Tamer Institute released it's first newsletter 2009 for the resourse center
Resour se Center Newsletter
Tamer Institute wins Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award 2009
In its twentieth anniversary, Tamer Institute for Community Education wins the Astrid Lindgren Prize 2009 for the promotion of reading and which is the most important prize in this field. The award is given in the memory of Astrid Lindgren, the Swedish author of children’s literature and one of the most important authors in the world, this prize is worth SEK 5m, which is nearly £422,000 and is given for one or more winners every year for their achievements in children’s literature.
This award is organized by the Swedish National Cultural Council, and it aims to reinforce the concern about children’s literature in the world, and the winners are chosen by a specialized jury of judges from those who were nominated by associations and organizations worldwide.
The jury’s reasons for choosing Tamer Institute for this Prize were as they said: “With perseverance, courage and resourcefulness, the Tamer Institute has stimulated Palestinian children’s and young people’s love for reading and creativity for two decades. Under difficult circumstances, the Institute carries out reading promotion work of an unusual breadth and versatility. In the spirit of Astrid Lindgren, the Tamer Institute sees the power of words and the strength of books, stories and the imagination as important keys to the courage to face life, self- esteem and tolerance”.
This year’s award is the seventh. The previous winners were Sonya Hartnett (2008), Banco Del Libro (2007), Katherine Paterson (2006), Philip Pullman (2005), Lygia Bojunga (2004), Christine Nostlinger (2003) and Maurice Sendak (2002). www.alma.se
“Palestinian on the Road” winning the honor list….
The second edition of “Palestinian on the Road”, the book of the Palestinian writer, Salman Natour from Haifa, was released by Tamer Institute for Community Education, in 2/3/2009 in Dar Al-Shorouq in Ramallah. Through this book, a group of Palestinian youth explored closely a part of the small continent called Palestine, as they moved between mountains and valleys, taking the path of Jesus Christ, the Palestinian, through that same road he walked on 2000 years ago, the road between Bethlehem and Nazareth.
This book reflects this experience to be a guide and a motive for youth to learn and know about their small continent Palestine. The book won the honor list on the national level among 101 books for children from the Arab world. The book was reprinted for promoting its sale.
The National Reading Campaign
“Jerusalem in One Thousand Tale and Tale”
Tamer Institute chose the 4th of April to be “Jerusalem Season” day in which many activities took place and attended by associations and children from all areas in the West Bank, in Sareyyat Ramallah in Ramallah city. Tamer has also issued a poster for the campaign under the title “Jerusalem in a Thousand Tail and Tail”, and is working on publishing “My Passport to Jerusalem” which will be distributed to all cultural associations and libraries in and out of Palestine. This passport aims at encouraging children to read about Jerusalem through answering questions and collecting information about this holly city.
“Tales from Jerusalem”The Recourse Centre for Children’s Literature hosted the workshop “Tales from Jerusalem” in 4/3/2009. During this workshop, Denis Assad, the Palestinian story teller, trained a group of librarians on storytelling focusing on Jerusalem as the main theme. Those trainees will use the gained techniques to tell stories for children in their areas and libraries during the National Reading Week.
“The Artist’s Way” …. How to become an artist!!!
The Resource Centre for Children’s Literature hosts a course called “The Artist’s Way”, which is presented by the architect and children’s literature writer Mr. Sameh Abbooshi who has translated the book written by the English writer Julia Cameron under the same title. This course aims to discover and recover the creative self of the participants. This course is an approach to discover and recover the artist within each of us and was experienced by thousands around the world who discovered a way for a more creative life.
“Reactivating the Network of Children’s Libraries”
Within the National Five- year Plan for improving children’s literature, the Recourse Centre in Tamer Institute works on reactivating the network of 60 children’s libraries in both West Bank and Gaza Strip. This network aims to reinforce the role of libraries in serving the local society, children and youth specifically, and to create a database for these libraries to facilitate the process of supporting and supplying their needs, in addition to assist these libraries with trained librarians, which guarantees good services in the local community and creates a state of cooperation and exchanging experience between these libraries.
“New arrivals, new titles on shelves…”
The children’s library in the Resource Centre in Tamer Institute has received a variety of English books for both children and youth. These books contain stories, novels, books about different vocational skills and educational and scientific books. It should be noted also that the children’s library in Tamer Institute receives every year a significant collection of publications in local, Arabic and international children’s publications in both Arabic and English, in addition to many books and resources that concern scholars and researchers which can be borrowed from the library.
“Researches on Children’s Literature”
The Resource Centre for Children’s Literature has started working on four researches on the following topics:
- Tolerance and accepting the other and the issues of violence within the same community, to see how these conceptions are influencing the local children’s literature in Palestine.
- The experience of Dar Alfata Alarabi, which tries to focus on the role of this association in children’s literature.
- The Image of the child in children’s books, part of a regional research.
- A study on the evaluations of 101 books for children.
“New Publications”
Local Publications
- A Journey in Colors: author Liana Bader, drawings and design by Hossni Radwan.
- A Dream: poems for children with exciting drawings by the author Sulafa Hijjawi.
Translated books
- Friends: it talks about three friends who gather to spy on an old man and to watch him when he dies, and the things they learn about death during their spying. The book is written by the Japanese author Kazomo Yomoto, translated and published in Arabic by Tamer Institute.
- A Little Piece of Land: it talks about Karim, the 13 years old Palestinian boy who looks for a small piece of land to hold his dreams. The book is written by the authors Elizabeth Laird and Sonia Nimer, translated and published in Arabic by Tamer Institute.
“Room for New Scripts”
The publishing unit has opened the door to all individuals interested in submitting manuscripts on children’s literature until the 15th of April 2009. The scripts will go through a process of selection, by a specialized jury on children’s literature, to choose the best among them to be published.
