Her eyes lit up. "Doo you want me to go get her so you can see her?", I asked. She nodded. I went back to the dance party and pulled Kirsten (my session moderator, who was dressed as Stephanie) and told her she needed to come outside. When I brought her outside, the little girl ran up to her and gave her a huge hug! I have a photo of us but I won't post it here.

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Sunday, August 9, 2026

9:00 a.m. - (Parallel Sessions) Reimagining Citizenship

Voicing Citizenship: Children's Civic Agency in Schools, Museums, and Literature by Justyna Deszcz-Tryhubczak

Summary: Justyna described two projects that they were involved with - "Seen & Heard: Young People's Voices and Freedom of Expression" (with Malta, Germany, and Poland), and "Collective Remembrance: Engaging Youth Through Curatorial Practices" (with Poland, Bosnia, Armenia, and Spain)

3 Key Points:

1) Children can shape their societies, challenging adult notions of citizenship. The first project was about how young people understand civil rights. They did workshops and used picture books. There were three phases of the project = research / mentoring / social action. Products created included protest films, human rights education resources, and a published book.

2) The second project included children's life writing and focused on how young people help shape public memory of violent pasts and futures. It was done for, with, and in museums and recognized young people as knowledge makers, and critical engagers with social issues.

3) What if young people's interpretations differ from traditional approaches? For example, usually common practice was to separate the painful past of WWII from current circumstances, which is difficult when there are Ukrainian students in Polish classrooms. It's okay to look at genocide in a personal way as long as we maintain the ethical responsibility to not revictimize others with their stories

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The Plural Identity of Brazilian Children's Literature by Maria Carolina Nunes Gobbo

Summary: This was a very comprehensive overview of the history of children's books in Brazil.

3 Key Points:

1) Brazil is a country with a multi-ethnic history. It has a myth of "amicable coexistence" but in reality, Brazilian identity formation has had to cope with its colonial roots. There are three basic influences: Portuguese, African, and Indigenous. The griots, storytellers (traveler praise-singers) and nannies assimilated the French fairy tales with Indigenous culture and characters from African heritage.

2) The first Brazilian children's comic was produced in 1905. The modern children's literature movement occurred between 1920-1945 and Monteiro Lobato was probably the most famous Brazilian children's author from this period. His work has come under criticism for the racist portrayal of Black characters, but book use has not be restricted because of the high regard other Brazilian authors have for this "pioneer".

3) Brazil lived under a military dictatorship from 1964-1985. Interestingly enough, in the 1970s new topics began to appear in KidLit, partly because children's books were not seen as important. In the 1980s and onward, Brazilian children's literature has become more playful, cathartic, liberating, cognitive, and pragmatic. They are starting to see more Indigenous authors narrate the stories of their people. There are still taboos in the field; very few books deal with LGBTQIA topics or politics in general (anything challenging the government is discouraged), but schools and libraries are mostly free to choose which titles they carry.

So What? Now What?

My parents' home country of Guyana is "next door" to Brazil, so I was fascinated to hear about the "myth of amicable coexistence". My father told similar stories, that under British rule all the seven nations of British Guiana lived in peace but it was once it became independent that things fell apart. It's good to question these stories.

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Between Critical Hope and Moral Ambiguity: Picture Books Mediating Cross-Conflict Youth Dialogue by Chang Li

Summary: This was a really interesting study where the researcher took young people from "aggressor states" (e.g. Russia, China) and those from "victimized states" (e.g. Ukraine, Taiwan) and used picture books as the go-between for communication.

3 Key Points:

1) Picture books can be the channel of dialogue between opposing groups. As the third object in interviews, almost treated as a participant itself, it provides a safe distance and shared resource. In the study, Chang interviewed 11 teens from Russia, Belarus, China, Ukraine and Taiwan and used three picture books on war. (You can see the titles of the books in the photos.)

2) There were three movements or activities. In the first (with the book The Enemy) they talked about what war is. In the second (Mirroring), the teens were only allowed to speak through the borrowed voice of the book. In the third (Warming), there were letters written to unseen recipients.

3) The findings were that the teens moved from absolute to hedged statements. There were attitude ships, not forgiveness but an increased capacity to acknowledge the other. It permitted imagining limited coexistence while acknowledging division and trauma. The book choices were very important because they were morally complex titles that encouraged the use of metaphors.

So What? Now What?

This was really intriguing. There were many questions for Chang Li about how he found his willing participants (and they were recruited through the university in Italy, although none were first generation immigrants).

Media Artifacts

11:00 a.m. - Keynote

Representation Matters by David A Robertson

Summary: (taken from program) David A. Robertson is a two-time Governor General's Literary Award winner and has won the TD Canadian Children's Literature Award and the Writer's Union of Canada Freedom to Read award. He has been named the Globe and Mail's Children's Storyteller of the Year, and was honoured with a Doctor of Letters by the University of Manitoba in 2023 for outstanding contributions to the arts and distinguished achievements. He has received several other accolades for his work as a writer for children and adults, podcaster, public speaker, and social advocate. His a member of Norway House Cree Nation and lives in Winnipeg.

3 Key Points:

1) David defines reconciliation as the act of building community, which is what we do when we gather. Even though he's not Anishinaabe, he admires two of the seven sacred teachings: honesty (be true to yourself, and learn about yourself through story) and respect (learn and care for others). His Cree father went to Day School, where he was not allowed to speak Cree and his dad chose not to teach his sons the language growing up. Without language, it's hard to have culture. In addition, because his parents divorced, his dad did not live with him during those growing up years, and family is the main source of culture, so for David, literature was at first the only way in.

2) Misrepresentations and stereotypes impacted his self esteem and perceptions (in Grade 8, a girl asked him "Are you Indian or do you just have a great tan?" and he answered that it was the tan). Growing up, he didn't want any part of Indigeneity. His parents reconciled after twelve years apart and the renewed connection with his father helped break the constructed walls and laid a new foundation.

3) For us to properly learn, we need to start young, teach early and often, with empathy as the key. When he first wrote When We Were Alone, he was told it was impossible to write about TRC for kindergarten students but when he did it, children responded positively, especially to hearing words in Cree. Face to face author visits show children the possibilities.

So What? Now What?

I wonder if I should arrange some in-person author visits for our primary division students.

Media Artifacts

12:20 p.m. - A Very Special Lunch Session with Jon Klassen

Summary: (taken from program) 2026 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award Winner Jon Klassen. Jon Klassen was born in Winnipeg, Canada, and now lives in Los Angeles, USA. He began his career working in animated film before he started illustrating children's books. His breakout book, I Want My Hat Back, was published in 2011. It's a layered, ingeniously told take of ownership and morality, right and wrong, that makes the reader work in more ways than one. Jon Klassen's body of work forms a subtle, astute, and humorous investigation into existential questions, where feelings of anticipation, suspense, and shock play a central role, His books open new perspectives on life's challenges of uncertainly and hopefulness. The jury's citation: Through his subtle and evocative storytelling in words and pictures, Jon Klassen opens new perspectives on our place in the universe. What happens when a rock falls from the sky, when hats disappear or a skull begins living a life of its own? With precision, emotion and inventive wit, life’s challenges of uncertainty and hopefulness are portrayed in an interplay of colour and form. Jon Klassen’s brilliant tales stand out for their effortless elegance and ambiguous depth, where the reader becomes a co-creator.

3 Key Points:

1) Revenge is a common theme in Jon's professional life and trajectory. It began with revenge drawings against his set design constraints. As an animator, he was always drawing very "loud" characters, so he chose to draw simple objects like chairs. He relished the control of being a book illustrator more than an animator and in one of this first books, Cats Night Out, his cats didn't even have eyes. He was disappointed they moved the text in his illustrations, so in the next book, The Dark, he made it so that they couldn't move his text because when the dark was talking, it had to be in the dark. (He also claims that Lazlo is the least emotive kid in the history of picture books.)

2) Revenge as inspiration continued. When asked to make birthday cards, he made atypical animals with no expression. He quoted Leonard Cohen who said "I have no ideas until I think about form" and I Want My Hat Back was a reaction against using traditional dialogue devices like quotation marks or even the narrator. As Jon quipped, "I'm way too confused about the world to say stuff about it, so I get at the larger things with micro problems" (such as a missing hat). He talked about how he had to make sure that we were on the side of the bear in the book and supported the bear's actions against the rabbit thief. He says that when the rabbit is caught and looks too emotive, then he'd look too scared. As it is, readers are very happy when the bear dispenses with the criminal. Jon didn't think this book would be a success but it was. To give revenge on I Want My Hat Back, he turned the book on it's side and rewrote the same story but as a thief's monologue (This is Not My Hat) and it won the Caldecott Medal!

3) More revenge! As revenge against the criticisms that This is Not My Hat that the book was too wide, he and his friend wrote Sam and Dave Dig a Hole, which was a very tall book! As revenge against the enemy plots, he wrote We Found a Hat, where the two characters stay friends and maintain a loving relationship. As revenge against those who claim picture books can't be long, he wrote The Rock From The Sky, which is 94 pages. His characters react to circumstances, even unusual ones. For example, The Skull is not a hero's journey; it's catharsis but it's not spelled out at all in the story, and the protagonist shows she is strong and capable. The House with Nobody In It is revenge against the notion that you can't have a ghost in a baby book. His cheeky advice is to keep revenge warm. (He finally got to write a book about chairs.)

So What? Now What?

I felt like a goofball. After the David Robertson talk, I hurried over to the Taraanga Commons dining hall so that I could eat lunch quickly and then pack for leaving after the closing ceremony. After waiting around and seeing no one, I texted Cathy, who told me that pizza lunch was being served at the Richcraft Building and that the Jon Klassen talk was being held immediately after. I didn't even have the Klassen talk on my pre-written planner! I rushed over, ate my pizza, and entered the talk late.

Jon Klassen is hilarious. I need to make sure I own all of his books, either for myself or for my school library.

Media Artifacts

1:30 p.m. - Plenary

Building Culture and Community Through Indigenous Children's Books

Summary: (taken from program) Featuring members of the International Selection Committee of the IBBYUNESCO Collection of Remarkable Books in Indigenous and Endangered Languages, this panel will discuss work on the Collection and the importance of culturally relevant books in building community, culture and language reclamation.

So What? Now What?

I had to skip this session because I needed to finish packing and say goodbye to Cathy, who had to get to the airport to catch her flight to Halifax. I just caught the tail end of it in the breakout room.

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2:30 p.m. - Closing Ceremonies

Compassionate Imagination: How Stories Help Children Grow into Strong Listeners by Andree Poulin

Summary: Andree was a replacement speaker, stepping in for Jean-Francois Senechal

3 Key Points:

1) Listening is work. The ear develops before the eye and understanding is not passive and moves us to action and nourishes hope.

2) Andree told the story of the wild horses of Sable Island and how a letter writing campaign by children saved them. In her book, Pablo Finds a Treasure from 2014, a child searches dumps for items to sell. The antagonist in the story is called Big Sal. When she asked children to write a letter to Big Sal, she found the children showed compassion even for this terrible person.

3) She warns against didactic thoughts. Show kids as they are, not as we want them to be.

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Reflections on Belonging and Citizenship in Today's World by Michel Chikwanine

Summary: (taken from program) Michel Chikwanine, is coauthor of Child Soldier: When Boys and Girls Are Used in War (Kids Can Press, 2015). At the Closing Ceremonies, Michel will speak to the Congress topic of Migrants, Immigrants, Refugees, and Citizenship with reflections of belonging and citizenship in today’s world. Michel was five years old when he was abducted from his school-yard soccer game in the Democratic Republic of Congo and forced to become a child solider. Today, Michel Chikwanine—a dedicated humanitarian and talented storyteller—is a global voice for peace, education, and ethical leadership.

3 Key Points:

1) Michel's book has been pulled from Houston Texas schools because they accuse the text of propaganda. It's a sad day when a child's memoir is delegitimized. It's that some censored stories make the dominant culture uncomfortable.

2) In refugee stories, it's tempting to begin with the displacement, but stories should begin before the crisis, because those homes were real and the past mattered. Books help with understanding, despite working in systems that do not encourage the unfamiliar, so stories of the migrant experience must fight harder to exist.

3) As borders continue to close and screens flatten complexities, choose the slower deeper act of reading and give the message that people exist and their voices matter.

Media Artifacts

Closing Ceremony Business

Summary: There was a LOT more talking, and presentations, and photo opportunities. I must hand it to Jay Odjick, the MC, who had to juggle a lot of changes and shifts. The IBBY president spoke and introduced the new executive. IBBY Canada team thanked their organizational team. IBBY Spain did a presentation to hype the 41st IBBY World Congress in 2028, which will be held in Barcelona, Spain.

So What? Now What?

All the speeches and documentation meant that we were supposed to end at 4:00 pm but we didn't end until 5:00 pm. We said farewell to new friends and I drove Viltare and Dziuljeta to Toronto.

Media Artifacts

A Quick List of New (and Renewed) Contacts and Friends (and Some Shoe Selfies for Levity!)

I had so many lovely conversations with people on the school bus on the way to events, or at tables, or between sessions. Thank you everyone (and apologies if I've forgotten to include any names).